Loose in London

It is with this film that the focus of the Bowery Boys movies becomes pure comedy. The change from gangster melodramas to comedy is gradual, and many of the Jan Grippo and Jerry Thomas films which precede this one point in the direction of comedy. Ben Schwab, the new producer of the series, wanted a purer sense of comedy. After doing "Jalopy", which used the regular writers and the regular director, William "One Take" Beaudine, Schwab replaced them with Ed Bernds and Elwood Ullman. These men had been working on Three Stooges shorts for years. Ullman was always a writer and Bernds had started as a sound effects man and had graduated to writer-director. The Bernds directed Columbia short comedies are usually superior to the ones produced at the same time by Jules White. Bernds and Ullman brought their short subject slapstick comedy style to the Bowery Boys and this produced the funniest movies in the series. Sure, the stories might have been better before, but the formula of someone walking in Louie's Sweet Shop and taking the boys out of their element was a great set-up for slapstick comedy. The focus of the films became Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall; Bernard Gorcey is given better material, but David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett slip more into the background or even out of the films. Schwab also replaced longtime musical director Edward Kay, whose music consists of transformations of "Sidewalks of New York" and "B" western clichés, with the more modern and comic sound of Marlin Skiles.

Loose in London (1953)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Pretty good Bowery Boys entry has Sach (Huntz Hall) being informed that his rich uncle in Britain is about to die and needs to meet him to see if he's civil enough for the family money. Slip (Leo Gorcey), Louie (Bernard Gorcey) and the "other two" end up in Britain as well as they try and teach Sach the proper way to act but soon it appears some jealous family members might be trying to knock him off. Number thirty in the series is actually a refreshing change of pace as William Beaudine was replaced by Edward Bernds who helped co-write the screenplay with Edward Ullman. Ullman was a veteran of countless Three Stooges shorts and it's clear he brought some of that frantic pacing to this film. There were countless times during the film where you'd think you were watching a Stooges short simply because of how fast pace the film was. You can also see several examples of Hall doing a mixture of Curly and Larry including one sequence where he gives that angry squeal that Curly often gives after getting frustrated. We're also treated to much more physical humor and poor Louie takes the majority of the abuse including his scenes on a ship where he drinks a tad bit too much and ends up getting knocked out, which is why he ends up in London. Both Gorcey and Hall seem re-energized by the newer material and it's clear that Leo is back of full strength. I certainly wouldn't say this was one of his better performances in the series but at least it seems like he's into what's going on. One of the funniest bits in the series is when Hall thinks a stuffed fox on the wall is moving and he gets too close only to have the creature attack his nose. Those hoping to see the boys actually in London might be somewhat disappointed because everything that does take place overseas is simply shot against rear projection. That really doesn't hurt the film too much as everything is so fast paced and energetic that you can't help but enjoy all the madness going on. At 62-minutes the film goes by very quickly and the crazy ending will certainly have a smile on your face. LOOSE IN London is a long way from a classic but following such bad entries as the previous three films you can't help but see it as a mini-masterpiece for the series.

Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones is an heir to an English fortune. He and the gang travel to London. The Earl's other relatives disapprove of Sach and work to scare him away. On the other hand, the Earl takes a liking to Sach. With the intention to rewrite an ancient wrong, he insists on making Sach his principal heir.

The Bowery Boys go to England. There is a Scooby-Doo feel to it. It's light weight and fitting for the franchise. It's fine. Fans will like it.

The Bowery Boys movies are hit and miss. This one is one of the hits. There are more smiles than laughs but that's okay. The movie is enjoyable. The boys are all in fine form, especially Huntz Hall. The last fifteen minutes or so of "Loose in London" is actually really funny. I put this one in the Bowery Boys win column.

The Bowery Boys films were mindless entertainment. This is NOT meant as a criticism--they were quickly made and interesting B-movies with very modest pretenses. I mention this because you shouldn't expect a film that you'd find on a disc from The Criterion Collection or at a fancy film festival--they were popular entertainment for the masses. Because of that, I cut their films a lot of slack and realize they aren't 'high art'!

"Loose in London" is one of the later films from the Boys. Because of that Sach and Slip are looking practically geriatric (they're hardly boys any more) and all the familiar old members of the gang have long since disappeared. It's simply the Sach and Slip show.

The film begins with Sach (Huntz Hall) learning that a very, very distant relative in Britain wants to see him. Once there, the gang learn that the old man plans on leaving his fortune to someone...but hasn't yet decided. As for Sach's other family members, they've decided...Sach must die because he looks like the likely candidate because the Uncle seems to like him a lot! What follows is predictable and a nice time-passer. And, as usual, they manage to escape death...though you'd sure think these idiots would be the FIRST to die in real life!

Nothing special, nothing bad here. The usual blend of slapstick and laughs and nothing more.