Hold That Baby!

The story finds the gang turning Louie's back room into a laundromat. One of the customers deliberately leaves her baby behind....which, even given her circumstances really didn't make any sense. It seems the distraught woman has a couple nasty old relatives trying to take away her baby's inheritance....and to do this, they'll stop at nothing. They soon arrange to have the mother committed to a mental institution against her will using an evil doctor...but what about the baby? This is where a gang up thugs come into the story...as it's their job to make sure the baby stays lost...at least until the will is read.

The plot, as I mentioned above, didn't make a ton of sense. But I really did like seeing Slip disguised as a doctor...that was pretty funny and surprisingly well acted. Otherwise, it's the standard Bowery Boys stuff...undemanding and silly entertainment.

10 STARS

Prime Bowery Boys entry, with a terrific mix of drama and comedy. Good acting on the part of Anabel Shaw as Laura Andrews, whose baby is heir to a fortune and may be kidnapped. Anabel really turns on the tears. She had a distinguished career, having appeared opposite Vincent Price in the cult thriller SHOCK, a few years earlier. Her next film was GUN CRAZY (1950), in the role of Ruby.

This time around, Slip and Sach (with the help of Louie, of course) are running a successful laundry business? Laura, who believes her evil aunts will harm her child, leaves the baby with the Bowery Boys! This is really good stuff, and with some fine acting, especially veteran actress Ida Moore as the sinister aunt.

I agree with the last reviewer; Slip gets the best lines, but Sach gets into all the goofy trouble. There's a laugh out loud scene where Slip tries to commit Sach to an insane asylum(!) in order to meet with Laura, who is being held against her will. Slip plays a wacky doctor with thick glasses!

Gabe Dell is back at the detective, and fun to watch. This was the last appearance of Frankie Darro in the series, playing bad guy Bananas.

Best scene is when Slip pulls the baby out of a washing machine and exclaims.... "What'll they think of next!" Also Louie cooks up a hamburger, fries and a drink for the baby?

This story may have actually been influenced by the famous Gloria Vanderbilt custody case at the time, and the homicidal aunts were modeled after the two deadly sisters in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE.

Remastered by Warner Brothers in dvd boxes of 6 to 8 episodes.

The habitually unemployed "Bowery Boys" are losers at the laundromat; so, entrepreneurial Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney) decides to "take in" laundry, using the spare room at father Bernard (as "Louie")'s Sweet Shop". As usual, Mr. Gorcey is amusingly assisted by Huntz Hall (as Sach De Bussy Jones), who fantasizes about "Cynthia", his department store wax dummy girlfriend. William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) are also on hand. During the expected washing machine mishaps, a mysterious woman (Anabel Shaw) leaves a baby at "Mahoney Enterprises"...

"Hold That Baby!" finds the comedy team of Gorcey & Hall in fine form. Hall's scenes with "Cynthia" are a highlight, along with the entire "Midvale Sanitarium" sequence - watch as quick-thinking Gorcey passes Hall off as a nut-house hopeful, and poses as a bumbling doctor. The Charles R. Marion & George Schnitzer screenplay is excellent; and, each Jan Grippo performer is perfectly cast, with the entire production running very smoothly. It's ably directed by Reginald Le Borg, and features particularly outstanding appearances by Ida Moore and Florence Auer (as Faith and Hope Andrews), a delightfully greedy old duo.

******** Hold That Baby! (6/26/49) Reginald Le Borg ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Ida Moore, Florence Auer

It's a Bowery boys. Made right about in the center of the collection of the Bowery Boys films, 1949. co-starring his brother and his dad, of course. and Huntz Hall. in this one, Slip run a laundry out of the back in the soda shop. first, someone abandons a baby, and then the washers explode. another typical bowery boys story. this one is a little sillier than usual, if that's possible! the boys get caught up in a kidnapping scheme, and could end up in big trouble! Anabel Shaw (only 26 credits, on imdb) is Laura, who brings the baby to the laundromat. they actually put blackface on a baby. oh my. this one is over the top. not their best. Slip (Leo Gorcey) died quite young at 51. these show on Turner Classic now and then. directed by Reg LeBorg. he only directed three of the bowery films. LeBorg had also directed a bunch of the Joe Palooka films. this one is okay, but nothing earth shattering.

"Don't interrupt my strain of thought"

The Bowery Boys open up a laundry service in the rear of Louie Dumbrowski's sweet shop and come across a bundle of joy that's been left there by its mom. Turns out the kid is the heir to a fortune and a group of greedy folks would love to get their hands on him. This is a typical entry in the series with most of the good lines and jokes coming in the first half of the picture. Contains a morbid moment where a doctor tries to convince authorities that the mother's crazy and gives her an unnecessary injection.

Standard Bowery Boys fare.