Anjos Disfarçados

Charles R. Marion, who wrote many Bowery Boys films (later the ADDAMS FAMILY on tv), must have been inspired by the film noir rage of the late 1940s. The net result was ANGELS IN DISGUISE, a goofy on steroids mystery/adventure with lots of shady characters, and, of course, Leo Gorcey narrating the crazy proceedings?

Here, the gang goes undercover, to avenge the death of a veteran cop and friend, getting the goods on a notorious ring of robbers. The moody music, the dark settings and a shoot-out make this one a lot of fun, add Gorcey destroying the English language.

Louie (Bernard Gorcey) steals the show as "Big Louie", carrying a violin in a violin case meant for a machine gun? Check out the slickster threads the gang wears, particularly Whitey (Billy Benedict) as they try to impress the bad guys. Edward Ryan (a former child actor) plays the short-fuse leader of the Loop Gang. Former model Jean Dean plays the alluring gun mall, later to appear in movie serials. Jean Yarbrough, who was also associated with Abbott and Costello, did a fine job of directing and you can tell everybody was having a blast, especially Huntz Hall.

Yes, this was filmed around Monogram Pictures, you can see the famous brick alley, used in many other films and office windows. The building is still around today, and now owned by Public Television in Hollywood.

One of the best of the entire series, and it shows. What a treat. Remastered by Warner Brothers and in box sets, generally containing eight episodes each.

"Angels in Disguise" is certainly the most unusual Bowery Boys film. Instead of their usual style, this one is told like it's film noir...with Leo Gorcey providing noir-style narration and a much darker and more serious tone than their other films. It's also a lot more violent and gritty. It's a real shame...as I think this is the best film the team made...and a shame they didn't do more like it.

Sach and Slip are copy boys working for a newspaper. Soon they learn that a cop friend of the gang is injured...and his partner killed by some mobsters. As you'd expect, Slip decides to investigate on his own and soon ends up involved with the gang...a gang headed by a most unusual and cultured young man.

While Sach is, as usual, dopey and annoying, it's nice to see Slip playing a more serious role...along with his usual malapropisms and odd way of speaking. My favorite of these is in summary!

Overall, a very welcome change for the team. While I've seen nearly all the Bowery Boys' films, I must admit that they are very uneven and quite a few of them are downright terrible. "Angels in Disguise" certainly is not terrible. In fact, I really enjoyed it.

Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) are lowly copy boys in the New York Daily Chronicle newspaper. They get news that their police friend Gabe Moreno is in the hospital after a shootout. They decide to go undercover to do their own investigation.

This is a satire of a noir crime drama. It's Slip and Sach pretending to be hard. That's a funny concept and I really like the premise initially. The jokes level off and the movie loses steam over time. The funny premise doesn't lead to a lot of laughs. The movie seems to struggle between the two opposing genres and can't quite combine them. It needs to be funnier.

The usual cast of Leo Gorcey, with his brother, AND his father. Add in Huntz Hall and Bill Benedict, to make up the "Bowery Boys", in this middle chapter of the Bowery Boys films. In this one, Slip is a copy boy at the local newspaper, so he's hearing the good and the bad, first-hand. When he hears of a local robbery, the gang jumps in and starts investigatin'. wordplay. mis-understandings. slapstick comedy. the usual horsing around.... playing to the audience. It's pretty good! Directed by Jean yarbrough; had directed a whole bunch of Bowery Boys films, as well as Abbott & Costello! doesn't get better than that. lots of Yarbrouh's stuff showing on Turner Classics on a regular basis.

"Angels in Disguise" is a mixed bag. While it does a great job of putting the Bowery Boys in a film noir style movie, it does not do a great job delivering many laughs. This movie is more interesting than it is funny. In fact, there are very few laughs. There is, on the other hand, a surprising amount violence. It's worth a watch but not repeated viewings.