Clipped Wings

Thirty-first entry in the Bowery Boys series has the gang trying to help their friend Dave Moreno, an Air Force lieutenant accused of treason (no mention of whether or not he's related to former Bowery Boy Gabe Moreno). In keeping with previous military-themed Bowery movies, the boys mistakenly enlist while trying to help out their friend. Dave is played by Todd Karns, no stranger to flying as he served in the Army Air Corps during WW2 and, of course, played Navy flying hero Harry Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life. The regulars are all fun and the rest of the cast, including Karns, Lyle Talbot, and lovely June Vincent, offer good support. Highlights include Sach in the Women's Air Force and the big comedic flight scene. It's a pretty decent later effort from Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and company. It moves along at a quick pace which helps a lot.

Clipped Wings (1953)

** (out of 4)

After an Air Force buddy is arrested for selling secrets to spies, Slip (Loe Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) go to visit him but accidentally get enlisted. Soon they're wrecking havoc while trying to track down the truth behind their friend's arrest. This might have been the thirty-first entry in the series but it was only the second to feature Bernds as director and co-writer. Those familiar with the Three Stooges are going to see many familiar things here including more physical violence and of course we have Hall doing various impersonations of items you'd previously seen from Curly. I don't think this entry is nearly as good as LOOSE IN London but at least it still remains somewhat fresh and different from many of the previous films. The biggest problem is that there just aren't enough jokes that actually work. At just 65-minutes the movie has a very good pace and it actually goes by pretty quickly but we needed many more jokes. One of the best moments in the film happens when Sach accidentally gets put into a female bunker and we get countless jokes of him being the stub of the bunch. Another good moment happens later when Slip breaks in to try and get Sach out of the room but ends up causing a panic and hearing a few of the women's comments on him was quite funny. Once again both Gorcey and Hall seem to be game for everything going on as both seem more energized and each certainly helps keep this thing moving. Bernard Gorcey is back as Louie but has very little to do. Lyle Talbot appears quickly in a couple scenes but doesn't have any dialogue. Cult favorite June Vincent plays the bad girl. The ending of the film is going to remind many people of a few Abbott and Costello films and especially KEEP 'EM FLYING. While CLIPPED WINGS isn't one of the better entries in the series it at least remains someone fresh and I'm sure fans of the series will want to check it out.

By the early 50's, The Bowery Boys post-WWII formula had become a well-oiled machine. The "Boys" consisted of stars Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall, along with group members David Gorcey (here billed as "Condon") and Bennie Bartlett for reaction shots. And of course Leo's father Bernard Gorcey, as Louie, owner of Louie's Sweet Shop, where the gang hangs out. Comedy pros such as Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds were working their magic with the series, and Monogram/Allied Artists usually surrounded the boys with talented casts of lesser-known players (such as Renie Riano, hilarious as the hatchet-faced WAC leader who orders Huntz Hall around) and old favorites (such as Lyle Talbot, and unbilled, Tris Coffin and Arthur "Canadian Mounties VS Atomic Invaders" Space). Basically, by this time in the series, the Boys were put into a certain situation or locale or profession, and they were let loose. Here they are in the air force (by accident, of course), with Huntz Hall mistakenly assigned to the female WAC unit, and they help a friend in the air force catch some spies (by accident, of course!). If you like Gorcey's constant malapropisms, Hall's rubber-faced, Shemp Howard-style maniacal antics, and the wonderful physical comedy of both, you will enjoy this film. I enjoyed these as a child, and now my children are enjoying them just as much. Gorcey and Hall left a wonderful body of work, and they were still on a roll in 1953 when this was released. They did three or four films a year and were favorites among exhibitors as they brought in regular crowds who couldn't wait for the next entry. Classic slapstick never ages, and this film should bring a smile to any slapstick lover's face --whether you are seven or seventy.

Sach is pretending to be a flyboy. Neighborhood friend Dave Moreno is a real flyboy. Only he's stealing rocket secrets and gets caught. Slip and Sach are sure that he's innocent. They go to the base to support him, but they mistakenly end up in the recruitment office. They stupidly sign up for the Air Force. Sach has the same name as a female recruit and gets wrongly sent to the WACs.

This one has Sach with a bunch of beautiful babes. Let the comedic chaos begin. It's all low hanging fruits and they are too happy to pick them. WAC is the Army. WAF for the Air Force was formed in 1948. I want more with the babes and less of the espionage. They could have given more lines to the girls. There are planes and the guys get to fly one. I guess that's funny.

Positively INSANE.

This was the second episode directed by Edward Bernds, who was brought in as "new blood" to see how he could upgrade the series, as opposed to long time director William Beaudine. Bernds also wrote material for the series, and with many funny ideas, associated with the THREE STOOGES. In fact, as the last reviewer noted, you'll see a lot of typical Stooge antics (tailored for Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall) in subsequent episodes.

As a result, CLIPPED WINGS has been regarded as one of the funniest Bowery Boys films. It received many positive reviews, more than likely because it was fast-paced and loaded with terrific dialogue, if not more of Gorcey's classic malprops.

This time around, the guys join the Air Force --accidentally-- because their old pal Dave Moreno is being held for treason?

Writers Charles Marion and Elwood Ullman may have originally written the role for Gabe Dell, who had left the series a few years earlier. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. Gabe had moved on to serious stage work on Broadway, later to return in tv and movies.

The big gag here is a case of mistaken identity, which was a familiar occurance for Sach. In this case, a female cadet called H Jones is confused with Sach (Horace Jones) and he's immediately assigned to the all female WAF barracks! There he meets NO nonsense, by the book Sergeant Anderson (played to the hilt by Renie Riano). Renie was a veteran actress, appearing in scores of popular films, later with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO.

It turns out Dave Moreno is actually being used by the military as bait to lure and expose a nest of spies. Between the drama, it also shows what a great comedy team Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall made. Best of the best has them flying a runaway plane while Sach reads a wacky book called, "How to Face Death in the Air." The final chapter is entitled, "Now That You're DEAD?"

Sach asks Slip, "How come we don't carry guns?" To which Slip replies, "Because with you around, I'd wind up in the electric chair!"

Sach also puts in his two cents (after having been injected with truth serum!), and yells at Slip, "Chief, you're an egotistical, ignorant egomaniac. And that's the truth!" The serum is also used on the crooks who spill the beans! CASE CLOSED.

Behind the series, it was not all laughs. Leo Gorcey clashed with Ed Bernds. Bernds wanted him to follow his direction and Gorcey outright refused. He preferred lots of adlibs, and in the end was right. Bernds many years later admitted had Leo followed the script word by word, the comedy impact would have been less.

Look for bad guy (often with the Three Stooges) Philip Van Zandt, Jean Dean (from ANGELS IN DISGUISE) returns as Hilda. Also Lyle Talbot, as the target plane operator, Henry Kulky as Sgt. Broski and Arthur Space as a federal agent.

Followed by PRIVATE EYES. Remastered on dvd via Warner Brothers. 6 to 8 episodes per box set. Thanks to TCM for running these classics.