Paris Playboys

Paris Playboys finds Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall off to Gay Paree for the life of a pair on bon vivants. I doubt either could spell that and Gorcey was sure to misinterpret the words.

It's all a case of 'mistaken indemnity' as a quartet of continental gentlemen enter Louie's Sweet Shop on the Bowery and are sure that Hall is a famous French rocket scientist who disappeared as he was working on a new fuel formula. As the scientist was known for being quite the ladies man as well as a brilliant researcher, it ain't rocket science to figure out Horace DeBussy Jones isn't him even if he does look alike.

Still in a scheme to aid the free world, Hall, Gorcey, and Bernard Gorcey head to Paris in the hope that the ringer Hall might lure out those who are trying to disrupt his work one way or another.

Despite Leo Gorcey's usual command of the English language this Bowery Boy film belongs to Huntz Hall in his dual role as the simple minded Satch and the playboy scientist. For Huntz Hall's fans.

MUCH later in the Bowery Boys series of films... but it's another ongoing episode of Sach and the guys stumbling into trouble. When Sach (Hunts Hall ) is mistaken for a famous french scientist, he and Slip (Leo Gorcey) take a quick little trip to Paris to help in some escapade. of course, Gorcey's real father Bernard and brother David are also here. Veola Vonn is "the girl" Mimi, but she played so many tiny parts, she doesn't even get a photo in imdb. the usual clever word play and pratfalls by the guys, but no-one seems to notice. it's all very silly and fluffy, but makes the time go by. (the three stooges must have been busy that day...similar humor and pranks) meh. no great work here, but entertaining enough for fans of the bowery boys. Directed by William Beaudine, who had directed many of the bowery boys films.

The thirty-third Bowery Boys movie has Sach impersonating his doppelganger, a missing French scientist. Of course, Slip and Sach must head to France and we get the usual "fish out of water" story that the series had beaten into the ground by this point. Still, the stories were never the strong suit of this series so give it a look if you like Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Bernard Gorcey doing what they do best, malapropisms and rubberfacing and so on. The other two members of the gang, Chuck and Butch, are left behind when the others go to Paris. This is no big loss since all they usually do is stand around anyway, waiting on their one line per movie (if they even get one). Ultimately, this is a fairly lame picture but it'll pass an hour and change if you're desperate.

At the UN headquarters, diplomats are searching for missing famed French scientist Professor Maurice Gaston Le Beau. One claims that he spotted Le Beau at a sweet shop in the Bowery. He does look exactly like Sach (Huntz Hall). When they go to the sweet shop, all they find is Sach and the rest of the gang. They invite the gang to go to Paris so that Sach can be a decoy.

The fake French accents can get a little annoying. Sometimes, an established franchise goes to Europe for a bit of exotic fun. These guys are never actually going to Paris, but they could fake it better. It could be a funny gag for Sach to be walking in front of various Paris backdrops. This does get funnier with the doubling of Sach. They do a mirror bit although not the one that I'm expecting. All in all, it's fine but not as funny as it could be.

I would give the BOWERY BOYS a 10 rating anytime, because they made me laugh out loud as a kid, and still do to this day. These guys were off the charts, no shame, who cares --and let's do it our way. You have to give them a lot of credit. They're still around.

If you watched the series from the beginning, you'd notice the 1940s episodes were far different than the 50s episodes. The earlier installments were more semi-comedies, the gang vs gangsters between routines. The 50s films relied on more camp situations, much like the THREE STOOGES, and rightly so because Edward Bernds, who wrote and directed the Stooges comedies, was called in to make changes. His trademark is everywhere here.

There was a turnabout in the series that would find Sach the subject of cartoonish-like gags; whether he suddenly possessed special powers, such as acquiring super strength or reading minds. In this case mistaken identity? Sach is mistaken by French professors as a distinguished scientist. A dead-ringer for the guy. What are the chances?

The distinguished gentlemen send Sach, along with Slip and Louie to Paris, due to the fact the real rocket scientist, Professor Le Beau, is missing. Where all the insanity begins mixed with Gorcey's rapid fire malaprops.

Not to forget Louie. Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad) gets into the act and offers his lines of Yiddishisms, which are hilarious, ranging from schlemiel to mishugah? Basically, it's a three man show, at least for this episode.

Yes, the Bowery Boys got smaller, usually with just David Gorcey (as Chuck) and Bennie Bartlett (as Butch), and they're left back in New York while Slip, Sach and Louie head out to Paris. Ed Bernds later commented that both David and Bennie got used to being out of the picture... sometimes... because they were just hanging around.

Sach meets up with beautiful Veola Vonn (as Mimi DuBoise) and his arrogant, egotistical "twin"--that only Huntz Hall could play to the max. Veola Vonn was married to Frank Nelson, the hilarious "yeeeeess" guy in tv and films.

Keep watch for some Stooge gags; Slip's bow tie spinning like a propeller (which would usually happen to Shemp), Sach's hair spikes up (like Moe) and smoke coming from Louie's ears (as was the custom with Larry or Curly). This happens when the guys drink a spiked cocktail. Also some well known character actors who would pop up in the episodes, in this case veteran actor Steven Geray, playing Gaspard. Prior to this film he was cast as a hotel manager in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. Look for comedian, Fritz Feld, the mouth popper guy, playing Marcel. His second appearance in the series.

Plastered with goofy one liners (ad libs many times) and wait for the ending. PARIS PLAYBOYS was followed by BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS. What a double feature! Restored in dvd box sets by Warner Brothers, which contain about 6 to 8 episodes per box. And a special thank you to TCM for rerunning the Bowery Boys once again.