Crazy Over Horses

To cancel a debt owed sweet shop owner Bernard Gorcey (as Louis "Louie" Xavier Dumbrowsky), "The Bowery Boys" leader Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney) and sidekick Huntz Hall (as Sach Jones) agree to take "My Girl" off the hands of series writer Tim Ryan (as Flynn). At first, they think "My Girl" is Mr. Ryan's fetching daughter, but she's really a horse. "My Girl" rides into residence with Bowery pals William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), David "Condon" Gorcey (as Chuck), and Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch).

Then, gangster Allen Jenkins (as Weepin' Willie) and others get interested in horse racing with "My Girl". Mr. Hall appears in "black-face" make-up and Mr. Gorcey appears to have been over-indulging in alcohol. But, "Crazy Over Horses" is most notable for being the last appearance of Mr. Benedict as a "Bowery Boy" trying to get a line in edgewise. It proved to be a good time to exit, as the series was on a downward spiral. It's also the first time little brother David Gorcey is billed as "David Condon" in the credits.

*** Crazy Over Horses (11/18/51) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey, Tim Ryan

Crazy Over Horses (1951)

** (out of 4)

Rather bland entry in the series has the Louie being owed money by an old friend so he sends the boys out to collect but instead of cash they come back with a horse. It turns out this is a very special horse as gangsters plan on replacing it with a lookalike so that they can have the odds go up on a bad horse and then they'll race the quick one. Number twenty-four (if you're still counting) isn't all that memorable as we get a rather familiar story of the boys getting involved with a crooked scam and nothing here is one bit original or and we've seen it countless times before. The entire movie just had a very lazy feel to it as if everyone involved knew they weren't doing anything overly special and they just mailed everything in. The only sequence that comes off mildly entertaining is one where the boys charge into Louie's restaurant thinking that he has turned the horse into hamburger and what happens to the customer inside the store is pretty funny. Outside of that this is pretty weak all around. The most surprising thing is that the cast pretty much just sleepwalks through things. Leo Gorcey is once again back as Slip but he appears to be bored and many of his mixed up words simply aren't funny or too cleaver here. Huntz Hall continues to grow dumber and dumber but the screenplay really doesn't do him any favors. There's one interesting scene where Gorcey pretty much sends him packing but nothing ever really comes of it. The horse racing scenes are all boring as the supporting cast doesn't help much either and that includes Allen Jenkins in his supporting role. Heck, even Bernard Gorcey comes off rather tame this time out.

The Bowery Boys are kind of hit and miss with me. Their weak ones aren't that bad but their good ones are very funny. "Crazy Over Horses" is one of the good ones. I laughed a bit and smiled a lot while watching this movie. What more could I want?

The Bowery Boys become debt collectors for their friend Louie. They intend to collect $250 from Mr. Flynn but he claims to be broke. He and his daughter run a horse stable. He offers My Girl to the boys who think that he's offering his daughter. Instead, My Girl is a horse.

It's the Bowery Boys doing their thing. I do have to warn the modern audience that there is a bit of black-face humor. That's the times. Otherwise, it's very Bowery Boys and nothing more.

The twenty-fourth Bowery Boys movie has the boys going to collect a debt for Louie and instead getting a race horse, which leads to them getting mixed up with gangsters. They were always mixed up with gangsters, it seems. A funny entry in the series with an increased amount of screen time for the always entertaining Bernard Gorcey as Louie the Sweet Shop owner. His scenes are among the movie's highlights. Leo Gorcey's malapropisms and Huntz Hall's rubberfaced idiocy provide the usual laughs. David Gorcey (now going by David Condon) hangs around in the background rarely speaking. Bennie Bartlett returns to playing Butch after a two-year absence. This is the last Bowery Boys film for William "Whitey" Benedict, who had been with the boys since the Little Tough Guys and East Side Kids days. Allen Jenkins is fun in a supporting role, his second consecutive Bowery Boys film (playing a different character than last time). Lovely Gloria Saunders plays the obligatory pretty girl (every movie in the series seemed to have one). Ted de Corsia is good as the main heavy. The plot is familiar but it doesn't hurt the picture much. The things that work well here (Slip, Sach, Louie) are what I enjoy most about the series.