In Fast Company

In Fast Company (1946)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Second film in the Bowery Boys series has Slip (Leo Gorcey) offering to drive a cab for a driver who was injured on the job. Soon he and the boys find themselves in the middle of a cab war with the big cabs trying to knock over the little ones. The subject line of a cab war has been dealt with in quite a few films with the most memorable being TAXI with James Cagney and Loretta Young. This film here can't hold a candle to that one nor the previous film in the series. This second film comes off as a major disappointment as it appears the film was rushed into production without too much thought put into the screenplay. For the most part there are very few laughs to be found in this film and the biggest one comes towards the end when Sach (Huntz Hall) walks into a trophy room with various stuffed animals and gets scared. The rest of the comedy comes from rather silly slapstick including a really bad scene where the boys and a few others get locked inside a phone booth. Other forms of so-called comedy comes from the boys eating up all the bananas from a dealer and another one dealing with a watch inside one of those claw machines that Sach keeps getting but losing at the last second. As with the first film, there's no question that this was meant to show off Gorcey but that doesn't even happen that well. As expected he spills a lot of mangled dialogue but the character really doesn't do much else. Most of the supporting cast is wasted and especially Bobby Jordan. Character actor John D. Brown comes off the best as Father Donovan and I'm sure many will remember him from countless Warner pictures in the 30s.

Steve Trent, the ruthless owner of the Red Circle Cab Company is driving independent cabbies out of business. John Cassidy refuses to sell to Trent and soon thereafter Trent's henchmen cause Cassidy to have an accident which leaves him with a broken arm. The kindly and savvy Father Donovan tries to get Slip to drive Cassidy's cab while Cassidy is recovering. Donovan, acting in cahoots with the Irish beat cop, convinces Slip that the only way he can keep from getting arrested for vandalizing a fruit vendor's stand is by helping Cassidy. Somewhat resentful at first, Slip has a change of heart when the priest introduces him to Cassidy and his daughter and mother. There is quite a touching scene between Slip and the little girl. The best gag in the movie is the phone booth stuffing; it's well done and funny. As often happens in the series, the movie ends with a brawl between the bad guys and the Boys. This is Gorcey's movie as the rest of the boys have little to do. He did a good job with it. A highlight was seeing Mary Gordon as Cassidy's mother. Gordon was a Scotswoman (I always thought she was Irish, but no) who will be best remembered for her role as Mrs. Hudson in the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies. Strong supporting cast with always reliable Douglas Fowley, Charles D. brown and Paul Harvey. Although darker than most of the series entries, it still has its frenetic and funny moments.

Second of the '48' BOWERY BOYS films from MONOGRAM which was the longest series ever produced by Hollywood to date. Usual story which pits 'the BOYS' and their independent 'Cassidy's Cab Company' (CCC) versus 'Red Circle Cab' (RCB). Now you would think in a metropolitan area as large as N.Y.C. there would not be much of a conflict, then there would have been no movie. RCB plays rough, running off (literally) the competition.

'The Boys' lead by Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), his stooge Sach (Huntz Hall) plus, Bobby (Bobby Jordon), Whitey (William Benedict) and Chuck (David Gorcey) take it on the chin for the first half of the film. Then they make contact with the rival companies owner Patrick McCormick (Paul Harvey), with the help of his Daughter Marian (Jane Randolf) reveal the true source of the problem, Steve Trent (Douglas Fowley). After a furious fight the Police arrive and the offenders of 'Cab Etiquette' are taken off to jail.

Leo Gorcey (Slip) fills his character with the usual amount of 'malaprops' and abuse too Hall (Sach). The rest of 'the Boys' just fix cars or stand around. It is the supporting cast that is of real interest. Luis Alberni, Charles D. Brown, Douglas Fowley and Paul Harvey were all quality character actors. Who spent most of their time in the 30s' plying their trade among the 'Big Five Majors' or at least the middle tier studios and would continue to do so. Why then appear in a poverty row quickie from MONOGRAM? It kept you busy, you did not have to invest more then a week to pick up your check and it took no great stretch too fulfill your acting obligations. Need a quick '2 Gs' for a new car or a home improvement then MONOGRAM was a good place to stop.

Overall would rate the BOWERY BOYS series from as low as Two**Stars to a maximum of Six******Stars depending on the entry.

When a competing driver won't succumb to pressure, New York City's crooked "Red Circle Cab" company derails him in an accident, overturning his cab. While the driver recuperates, a local Priest recruits "helpful lad" Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney) to drive the rival "Cassidy" company cab. Sacrificing a night out with angelic girlfriend Judy Clark (as Mabel Dumbrowski), Mr. Gorcey clashes with the criminal "Red Circle" cabs. Gorcey quickly employs "The Bowery Boys": Huntz Hall (as Sach), Bobby Jordan (as Bobby), William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) to humorously help make amends.

"In Fast Company" is above average for "The Bowery Boys", but nothing special overall. In this film, (Leo's father) Bernard Gorcey, who had been appearing in the series films regularly, receives his familiar character name "Louie Dumbrowski" (herein, proprietor of "Louie's Ice Cream Parlor"). Good moments include an entertaining fruit stand owner (nicely played by Luis Alberni), a seltzer water sequence, and an early example of "telephone booth stuffing" (or, How many people can you fit in a telephone booth?). Since telephone booth stuffing became a fad in the 1950s, it looks like "The Bowery Boys" were ahead of the curve.

***** In Fast Company (6/22/46) Del Lord ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, William 'Billy' Benedict

A guy from the neighborhood gets caught up in a cabbie war. Father Donovan recruits Slip (Leo Gorcey) to drive the cab for a couple of days while the guy recovers. It's the Bowery Boys against the corrupt taxi company owner.

This is the second film in this series. It has both Slip and Sach. They have their fun. It's a silly franchise and that's fine. I don't care that much about any seriousness. I probably wouldn't even want that many car chases. The fights need to be more slapstick. All in all, it's a little fun with some serious matters which may or may not fit with the silliness. It's fine.