Fighting Fools

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.

Fighting Fools (1949) has a much more serious tone than the usual slapstick hijinks seen in the other BB movies. It opens with the Boys working as vendors at a boxing match. Their friend, Jimmy Higgins, takes a bad beating beating and dies in the ring. Sach and Slip find Jimmy's brother, Johnny, to tell him the bad news. Johnny was a promising fighter until he was double crossed by crooked hoodlum/gambler manager Blinky Harris and lost his will to box. Now he's living on skid row and is down and out. Slip convinces him to get back in shape and make a comeback. With Slip, Sach, and the other boys holding workouts in Louie's Sweet Shop Johnny becomaes a real contender. Sports reporter Gabe Moreno gives the Boys good coverage in the newspaper. But will blinks Harris interfere with Johnny's march to the title?

There's not much comedy in this one. It's mostly a regular B-movie boxing drama. It's definitely not the typical Bowery boys flick.

Frankie Darrow plays Johnny and he fits right in with the Bowery Boys. Gabriel Dell is Gabe and he was always a positive addition to these movies. Lyle Talbot is properly nasty as Blinky Harris.

Check the credits for John Indrisano as the boxing coordinator. John fought as a welterweight from 1923-1934. He had a record of 64-9-4. The Ring Boxing magazine once called him "The Uncrowned Champion of the World." He worked as a driver and bodyguard for Mae West. John was also friends with Frank Sinatra and appeared in five of his movies. He trained most of the big male stars for roles in which they played a boxer. John died at the age of 62, apparently a suicide by hanging.

Fighting Fools (1949) is enjoyable as long as the viewer doesn't expect to see the usual comedy routines of the boys.

Thirteenth movie in Monogram's Bowery Boys series is another one with boxing as part of the plot. The last one was Mr. Hex, which saw Sach hypnotized into becoming a great prizefighter. This time none of the Boys enter the ring, but rather they help out a friend whose brother was killed in the boxing ring in a fight rigged up by racketeers. The friend is played by Frankie Darro, who returns for the second Bowery Boys movie in a row (playing a different character). The Boys help Darro train to fight and get vengeance for his brother. The regular cast is enjoyable in this entry that's a little heavier than the typical film in this series. Gabriel Dell plays a reporter in one of his more likable Bowery Boys appearances. Lyle Talbot is the gangster villain and he's solid as usual. Bernard Gorcey is fun as Louie ("Long live Louie's Sweet Shop!"). But this one really belongs to Frankie Darro, who turns in one of his better performances since his 1930s classics like "Wild Boys of the Road" and "The Mayor of Hell." The dramatics here work well but I will admit to being disappointed that there wasn't more comedy. I watch the Bowery Boys for laughs, after all. Also, the boxing backdrop is pretty played out even by 1949 standards. Still, I can't imagine many fans of the series hating this one.

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.