Trouble Makers

An entertaining addition to the Bowery Boys comedy series has Slip and Sach (Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall) accidentally witnessing a murder in a hotel room window through a telescope down on the street below. They alert their friend Gabe (Gabriel Dell) who has now graduated to the stature of a rookie police officer, but when the boys investigate the hotel there is no body to be found and Gabe is reprimanded by his superiors. It's then up to Slip and Sach to take on jobs as bellhops in the hotel to try and solve the mystery and prove what they saw. This is a good and satisfying chapter, with funny bits featuring Gorcey and Hall at the top of their game. Both actors have some strong moments...Gorcey is given some extra-humorous malapropisms to deliver with gusto, and Huntz has to get tough and even push Leo around in a scene where he pretends to be an ex-con. It's good to see Gabriel Dell put to solid good use in his part of a young policeman, and the roles in general are well cast this time around -- Frankie Darro, Lionel Stander and John Ridgely play the shady characters, with Fritz Feld as the hotel manager. This entry comes off as tighter and better polished than usual, and one wonders whether this was due in part to Reginald LeBorg taking over from William Beaudine as director. *** out of ****

"Trouble Makers" is one of the better Bowery Boys films and is worth seeing. It all begins with Slip and the gang out on the street trying to make money a very odd way--charging folks on the street to use their telescope. Little did they know that the telescope would come in handy, as Sach and Slip see a man being murdered across town at the El Royale Hotel! But what so often happens in old movies, the cops somehow don't believe them nor young officer Moreno.

The next day, the body of the man the pair saw murdered was discovered 15 miles away! Obviously they'd been right...and bizarrely, the police aren't concerned. So, with the help of the murdered man's daughter (who owns the hotel), they get jobs as bellboys in order to investigate.

"Trouble Makers" is a bit unusual in that the antics of Sach and Slip are a bit more muted and realistic...and made for a pretty good B-movie. On hand in this enjoyable film were Frankie Darro (once again playing a young hood) and Lionel Stander. Worth your time.

Twelfth Bowery Boys movie from Monogram has Slip and Sach witnessing a murder through a telescope. But when they take the cops to the scene of the crime, the body is gone and no one believes there ever was a murder. So, naturally, they set out to investigate the matter and find the killer. An enjoyable entry in the series. Nothing to get excited about but good. Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are their usual lovable selves. The rest of the Boys (Bennie Bartlett, David Gorcey, William Benedict) don't get a lot to do in this one. Gabriel Dell plays a cop this time and figures heavily into the plot. Bernard Gorcey returns as Louie and he's always a treat. Helen Parrish provides the pretty. John Ridgely and Frankie Darro are solid baddies, but it's Lionel Stander who steals the show as an ex-con who mistakes Sach for a criminal he used to know. It's not the best Bowery Boys picture but it's entertaining. The short runtime and quick pace help. Any movie where the bad guys have names like Silky, Feathers, and Hatchet is going to be a fun one.

The latest money making scheme of Leo Gorcey involves him and the gang with a telescope charging folks a fee for stargazing. In fact Huntz Hall is checking out one thoroughly heavenly body going down the Bowery. But when Hall points the telescope upward he and Leo Gorcey spot a murder in a window of a swank hotel blocks away. They report the crime to their old pal and gang member beat cop Gabriel Dell.

Not finding any trace of any murder where John Ridgely is staying the guys keep on the case. Dell gets himself in a jackpot at his precinct for leaving his beat on a wild goose chase so it seems. But he does get to meet Helen Parrish the daughter of the deceased whose body was found in the Bronx. They might have a future.

Two colorful character actors appear here as well. Fritz Feld playing the officious hotel manager who is driven to distraction by Leo Gorcey's grammar and colorful language and the eternal dumbness of Huntz Hall. There's also Lionel Stander recently released from jail who thinks that Hall is an old criminal associate with a recent bit of plastic surgery. As if anyone would want to make themselves look like Horace DeBussy Jones.

The regulars and these guest stars make Trouble Makers worthwhile to watch.

Trouble Makers (1948)

*** (out of 4)

Good entry in the long-running series has Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) witnessing a murder inside a hotel but no one will believe them as no body was found there. Gabe (Gabriel Dell), now working as a cop, tries to investigate but ends up suspended off the force so it's up to the boys to try and figure out who did the killing and why. This was a nice surprise as it turned out to be one of the better entries in the series as we get some very good laughs, nice crime action and a fairly good mystery as well. These Bowery Boys movies often tried mixing various genres but rarely did they all work so well as they do here. What really helps the film is the wonderful supporting cast, which is full of some veteran actors. By having such great support the film didn't have to rely on Gorcey and Hall to get all the laughs. Lionel Stander, who would be blacklisted in upcoming years, is perfect as "Hatchet" Moran, a gangster who loves his friend "Abby" who just happens to be a machine gun. John Ridgely, veteran of many Warner classics, plays Silky Thomas, the main suspect. Both actors are excellent in their roles with Stander getting a great number of laughs and Ridgely being very believable in the crime boss role. Also strong here is Helen Parrish as the murder man's daughter. Both Gorcey and Hall are a lot better here than they were in a couple of the previous films. Gorcey gets some wonderful mangled dialogue that he nails perfectly and even Hall gets some terrific scenes. He plays extremely well with Stander as the two go down memory lanes of when they were knocking off various locations (Stander's character thinks Sach is a former gangster). Dell is also really coming into his own, acting wise, even though he's playing yet a different character. This film really stands out because it actually appears like they took their time with a good screenplay and got some respectable actors to help share the load. The film starts off with some great laughs and they continue all the way through the picture.