Fighting Fools

Leo gorcey and huntz hall were now called the bowery boys, since the mid 1940s. And like so many others in the 1940s and 1950s, they had to make a film about corruption in the fights. Althought their's will undoubtedly have more humor than (any of) the others. Hollywood star lyle talbot is blinky, the crooked manager, handling the fixed fights. Gorcey's dad bernard is in this one, along with leo's brother david. When slip's friend dies in the ring, they talk johnny into going back into the ring to fight an honest fight, with the winnings going to the dead guy's family. The usual word play and tongue twisting, for humor. It's all in good fun. But of course, the thug managers have more tricks up their sleeves than to just let johnny take the fight without trickery and deceit. Can slip and johnny figure out what happened, and explain it to the commissioner? There's a serious story here, with a minimal amount of silliness and pratfalls in this one. It's good. Totally predictable, but good. Free on tubi streaming. Directed by reginald le borg. He made a bunch of the joe palooka films, and a real mish-mash of other films.

Frankie Darro, a child actor who reached screen prominence a few years before the Dead End Kids playing their kind of roles, joins with the Bowery Boys in this more serious entry in the Bowery Boys series.

The guys go into the fight managing business, especially after the middle brother of three Higgins brothers gets killed in the ring. Eldest brother Darro who was a former top ranked contender decides to make a comeback in the ring with Leo Gorcey as his manager.

The champion is managed by a crook played by Lyle Talbot who is not too squeamish about what tactics he uses to win a bout. But he can't seem to hire good help which is why the Bowery Boys outwit him in the end.

Huntz Hall gets a chance to shine in this one. The gullible and guileless Satch actually gets a chance to outwit two of Talbot's henchmen. Now can you imagine Satch outwitting anybody? What does that say about the help Talbot was hiring? You have to see the film to find out how Satch does it.

This is definitely one of the best Bowery Boys films, fans of the eternal slum kids should love it.

The difference between the BOWERY BOYS films of the 1940s, as compared to the 1950s episodes, was a heavy dose of drama, siimilar to the former EAST SIDE KIDS movies.

Here, FIGHTING FOOLS relies on a more structured plot in which a boxer is killed in the ring. The gang has to figure out whodunit, add more drama and even a side story concerning alcoholism. Frankie Darro is featured here, and in a dramatic role, going after the killers of his brother and at the same time attempting to expose corruption in the boxing arena. Also Huntz Hall has some dramatic scenes, far from his usual goofy escapades. Make no mistake, though, Leo Gorcey delivers his usual line of classic malaprops to tie this together.

Veteran B director Reginald Le Borg was called in as Monogram Pictures was trying out different directors, though William Beaudine managed the bulk of the episodes quite well, cranking out one after another, on time, watching expenses -- especially -- letting Gorcey and Hall work their ad-lib magic. A solid series entry, one of the first to be put on dvd via Warner Brothers box set. Released 2012. Check out the super color covers of each set,

Fighting Fools (1949)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent entry in the Bowery Boys series has former boxer Johnny Higgins (Frankie Darro) trying to make a comeback after his kid brother was killed in the ring. Along with the help of Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall), Higgins tries to shine the spotlight on a criminal (Lyle Talbot) who is fixing matches. The thirteenth film in the series isn't a great one but it's mildly entertaining and features some nice drama and a couple good laughs. Once again I think the film benefits greatly from director Le Borg as he makes for a lot better pacing and gives the film an overall better look. This is still a low-budget movie but Le Borg at least makes it seem like they spent more money on it. The film has a good pace from start to finish and the director also manages to make for some good dramatics. This includes the early boxing scene where the kid guys and Slip must deliver the news to his mother. Even better is the final fight, which contains a lot of great drama as we get a side plot with the boxer's other brother being held captive by the gangsters. Gorcey is his typical self here as he shouts out one mangled word after another. Hall doesn't come off quite as good here as some of his humor happens at times where laughs weren't needed. Gabriel Dell pretty much gets overlooked this time out as he stays in the background as a sports writer. Former child star Darro delivers a fine performance as he's quite believable as the boxer trying to make a comeback. His early scenes as a drunk didn't work too well but I think enjoyed watching him here and thought he added a great deal of entertainment. Talbot can play a bad guy like no other and even though the performance isn't Oscar worthy he's at least fun to watch. The biggest problem is that the laughs really aren't that good here. Sure, we get a few funny moments but not enough to carry the film. Another problem is that we've seen the corrupt boxing stuff countless times before and nothing new is added here. With that said, this is a decent entry for fans of the series.

I have watched a few Bowry Boys films here or there, but I am hardly someone you would call a fan. For every decent one of their films I've seen, I've probably seen two others that were rather poor. But I do have to give them credit where credit's due, as "Fighting Fools" is actually pretty good. Sure, it has a bunch of boxing clichés but the overall effort is very watchable.

Slip and the gang are horrified when one of their friends is beaten to death in a boxing match. They promise to try to help the guy's mother and little brother and so they stage a boxing match, on the level, to raise money for them. At the same time, Slip announces that the dead guy's brother, Johnny (Frankie Darro), will come out of retirement and he'll eventually be battling for the title. Considering he never asked Johnny, this IS a rather bold announcement. Eventually, however, he convinces Johnny and Johnny's mother and Slip and the gang manage the fighter. However, a evil jerk and his 'associates' are determined to control the fight industry and are not above cheating to hang on to the ill-gotten title.

Slip and the gang are exactly what you'd expect in the film...though (fortunately) a bit restrained. The acting aside from them is good and the story, while familiar, is well handled. Entertaining and a nice time-passer.