Let's Go Navy!

Let's Go Navy (1951)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Silly but charming entry has Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) getting held up by a couple sailors who take off with nearly two grand. The boys decide to join the Navy to track down the thieves not knowing that the men were just in costume. It goes without saying but once on board the boys do non-stop damage. The 23rd entry is a pretty good one even though we're certainly not going to bear witness to any ground breaking comedy or Oscar-winning performances. I think the film does benefit from a better than normal screenplay that features a lot of longer takes that let the jokes come at a smaller but better pace than many of the previous entries. One of the best examples of this is a rather long sequence where the boys try to swab the decks but Sach keeps doing on dumb thing after another, which eventually gets under the skin of the CPO (Allen Jenkins). The scene goes on a good five minutes and instead of just one or two quick jokes the screenplay allows the scene to play out by letting the actors get into a rather good grove and actually perform. This sequence is followed with an even better one where Slip is feeding the Captain but doesn't realize the cheese on the plate is actually soap. Once again we could have had a couple simple jokes but instead the screenplay allows the scene to expand and really deliver something more than the obvious joke. It goes without saying but there are quite a few jokes that don't work and this includes a rather annoying talking bird that Sach becomes friends with. The actual robbery subplot doesn't have much going for it but I guess they were just looking for any cheap way to get the boys on the boat. Both Gorcey and Hall are up to their usual standards, although it seems like poor Sach is getting dumber with each new film. Charlita doesn't earn an Oscar but she's certainly worth looking at. Warner character actor Jenkins is in good form here and takes quite a beating but it was fun seeing him here. LET'S GO NAVY would appear to be a lazy entry just because the plot of a group of dummies going into the navy isn't original but the familiar set up actually leads to quite a few good jokes so fans of the series should find themselves entertained.

PURE SLAPSTICK. 10 STARS.

The guys are absolutely insane here, joining the Navy to retrieve stolen charity money. This was also the first episode in which they left the country, and according to future series writer and director Ed Bernds, it had to be believable --to a degree. It turns out that a couple of creeps, dressed in naval uniforms, pulled the job. Now all they have to do is find them???

There are endless gags, and Huntz Hall is outrageous. You have to credit ace director William Beaudine for letting him just do his thing. Additionally, this is an early credit for comedy writer Leonard Stern (who used the name Max Adams?), soon to write classic episodes for THE HONEYMOONERS, and many other top tv sitcoms.

Hilarious scene between Sach and the serious captain (played by Jonathan Hale, best known as Mr. Dithers in BLONDIE). Sach radios him and asks "who am I talking to?" The captain shouts, "This is the captain!" Sach asks back, "Do you know WHOOO you are talking to?" NO! Sach exhales.... "BYEEEEE!"

There is a way crazy running gag where poor Allen Jenkins (as Longnecker?) gets wet every time he encounters Sach, and nearly slides off the ship into the Atlantc Ocean!

Leo Gorcey has fun accidentally serving soap, instead of cheese to his commanding officer. SOAP BUBBLES ALL OVER THE PLACE! This had to have been borrowed from the THREE STOOGES.

A true labor of love from all the Bowery Boys who you can tell were having a good ole time. And that is the secret to great comedy. Leo Gorcey's daughter, Brandy, said her dad was a true comedian and he knew his stuff. Spot on.

PS: Sach's alias name is Hobernocker!

According to film notes Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and the Motion Picture Herald noted, this was one of the funniest episodes to date. The writers at the Herald added that a test audience started laughing 30 seconds into the film!

Great supporting cast of well known character actors, such as Tom Neal (as Joe), future director Richard Benedict (as Red), veteran actor Tom Kennedy (as Donovan) and Peter Mamakos as Nuramo. Actress Charlita plays pretty Princess Papoola.

Best bit is the sped up shell game between Sach, the parrot and a con-man. This was the final film by producer Jan Grippo, who retired after his wife died. Variety would pay tribute to his great work. Jerry Thomas would replace him, producing a string of classic early 50s episodes. Next up, CRAZY OVER HORSES! Do not miss that one.

Remastered by Warner Brothers, who were very wise to purchase the series and released them to TCM. WB features 6 to 8 films per dvd box set.

The Bowery Boys turned the army upside down in "Bowery Battalion" and now it's the navy's turn to taste the slapstick humor of the BBs. In this one, Slip and Sach has collected over $1600 to help needy families in The Bowery. But two stickup men disguised as navy sailors rob them and get away, thanks to security team Chuck, Butch, and Whitey snoozing away in their "armored" car.

The cops aren't much help so Slip decides that the best way to find two sailors is to join the navy, temporarily. One of the thieves has a distinctive tattoo on his chest. So, they sign up and are assigned to a battleship, which they proceed to demolish with their own brand of deck swabbing. Sach somehow acquires a talking parrot, which turns out to be the smartest member of The Bowery Boys gang. Slip falls prey to a fast moving shell game, but Sach plays and manages to recover the lost money with some to spare. That is, with an assist from the parrot.

The funniest bits occur with the deck swabbing, and when Sach crawls into the barrel of a naval gun, which about to be fired.

Meanwhile, back at Louie's Sweet Shop, the robbers have been renting the room above the place. They turn out to be phony sailors, but how are the guys going to nab them?

Watch early in the movie for Tom Kennedy as police officer Donovan, who talks to Slip about the robbery. He is best remembered as Detective Gahagan in the "Torchy Blane" series.

Louie's role is somewhat diminished but Chuck, Butch, and Whitey all have increased screen time and lines.

Let's Go Navy (1951) is one of the better entries in the Bowery Boys series.

The Bowery Boys (or at least Slip and Sach, ie: Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall) get robbed of over $1600 by two men dressed in bogus sailor suits. So the gang figure they can get into the Navy temporarily and recover their cash by searching everyone aboard ship for a revealing tattoo which one of the crooks wore on his chest. Pretty predictable comic mayhem occurs at sea, like the boys having to swab the decks and dishing out slapstick routines to their superiors in the process. It's not a bad entry in this long-running series. Huntz Hall seems to have drank a lot of coffee while shooting this one, as he's really rather charged up. Or maybe by now he's just really full force into his dimwitted Sach characterization. **1/2 out of ****

"Dansant (meaning 'Dance and') Chowder party" chairman Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney) and "Eagle Beak" sidekick Huntz Hall (as Sach Jones) celebrate raising $1,683 for needy New York City families, but are robbed by two crooks posing as sailors, before they delivering the funds to a local charity. To wit, Mr. Gorcey, Mr. Hall, William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) decide to track down the crooked sailors by joining the Navy. Gorcey asks, "Who but a silly moron would ever suggest looking for two sailors in the navy?"

"The Bowery Boys" spend much of their time swabbing the deck, which leads to the expected slip-ups. They look for the distinctive tattoo one of the robbers had on his chest, but everyone seems to keep their shirt on in this Navy. The showers don't turn out to be a good place to look for suspects, either - in once scene, Hall showers in full bed clothes and cap. "Let's Go Navy!" could be described as an average entry in the sitcom series. Possibly, Gorcey sneaks in the word "pee" for "tea" during once scene. Blustery Allen "Top Cat" Jenkins (as Mervin Longnecker) is a welcome guest star.

**** Let's Go Navy! (7/29/51) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Allen Jenkins, William 'Billy' Benedict