Paris Playboys

If you are expecting, based on the title, from this movie to take you on a tour of Paris, forget it. It's pretty obvious that the cast and the production crew never set foot outside the Hollywood studios where this was filmed (there are only some brief establishing shots outside). With that said, the film is lively and short enough not to cause any boredom. Huntz Hall gets to play a dual role, and he does it well, while Veola Vonn is gorgeous as the Parisian fiancè. Funniest scene (in my book): the Boys changing the rules of a high-class French dinner, with the guests gradually joining in. **1/2 out of 4.

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.

When the film begins, you learn that one of the smartest men in the world, the Frenchman Professor Gaston Le Beau, is missing. However, he turns out to be an exact double of Sach...and soon some UN officials see Sach and think he's the brilliant guy. Well, even when they soon realize it isn't Le Beau, they decide to bring him as well as Slip and Louie to Paris and pretend they've found the Professor. Not surprisingly, Sach behaves like a cretin and his goofiness is explained away by saying Le Beau has amnesia. Unfortunately, there are some killers who are planning on doing away with the Professor...and soon the real Le Beau shows up as well.

This installment of the Bowery Boys is typical in some ways for the later films in the series in that it's really all about Sach (Huntz Hall), Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Louie (Bernard Gorcey)...plus calling these middle-aged men 'boys' is a bit ridiculous! It's not so typical because the film is a bit goofier than usual, such as the stupid scene involving the Professor's favorite drink (not one of cinema's finer moments). Plus, while Hall playing Sach is ridiculous, his playing the real Frenchman is REALLY over the top! Of course, folks don't expect Shakespeare or an art film when they see the Bowery Boys!!

By the way, I was curious after hearing one of the characters say 'sacre bleu' in the film and I looked up this curse. Apparently, real French folks never say this and it's something foreign films show supposedly French people saying!

Paris Playboys (1954)

** (out of 4)

Weak entry in the series has a few good ideas but the execution is rather poor. In the film Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) head to Paris after some French scientist mistake Sach for a brilliant professor who has disappeared. Their hopes is that the real professor will see the impersonator, get jealous and come back home but sure enough some bad guys mistake Sach for the real thing. One-Shot Beaudine returned to the director's chair for this thirty-third entry and you can tell due to the slower pacing compared to the previous few films. Once again we're treated to some rather good things but the majority of the film is just deja vu as we've seen this stuff countless times before. It's amazing how little the series has changed even after thirty films as we get the same basic set up and then the familiar conclusion as a group of bad guys get involved and mess everything up. The bad guys here are all poorly written and appear to be rejects from countless other movies that we've all watched. Another problem is that nothing really goes on here until the very end of the film when things finally pick up. When the "professor", also played by Hall, shows up the film goes into overdrive and we actually get several laughs because the professor is an insane jerk who is constantly slapping Gorcey around and even Bernard Gorcey is brought to tears by his meanness. Hall finally got his name above the title and next to Gorcey and it was about time as the series is certainly going into his direction. Hall handles Sach with ease but the really impressive bits come from him playing the professor. The French accent is fun but seeing him playing a passionate lover and tough guy was great fun and he pulled it off nicely. It's just too bad they saved this until the end of the movie. Gorcey goes through the motions but is fine and good old Bernard gets some funny moments as well. In the end, Paris PLAYBOYS is pretty much what you'd expect.

United Nations dignitaries spot habitually hapless Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) in the "Sweet Shop" and mistake him for a missing French scientist. Before you can say "Jacques Robinson," Mr. Hall is off to Paris with "Bowery Boys" leader Leo Gorcey (as Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) and father Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky). Abroad, Hall poses as the amnesiac "Professor Maurice Gaston Le Beau" and gets to court busty fiancée Veola Vonn (as Mimi Du Bois). Oui, oui!

The elder Gorcey has a faulty memory, forgetting the gang's "Loose in London" (1953) trip by asserting Hall had never been out of the United States. Hall, now billed equally with Gorcey in the opening credits, continues to dominate the comedy; his "dual role" performance and the "special effects" give this entry its better moments. Regulars David Gorcey and Benny Bartlett are briefly glimpsed extras. "Paris Playboys" is otherwise routine. The next two 1954 films showed they could do better… and worse.

**** Paris Playboys (3/7/54) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Gorcey, Veola Vonn