Trouble Makers

The latest money making scheme of Leo Gorcey involves him and the gang with a telescope charging folks a fee for stargazing. In fact Huntz Hall is checking out one thoroughly heavenly body going down the Bowery. But when Hall points the telescope upward he and Leo Gorcey spot a murder in a window of a swank hotel blocks away. They report the crime to their old pal and gang member beat cop Gabriel Dell.

Not finding any trace of any murder where John Ridgely is staying the guys keep on the case. Dell gets himself in a jackpot at his precinct for leaving his beat on a wild goose chase so it seems. But he does get to meet Helen Parrish the daughter of the deceased whose body was found in the Bronx. They might have a future.

Two colorful character actors appear here as well. Fritz Feld playing the officious hotel manager who is driven to distraction by Leo Gorcey's grammar and colorful language and the eternal dumbness of Huntz Hall. There's also Lionel Stander recently released from jail who thinks that Hall is an old criminal associate with a recent bit of plastic surgery. As if anyone would want to make themselves look like Horace DeBussy Jones.

The regulars and these guest stars make Trouble Makers worthwhile to watch.

Trouble Makers (1948)

*** (out of 4)

Good entry in the long-running series has Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) witnessing a murder inside a hotel but no one will believe them as no body was found there. Gabe (Gabriel Dell), now working as a cop, tries to investigate but ends up suspended off the force so it's up to the boys to try and figure out who did the killing and why. This was a nice surprise as it turned out to be one of the better entries in the series as we get some very good laughs, nice crime action and a fairly good mystery as well. These Bowery Boys movies often tried mixing various genres but rarely did they all work so well as they do here. What really helps the film is the wonderful supporting cast, which is full of some veteran actors. By having such great support the film didn't have to rely on Gorcey and Hall to get all the laughs. Lionel Stander, who would be blacklisted in upcoming years, is perfect as "Hatchet" Moran, a gangster who loves his friend "Abby" who just happens to be a machine gun. John Ridgely, veteran of many Warner classics, plays Silky Thomas, the main suspect. Both actors are excellent in their roles with Stander getting a great number of laughs and Ridgely being very believable in the crime boss role. Also strong here is Helen Parrish as the murder man's daughter. Both Gorcey and Hall are a lot better here than they were in a couple of the previous films. Gorcey gets some wonderful mangled dialogue that he nails perfectly and even Hall gets some terrific scenes. He plays extremely well with Stander as the two go down memory lanes of when they were knocking off various locations (Stander's character thinks Sach is a former gangster). Dell is also really coming into his own, acting wise, even though he's playing yet a different character. This film really stands out because it actually appears like they took their time with a good screenplay and got some respectable actors to help share the load. The film starts off with some great laughs and they continue all the way through the picture.

Ever the entrepreneurs, in this one the Bowery Boys are hawking star gazing to passers-by for 5 cents a pop. While playing around with the telescope, Sach sees two men fighting in a room of a hotel several blocks away. Then Slip takes over and sees one of the men strangled by the other and then he convinces up and coming rookie cop Gabe Marino to leave his beat and investigate the incident. However, when they arrive at the hotel, there is no body in the room. Slip tells Sach "to search every nook and granny." When the police captain arrives, Slip explains to him what he saw but that "we can't find the corpus delicious." With tips from Slip, Gabe is putting a big bookmaker's operations under a lot of pressure and in return they set Gabe up and he ends up suspended from force for 90 days. This Bowery Boys outing benefits from a strong supporting cast in Fritz Feld as the delightfully officious hotel manager, Lionel Stander as the humorously murderous "Hatchet" Moran and Frankie Darro as the small time thug Ben Feathers.

Twelfth Bowery Boys movie from Monogram has Slip and Sach witnessing a murder through a telescope. But when they take the cops to the scene of the crime, the body is gone and no one believes there ever was a murder. So, naturally, they set out to investigate the matter and find the killer. An enjoyable entry in the series. Nothing to get excited about but good. Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are their usual lovable selves. The rest of the Boys (Bennie Bartlett, David Gorcey, William Benedict) don't get a lot to do in this one. Gabriel Dell plays a cop this time and figures heavily into the plot. Bernard Gorcey returns as Louie and he's always a treat. Helen Parrish provides the pretty. John Ridgely and Frankie Darro are solid baddies, but it's Lionel Stander who steals the show as an ex-con who mistakes Sach for a criminal he used to know. It's not the best Bowery Boys picture but it's entertaining. The short runtime and quick pace help. Any movie where the bad guys have names like Silky, Feathers, and Hatchet is going to be a fun one.

Trouble Makers was kind of in the middle of the Bowery Boys stories. Sach (Huntz Hall) and Slip (Leo Gorcey, along with his real dad and brother, of course!) get into the usual trouble when they accidentally witness a moidah. keep an eye out for Lionel Stander, who made films for years, but we all know him as Max in Hart to Hart. in this one, slip and sach take up jobs as bellboys in a hotel to keep an eye on things and figure out how the body disappeared. of course, they take on the bad guys, and there must be a big rough and tumble at the end. bake at 350 for an hour and you have a bowery boys adventure. Directed by Reginald Le Borg.. the first of three he would make with the gang. it's the usual fare, probably aimed at a younger audience.