Positively INSANE.
This was the second episode directed by Edward Bernds, who was brought in as "new blood" to see how he could upgrade the series, as opposed to long time director William Beaudine. Bernds also wrote material for the series, and with many funny ideas, associated with the THREE STOOGES. In fact, as the last reviewer noted, you'll see a lot of typical Stooge antics (tailored for Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall) in subsequent episodes.
As a result, CLIPPED WINGS has been regarded as one of the funniest Bowery Boys films. It received many positive reviews, more than likely because it was fast-paced and loaded with terrific dialogue, if not more of Gorcey's classic malprops.
This time around, the guys join the Air Force --accidentally-- because their old pal Dave Moreno is being held for treason?
Writers Charles Marion and Elwood Ullman may have originally written the role for Gabe Dell, who had left the series a few years earlier. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. Gabe had moved on to serious stage work on Broadway, later to return in tv and movies.
The big gag here is a case of mistaken identity, which was a familiar occurance for Sach. In this case, a female cadet called H Jones is confused with Sach (Horace Jones) and he's immediately assigned to the all female WAF barracks! There he meets NO nonsense, by the book Sergeant Anderson (played to the hilt by Renie Riano). Renie was a veteran actress, appearing in scores of popular films, later with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO.
It turns out Dave Moreno is actually being used by the military as bait to lure and expose a nest of spies. Between the drama, it also shows what a great comedy team Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall made. Best of the best has them flying a runaway plane while Sach reads a wacky book called, "How to Face Death in the Air." The final chapter is entitled, "Now That You're DEAD?"
Sach asks Slip, "How come we don't carry guns?" To which Slip replies, "Because with you around, I'd wind up in the electric chair!"
Sach also puts in his two cents (after having been injected with truth serum!), and yells at Slip, "Chief, you're an egotistical, ignorant egomaniac. And that's the truth!" The serum is also used on the crooks who spill the beans! CASE CLOSED.
Behind the series, it was not all laughs. Leo Gorcey clashed with Ed Bernds. Bernds wanted him to follow his direction and Gorcey outright refused. He preferred lots of adlibs, and in the end was right. Bernds many years later admitted had Leo followed the script word by word, the comedy impact would have been less.
Look for bad guy (often with the Three Stooges) Philip Van Zandt, Jean Dean (from ANGELS IN DISGUISE) returns as Hilda. Also Lyle Talbot, as the target plane operator, Henry Kulky as Sgt. Broski and Arthur Space as a federal agent.
Followed by PRIVATE EYES. Remastered on dvd via Warner Brothers. 6 to 8 episodes per box set. Thanks to TCM for running these classics.
