Lucky Losers

Director bill beaudine made a TON of films in the 1940s and 1950s with slip and the gang, under their various group names. Leo gorcey, huntz hall, and gang. As usual, the brother and dad gorcey are in this one as well. When a friend of the gang ends up D. E. D. Dead, they start investigating. They even take card dealer lessons, so they can infiltrate the scene of the crime. We watch a pro in slow motion, showing us the tricks of the trade, to make sure of a winning hand in blackjack. The big hollywood star lyle talbot is mcdermott, owner of the illegal gambling club. Some other familiar faces here.... dick elliott (the loud guy in the bar) was the mayor on andy griffith. And keep an eye out for chester clute... he was a background character in so many films. It's okay.. the usual zany goings on in a bowery boys film. Don't look too closely, just enjoy the ride.

Lucky Losers has our set of overage delinquents from the Bowery investigating some illegal gambling after a prominent Wall Street broker commits 'suicide'. Selmar Jackson had gotten Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall jobs on Wall Street and the boys take his demise quite personal.

Their investigation leads them to a gambling club, illegal of course, that's operated by Lyle Talbot and his mostly fetching moll Hillary Brooke. In order to crash that world they get a course in how to be a crooked gambler and what to watch out for by small time grifter Harry Tyler. The scenes with Tyler are the best in the film.

This is a pretty good entry in The Bowery Boys series, a must for fans of the eternal delinquents.

Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) are working as runners in a New York brokerage firm owned by David J. Thurston. His daughter Carol Thurston is dating TV producer Gabe Moreno. Out of nowhere, Gabe announces David's apparent suicide, but Slip does not buy it. Slip and Sach start investigating and come upon a crooked gambling club.

This is a The Bowery Boys flick. I'm a little lost especially with the dice game. I think I know the rules, but I'm not that clear about the gambling while in the movie. Sach is funny in his stupidity until everybody takes a backseat to Louie in the second half.

Inspired by television commentator pal Gabriel Dell (as Gabe Moreno)'s investigative reports, Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) and Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) go undercover as Las Vegas-styled gambling card and dice dealers. Joining the crime-solving duo at New York's swanky "High Hat Club" are fellow "Bowery Boys" William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck). Fatherly "Sweet Shop" owner Bernard Gorcey (as "Arizona" Louie) poses as a high-stakes gambler.

Quick, well-paced, and familiar Bowery shenanigans, with the regular cast in fine, comfortable form. Their guest-starring gang of adversaries - veteran Lyle Talbot (as Bruce McDermott), classy Hillary Brooke (as Countess Margo), and attractive Joseph Turkel (as Johnny Angelo) - are especially appealing. And, Harry Tyler (as Wellington Jefferson "Buffer" McGee) makes a noteworthy impression as the hawkish street vendor who teaches Gorcey and the gang how crooked casino owners work the tables to cheat their gambling customers out of hard-earned cash.

****** Lucky Losers (5/14/50) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Hillary Brooke

"Lucky Losers" is too straight-forward to be a memorable Bowery Boys picture, though it does contain a good supporting cast. It's just not wacky enough and it lacks memorable set pieces. The scenes with Louis posing as a rich gambling fool, for example, fall flat. Still, it manages to be quite amusing and the Gorcey-Hall chemistry is as incomparable as ever.

Hillary Brooke is one of the glories of B cinema (although, regrettably, she doesn't have much to do here). Dick Elliott, who plays the drunken conventioneer, would turn up as Mike Clancy in a couple entries at the tail end of the series.