Jail Busters

Chuck, usually along just to fill one of the three back seats in the Bowery Boys jalopy, actually has a pivotal role in this entry in the series. He gets the role that was ordinarily played by Gabe Dell. But only because Gabe Dell isn't in this one.

In "Jail Busters," Chuck (David Gorcey billed as David Condon), a reporter for The Blade newspaper, gets beaten up while trying to get a story on prison corruption, and the rest of the Bowery Boys, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall), and Butch (Bennie Bartlett), get themselves arrested so that they can complete the expose from inside the prison, while serving a short---they think---six month sentence.

Inside the Big House, they learn that ex-gangsters Ed Lannigan (Anthony Caruso), Tom Tomcyk (John Harmon) and "Big Greenie" (Michael Ross), are living in the lap of luxury within the prison, by paying off Jenkins (Barton MacLane), the corrupt Captain of the Guards.And, on the side, the Boys, Sach in particular, slowly send Dr. Fordyce (Fritz Feld), the prison psychiatrist, off the deep end as they clumsily go about their investigation.

They also learn from the new Prison Warden, Mr. Oswald (Percy Helton), that they have been framed by Bowman (Lyle Talbot), a "Blade" reporter. and are there for a full six-year term.

Outside, Chuck and Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey)are marked for death as they try to help Slip, Sach and Butch. Clearly, it is time for the Bowery Boys to make an exit stage-left out of the prison. Using a tunnel map given them by Hank Gaffney (Harry Tyler), their stir-crazy cellmate, they try an escape. But Gaffney's map brings them up through the floor of the Warden's office, and out of the frying pan into the fire.

Drat! What next?

The Bower Boys made a bunch of movies. Some of them are really funny and some of them aren't. "Jail Busters" is a really funny one. There are a lot of laughs and a bunch of smiles in this one. The supporting cast better than usual. The story is even better than usual. "Jail Busters" is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it.

Those other Bowery Boys besides Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall were lucky to get a line of dialog in any of the films throughout the series. The fact that one of them was David Gorcey, younger brother of Leo and other son of Bernard Gorcey didn't help either. But in Jail Busters we finally think that David gets his place in the sun.

He gets a job working on a newspaper edited by Lyle Talbot and he's on the investigation when he gets beaten up real bad and left for dead. David was working on a story about prison corruption. So the Boys take over where he left off with Louie Dumbrowsky as their outside contact man. Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Benny Bartlett decide to commit a crime and get thrown into state prison, the better for a cover going undercover. It works only too well.

Long before Martin Scorsese showed all those wise guys living the life of luxury in prison in Goodfellas, Anthony Caruso and his crew were doing quite well that way, paying off head guard Barton MacLane and others right under the nose of warden Percy Helton.

Of course this a Bowery Boys comedy and these guys are the last ones anyone would send undercover for anything. Despite Huntz Hall's oafishness and Leo Gorcey mangling the English language the boys do manage to get the job done. In a hilarious couple of scenes they also manage to drive prison psychiatrist Fritz Feld to seek some therapy.

At last, David "Condon" Gorcey (as Charles "Chuck" Anderson) has a job! - he's working undercover, for the "New York Blade", to expose prison corruption. But, just when you thought "Chuck" might take center stage, he's beaten up by gangsters, and sent to a hospital "full of sick people." Learning about his noble task, fellow "Bowery Boys" Leo Gorcey (as "Slip" Mahoney), Huntz Hall (as "Sach" Jones), and Benny Bartlett (as "Butch" Williams) get themselves arrested, to continue the investigation from within prison walls. Or, so they think! - "Jail Busters" features the usual idiocy, with an immensely satisfying supporting cast. Mouth-popping psychiatrist Fritz Feld (as Fernando F. Fordyce) steals the show, as he loses his mind.

***** Jail Busters (9/18/55) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Fritz Feld

In this surprisingly energetic later Bowery Boys flick, the thirty-ninth in the series, Chuck gets a job as a reporter and goes undercover -- wait wait wait! Did I just say Chuck? As in the guy played by Leo Gorcey's brother who stood around in the background for over thirty Bowery Boys movies, sometimes not even getting a line?!? Holy crap they not only finally gave Chuck some lines, but he even gets an old leftover story from the Gabriel Dell days. I'll be damned. Anyway, the plot to this miraculous entry has Chuck going undercover at a prison, where he promptly has the stuffing beaten out of him by some toughs. So the rest of the Boys - Slip, Sach, and Butch - get themselves arrested so they can go into the pen to investigate. I use 'boys' only in reference to the official title of the gang, since these guys are all looking paunchy and middle-aged by this point.

So yeah, David Gorcey gets his moment to shine here. It will come as a surprise to no fan of this series that he doesn't make the most of it. His big part only lasts the first ten minutes or so of the film. Back to being wallpaper, Chuck. Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are up to their usual buffoonery. Leo also gets to play it serious in a cringeworthy dramatic hospital scene. Bernard Gorcey's Louie is fun, particularly when he tries to help the boys escape prison. Bennie Bartlett also gets a lot more lines this time around. Someone was being very charitable towards the lesser Bowery Boys in this entry. Good support from Barton MacLane, Lyle Talbot, Percy Helton, and Anthony Caruso. No pretty girls in this one. Poor Chuck. Back when Gabe got these kinds of stories there was always a pretty girl waiting for him at the end.

I liked this one quite a bit. There's a 'pep' to it that's lacking in this series around this time when it was showing its age more with every movie. There are some really funny scenes and a cute ending. The stuff with the psychiatrist is terrific. Definitely worth a look for fans, if for no other reason than to see David Gorcey finally get the spotlight for a brief moment.