Bowery to Bagdad

Bowery to Bagdad (1954)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Good ol' Sach (Huntz Hall) finds a weird looking lamp and when he rubs it a genii (Eric Blore) pops out. Sure enough he soon has mobsters after him trying to get their hands on the genii but Slip (Leo Gorcey) has plans on making them rich. BOWERY TO BAGDAD is pretty much what you'd expect from a Bowery Boys film as it contains a minor amount of laughs but what really keeps the film moving is its fast pacing from director Bernds. The film itself really isn't all that original as we get the tired formula of the boys discovering something that's going to make them rich and of course bad guys find out and come after them. It's amazing how many times this storyline has been transformed in the series but with this being number thirty-six I guess you have to expect some things repeating themselves. The story itself really isn't all that funny but we do get a few good moments including poor Sach using his wish to order up some milkshakes. Another funny gag finds a hat pulled down over his nose to where he can't see and he ends up walking out on a high ledge of a building. Both Hall and Gorcey are fine in their roles with both going well over the top in terms of energy. Bernard Gorcey doesn't get too many good scenes but the one where he gets drunk with the genii was pretty good. This turned out to be the final role for Blore and he too is pretty good as the genii. The lack of laughs don't hurt the film too much because the director keeps all the action happening quite fast and things move along very quickly. The 64-minutes goes by without any slow spots so that's always good in a "B" film like this.

Either you like The Bowery Boys or you don't....and this film clearly is for devoted fans. Its silly quotient is certainly higher than normal, that's for sure!

When the film begins, Sach (Huntz Hall) has found a magic lamp and when he rubs it, out pops a very odd genie (Eric Blore). It offers to grant him any wish (not just three) but because Sach is an idiot, he offers to share it with Slip (Leo Gorcey). But then Slip gives him an odd order--the genie can only grant wishes if BOTH he Sach and Slip agree on it. This is interesting because soon two teams of crooks show up and try to take the lamp. But even when they get it, the genie is bound by Slip's command...he cannot do any wishes until both of the 'boys' (actually both were in their mid-late 30s) agree.

Even for a Bowery Boys film, having a genie appearing and disappearing is highly unusual and rather dumb. Overall, the film does nothing to convert non-fans and might actually make a few fans think twice about their love for the Boys! Only okay...with lots of folks bonking each other on the heads, a goofy genie and nothing more.

In ancient Bagdad, Aladdin's lamp goes missing and the ruler orders an exhaustive search. Generation after generation, his men continue the search. In modern New York City, Sach buys the magic lamp from a pawn shop. Gangsters are threatening Louie so that he would sell the shop. Sach releases the Genie and is granted wishes. The gangsters intend to steal it.

The concept should be funnier. I expected wackier wishes being granted. It's all a little disappointing. I'm not saying that The Bowery Boys is high concept comedy. I do wish that this is smarter with a fun premise. I also never like comedies which resort to gun fire. The last wish is probably the only good one.

The funniest Bowery Boys movies are the ones with the most wildly implausible plots. Anybody who watches a Bowery Boys movie in expectation of deep thoughts on the human condition is looking in the wrong place. 'Bowery to Bagdad' has one of the looniest plots in the entire Bowery Boys series... and it's possibly the funniest of them all. Much of the credit goes to a splendid performance by the veteran character actor Eric Blore, making his only appearance in a Bowery Boys movie.

This movie should actually be titled 'Baghdad to Bowery' because that's the way the action moves. The story starts with a newspaper headline announcing the disappearance of a valuable Oriental lamp. Then we see a montage shot of a couple of bit players pretending to be Arabs (with beards and headcloths) who are searching the entire world for the missing lamp. Of course, it turns up in Louie Dumbrowski's candy shop. (Stranger things have happened in real life: the necklace worn by Mary Queen of Scots when she got her head chopped off later turned up in an obscure antiques shop.)

Needless to say, this is a magic lamp with a genie. The genie is played by Eric Blore with his usual droll humour, wearing a pantomime-genie outfit that includes a turban and a pair of those curly-toed shoes. When Sach (Huntz Hall) frees the genie from the lamp, Blore offers to use his magical powers to give Sach anything he desires. Proving just how big a moron he is, Sach wishes for a long row of chocolate sodas. He also wishes that the genie would enlarge one particular part of his body. Guess which part. Yes, you're right: his biceps. The sight of Huntz Hall swaggering about with Schwarzenegger muscles is truly bizarre.

This film has a larger budget than usual for the Bowery Boys. The genie's magical effects are amusingly depicted with some well-edited jump cuts, of the sort later used on 'Bewitched'. Even the plot is more engaging than usual: the Bowery Boys go up against a gang of deeze-dem-doze crooks who want the lamp (and the genie) for themselves; when the lamp falls temporarily into the gangsters' clutches, I actually felt some concern. The ending is quite funny, with Sach innocently making a wish that lands him and Slip (Leo Gorcey) in big trouble. Speaking of Leo Gorcey, did you know he shared a wife with Groucho Marx? Kay Marvis divorced Gorcey, then later married Groucho. I'll bet she had some interesting stories.

I'll rate 'Bowery to Bagdad' 7 points out of 10. It's a toss-up between this film and 'Master Minds' for the funniest Bowery Boys movie.

The fabled lamp of Aladdin with a pixie like genie has turned up in of all places, the Bowery, New York City. And who acquires the lamp? Here's a hint, it wasn't Mayor Wagner.

Bowery To Bagdad finds Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall with joint ownership of the lamp and they seal the partnership so much so that genie Eric Blore can't do anything unless they both agree. Huntz Hall being the simple soul he is wants five malteds, but Gorcey has higher ambitions, but just can't get it done.

Not that the Bowery Boys are the only ones who want the lamp. A gangster with molls Joan Shawlee and Jean Willes played by Robert Bice has gotten wind of it. And a couple of Arab looking characters are in the hunt as well. Blore kind of likes the boys, but they've tangled things up pretty good.

Bowery To Bagdad doesn't have quite the ring of Kaiser Wilhelm's fabled project of the Berlin to Bagdad railroad, but I assure you this one is a much funnier journey.