Jinx Money

With a cast of among others John Eldredge, Sheldon Leonard, and Ben Welden all of whom have played various criminal types this Bowery Boys flick has almost the look of an A picture. Then when we get to Louie's Sweet Shop and Leo Gorcey's mangling of the English language we know where we are.

These three and others were involved in a high stakes poker game where the winning pot was $50,000.00. The winner is found stabbed to death, but the money is found by none other than Horace DeBussy Jones. Sach of course being the simple trusting soul that he is shares it with the gang and of course Gorcey takes charge.

Right after that the various participants in that poker game keep turning up dead and there's always a couple of Bowery Boys in the vicinity. Between Gorcey's diction and grammar and Huntz Hall's saying he's seeing a mysterious man with an umbrella at the scene of each incident, slow burning Chief Inspector Donald MacBride is about to lose his police pension.

Actually Sach is quite observant and does one very smart thing that leads to the apprehension of the killer.

Fans of these eternal youths should enjoy this one.

Augie Pollack wins $50k in a backroom poker game. He puts the money in a bundle of newspaper comics and gets murdered. Slip and Sach find the money bundle. They try to deposit it in the bank, but makes a spectacle of themselves. Gangster Jake 'Cold Deck' Shapiro robs them and promptly gets poisoned by a mystery umbrella man. Police Capt. James Q. Broaderik investigates and suggests turning the jinx money over to the cops.

I like the premise especially for the boys. I would like the story to be less messy or be more messy and add a lot more screwball slapstick. It's their tenth film. It's relatively middle of the road for a Bowery Boys movie.

When the story begins, a man wins $50,000 in a poker game. After he leaves, some unseen person with an umbrella murders him...but fails to take the money. The next day, as Sach and Slip are walking down the street, Sach finds a newspaper with the money inside...and the gang all assume they are rich. However, again and again, various crooks come to steal the money away from the boys...and each time the thief soon is murdered! It's as if the money is cursed...and in each case, the man with the umbrella is somehow involved.

As another reviewer noticed, Sach is less stupid than usual...even clever. That's odd, that's for sure! And, making the gang less stupid overall was a good decision. Because of this, it's one of the better installments of the Bowery Boys...the 10th of 48...yes, 48 films in the series. And, this isnt' even counting the various other incarnations of the gang, such as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids or The Little Tough Guys!

Typical Bowery Boys feature starts off with Slip and Sach financially desperate but happily stumbling upon $50,000 cash wrapped up in a newspaper lying in the street. It turns out to be the gambling winnings from a poker player who was mysteriously rubbed out right after leaving the game with his loot. Naturally things get dicey when the boys are continually stalked by some shady characters (fronted by Sheldon Leonard again) who'd each like to get their hands on the money, and also by that unidentified murderer armed with a deadly umbrella as his weapon of choice. Not a bad offering, but nothing extraordinary. **1/2 out of ****

Jinx Money (1948)

** (out of 4)

Tenth film in the series has a gangster winning $50,000 during a poker game but being knocked off shortly after wards. Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) come across the money, which gets their pictures in the paper and other gangsters after them wanting the money. Story wise there's really nothing fresh or original here as we get the basic device of the boys getting into trouble, which of course they have to try and work their way out of. It could be gamblers, gangsters or crooked police, it really doesn't matter as we see the same type of jokes from one film to the next. Even though the story here isn't that fresh, a strong supporting cast lifts this film up better than it probably deserves. There are a few funny moments to be had here including a pretty good sequence when Slip and Sach first come across the money. Their reactions get a few quick laughs as does Bernard Gorcey's performance as Louie, the sweet shop owner who simply wants to get the few bucks he's owed from the boys. The supporting cast includes a nice turn by Sheldon Leonard (Nick in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE) as one of the gangsters and Donald MacBride has several funny bits with Sach as the police captain. As is to be expected, Leo fits his role just fine and delivers his usual, nice performance full of mangled dialogue. Hall is back and as dumb as ever, which is becoming him trademark in these films. Director Beaudine actually does a little better job here as he manages to work in some effective moments including a nice murder sequence to start the film off. The use of shadows works extremely well and is perhaps his best directorial move so far. If you're not fans of the series then I doubt this movie is going to make you change your mind but it's not too bad for those who can put up with The Bowery Boys and their sense of humor.