Looking for Danger

HOW in the world were the Bowery Boys considered movie material? They aren't funny, they aren't tough guys, they aren't smart, they can't act, and they all look like they haven't had a bath in several months.

From the 1940s up until the late 50s, a buttload of Bowery Boys films were made. Considering that before this Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall also made similar sort of pictures as the East Side Kids, the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Kids, this made for a huge number of films. By 1957, the 'kids' really were no longer kids but middle- aged and most of the original members were long gone. Just Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey remained....and after the death of long-time cast member 'Louie' (Leo's father, Bernard Gorcey), Leo got sick of it and quit making films. This left just Hall and an all-new group of idiots to make just eight more completely unnecessary films. The plots were tired, the characters no longer endearing and they were not easy to watch. This is the second to last of the Bowery Boys films.

When the film begins, a government bureaucrat arrives to demand Sach (Hall) return some pot that he kept after serving in the war. Considering it was a cheap pot and this was over a dozen years later, the plot is already a bit thin and contrived. What follows is a flashback where you see Sach and Duke in the service---posing as Germans for a secret mission in order to learn the identity of 'The Hawk'.

As the Bowery Boys films progressed, they became less funny and more repetitive. Add to this a new strange chemistry post-Gorcey, it's not a great formula for success and I'm amazed they managed to make seven of these turkeys. This one, like the rest, really isn't very funny and just seems tired. Watch if you must...I wouldn't.

Contrary to other reviews, I quite enjoyed "Looking for Danger". It is no better or worse than any of the other in the long series. The series was never expected to win Oscars or blaze trails through Hollywood. There were meant to fulfill the other half of a double feature. Something amusing enough and not turn people away, and cheap enough to make a profit and sell more popcorn. This particular movie may even have been a little more imaginative and Huntz Hall may have even better to watch, without the scowling face and killjoy manner of Leo Gorcey, inhibiting him. Watching this series is like eating at MacDonald's. MacDonald's is not elegant dining, but at least you know what you're getting.

Looking for Danger (1957)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent entry in the Bowery Boys series starts off in the present day as Sach (Huntz Hall) and Duke (Stanley Clements) are inside a diner talking about a string of robberies when a government man walks in asking about their days in the war and a pot that went missing. Duke then flashes back to their WWII days when he and Sach had to go undercover as Nazis and try to bring down an Arab group working for the Germans. LOOKING FOR DANGER was the forty-sixth entry in the series and there's no question that fresh ideas were few and far between in the final dozen films but this here turned out to be one of the better entries. There's certainly no ground-breaking writing or Oscar-worthy performances but there are enough laughs to make the 62-minutes fly by so fans of the series will certainly want to check this one out. I thought the film had a pretty bold sense of humor about the war. I'm not certainly how many movies were making fun of WWII events by 1957 but I personally haven't seen too many and for this reason alone much of the humor really stands out. One of the funniest scenes happens when Sach and Duke get the undercover job simply because their Sergent is told that this was a death mission and he sees this as a way of getting rid of them. Another funny joke happens when we get to the Arab country and Sach offends them by teaching their women jive dancing. There's quite a bit of humor that's certainly politically incorrect today including many jokes aimed at Arabs and their culture and it should go without saying but the German people also get made fun of quite a bit. The language as well as Hall and Clements' accent are pretty funny in their own right. The two actors once again show that their chemistry kept getting better with each passing film as the two work quite well off one another here and I also thought it was fairly interesting seeing Duke get pushed around by Sach for a change. If you're looking for a strong story then it's best to look else where because everything here is just meant to set up a joke. It's doubtful those who don't enjoy the series will find anything of value here but fans should enjoy the humor and the fast pace.

Still hanging out at "Clancy's Cafe" in New York City, haphazard Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) and "The Bowery Boys" are worrying about local gangsters when a government agent arrives to demand Stanley Clements (as Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie) return a cooking pot he was issued during service in World War II. This leads to a flashback with Mr. Hall and Mr. Clements embarking on an important wartime mission...

Interestingly, "The Bowery Boys" in the past resemble the present team. David Gorcey (as Chuck), Jimmy Murphy (as Myron) and Eddie LeRoy (as Blinky) are there, along with Dick Elliott (as Mike Clancy) taking over the café proprietor role for the duration. It's almost impossible to recall the original "cooking pot" plot as Hall and Clements impersonate German officers, then don Arabian garb. "Looking for Danger" repeatedly lands the hapless duo in jail.

*** Looking for Danger (10/6/57) Austen Jewell ~ Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements, Lili Kardell, Richard Avonde