Hold That Hypnotist

Even without Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall is pretty darn funny in this episode, which also boasts some fancy sets and wardrobe. The wardrobe folks went over the top here. Allied Artists obviously put a little more money into this original story, a take-off on the Bridey Murphy craze of the 50s.

Note, a woman named Virginia Tighe, under hypnosis by Dr. Morey Bernstein, claimed she lived a previous life as an Irish girl called Bridey Murphy, recalling actual historical events, which eventually brought authenticity to the bizarre story.

In this case (purely fictional!), the guys' landlady, Mrs. Kelly, claims she MAY have been Cleopatra, thanks to a hypnotist called Dr. Noble, played by Robert Foulk, a natural in this type of role. Sach and Duke believe the doc is a crook -- until Sach is hypnotized! It turns out he lived in the 17th century, working as a tax collector called Algy Winkle(?), who won a treasure map from Blackbeard the pirate.

Couple of insane thoughts here... Crooked Noble naturally wants to find the whereabouts of the map, HOWEVER, if he really had the capability of putting Sach under and revealing a past life, he would have become rich and famous anyway. In fact, everyone would be rich!

Well written fluff by Lou Morheim and Max Gerath, who went onto some notable movie and tv productions. They used the pen name Dan Pepper here. Guess Lou didn't want it known he wrote for the Bowery Boys. This was the directorial debut of Austen Jewell (who had a cool name), long time assistant director for the series. Austen claims Huntz Hall went to bat for him and got him the job, and was a super guy to work with, along with Stanley Clements. He later became production manager for classic movies like, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. Super trivia question for movie buffs.

Fun support from pretty and perky character actress Jane Nigh (as Cleo) and big guy Mel Welles (a staple in Roger Corman's films), cast as the one and only Blackbeard. This would be Queenie Smith's last appearance as Mrs. Kelly, a well known acting teacher in Hollywood for many years. Dick Elliott has a small role, who would replace Queenie as Mike Clancy, the owner of the sweetshop (formerly Louie's).

Followed by SPOOK CHASERS. Remastered by Warner Brothers on dvd, generally with 6 to 8 films per box set. Thanks to TCM for faithfully running the entire series.

Leo gorcey had already left the bowery boys series after his dad passed away. But this one still has huntz hall, and leo's brother david. Without leo, the last couple chapters just didn't have the zing and wordplay gags that the earlier ones had. Here, sach discovers his landlord is getting hypnotized, and believes everything the hypnotist says. The usual misunderstandings and goof ups. Sach gets hypnotized, and stumbles into a plot to find a buried treasure. You'll recognize dick elliott, the desk clerk; he was also the mayor on andy griffith! That's probably the most notable thing in this one. No big deal. It's okay. It kind of just ambles along. The series was getting pretty tired by this time. Directed by austen jewell. A sixty one minute shortie.

"Hold That Hypnotist" is bottom barrel Bowery Boys. There are almost zero laughs in this movie. I feel funny saying this about a Bowery Boys movie but this one is kind of dumb. The only thing going for it is the short running time (61 mins). Huntz Hall does his thing but he's not enough to make this one worth while.

This is the 44th of 48 Bowery Boys movies. And, being one of the later ones, Leo Gorcey isn't in the film and was replaced by Stanley Clements as leader of the gang.

When the story begins, Duke (Clements) is convinced that the landlady is being bilked by a local hypnotist. The hypnotist claims to be able to take people back to previous lives through his services and so it's not surprising Duke assumes the man is a crook. Soon, he and the gang arrive at the hypnotist's apartment, as he's having a party for the press...and they pretend to be from a local paper. Duke challenges the man to hypnotize and regress him...and nothing happens. But Sach is hypnotized and he recalls being a 17th century tax collector. This tax collector, according to this regression, bested Blackbeard while gambling and obtained his treasure map. Now, back in 1957, Duke insists that they research more about this tax collector so that they can, perhaps, find the treasure.

This is a most unusual installment because Sach is, uncharacteristically, not all that stupid. In fact, he seems pretty clever at times! As for the regression bit, it's not unusual as Sach had all sorts of strange things happen to him in the later films in the series....and this is no stranger than most! Overall, mildly enjoyable and mindless fun. Better than usual.

By the way, there really are hypnotists who claim they can regress people to previous lives or to in utero recollections. Their claims are unproven and are very dubious to say the least.

The Bowery Boys help their sick landlady Mrs. Kelly. It turns out that she paid hypnotist Dr. Simon Noble to 'regress' her. The boys say that he's a fake, but Mrs. Kelly refuses to believe them. They set out to disprove him. Noble challenges Duke to get hypnotized and Sach is right behind him. Sach regresses to 1682 when he's a tax collector who meets up with Blackbeard.

Slip is gone and Duke takes his place. Duke is simply no Slip. On top of that, I don't care about the regression section. It's not that funny and it's all in Sach's mind. Even the investigation detracts from the comedy. Duke is simply too serious and the humor gets drown out.