Spook Chasers

Diner owner Mike Clancy is told by his doctor to get some rest as the Bowery Boys cause general mayhem. Sach (Huntz Hall) tries to help but you know how that goes. A real estate agent and his assistant overhear their conversation and offer a country home for sale. The boys take Mike up to the place but it's a wreck. They try to fix up the place and end up finding hidden loot. The place was formerly owned by a gangster's widow and other gangsters come looking for their money. That's before the ghosts.

It's more of the same from Sach and the Bowery Boys. It's rather late in the franchise and I would think the audience of its time must be getting tired of it all. Aside from some new personnel, this is very much the same old stuff. It's not necessarily good but it's not actually a bad thing. You get what you expect.

The Bowery Boys get mixed up with gangsters in an old dark house in this tired entry, the forty-fifth in the series. Humpbacked Percy Shelton plays the cafe owner Mike, yet another attempt to replace the irreplaceable Bernard Gorcey. I like him in many other roles but he's not quite the right fit for the exasperated old gentleman that has to put up with the boys' hijinks. Huntz Hall does OK but he continues to be 'off' without Leo Gorcey. He just doesn't have the same chemistry with boring Stanley Clements and he seems to be trying too hard with the constant mugging for the camera. David Gorcey and Jimmy Murphy are their usual forgettable selves. Eddie LeRoy also joins the gang as Blinky. He makes no impression. Darlene Fields plays the obligatory eye candy. It's a comedy but it's not very much fun. The haunted house gags are worn-out and, at this point, Sach making stupid faces just isn't cutting it anymore.

Now hanging out at "Clancy's Cafe" in New York City, "The Bowery Boys" are concerned about fatherly proprietor Percy Helton (as Mike Clancy), who has been ordered to get some rest and relaxation. Coincidently, crooked real estate agent Bill Henry (as Harry Shelby) and his busty companion Darlene Fields (as Dolly Owens) arrive to sell Mr. Helton a farmhouse in the country. Insuring that a lack of rest is in the offing, Helton takes "The Bowery Boys" with him to "Cedarcrest", which turns out to be falling apart, connected to gangsters, and possibly haunted!

With two decades behind them, and only three movies to go, "Spook Chasers" was the last time around for what was possibly the group's second most recycled storyline (give or take a few). Despite its frequency, this plot was never one of the Bowery's best.

"The Bowery Boys" herein are: Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones), Stanley Clements (as Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie), David Gorcey (as Chuck), Jimmy Murphy (as Myron), and Eddie LeRoy (as Blinky). Although his assignment did not last, Mr. Helton was a better replacement for Bernard Gorcey's "Louie" than Mr. Clements was for Leo Gorcey. Also note, with his brother and father gone, David Gorcey no longer uses his "Condon" surname. And, this was the first appearance for bespectacled Mr. LeRoy, who would stay for the remaining films.

*** Spook Chasers (6/2/57) George Blair ~ Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements, Percy Helton, Darlene Fields

Hanging out in Mike Clancy's (Percy Helton) diner, the Bowery Boys are engaged in their usual loafing sessions; Sach (Huntz Hall) works on a puzzle book; Duke (Stanley Clements) chows down on Clancy's Iris stew special, and Myron (Jimmy Murphy), Chuck (David Gorcey) and Blinky (Eddie LeRoy)are looking at the pictures in the eatery's library of comic books.

Two diner, real-estate agent Harry Shelby (Bill Henry)and his assistant, Dolly Owens (Darlene Fields), hear that Mike has been ordered by his doctor to take a long rest in the country. They sell him "Cedar Crest," -a paradise in the mountains---which actually had been a robber's hideout. Mike and the Bowery Boys move to the place and find a dilapidated farmhouse. While doing repairs, they find a secret compartment containing new banknotes. Thinking they have found a recluse's treasure, they pay off the mortgage on Cedar Crest.

This draws the attention of three hoodlums, Snap (Peter Mamakos), Ziggie (Ben Welden) and Ernie (Robert Christopher), who order Shelby to buy back the place. Sach, Duke and Mike refuse the offer, even when told the place is haunted. Meanwhile Dolly has vamped Sach---an easy task---into revealing how they got the money to pay off the mortgage, and she and Shelby devise a plan of their own of obtaining the house with many greenbacks in deposit.

A few nights later, the six residents find themselves harassed by a pair of phantom-like goons, and attacked by three loot-hungry gangsters.

I really enjoyed this Bowery Boys caper "Spook Chasers". In it, Sach (Huntz Hall), Duke (Stanley Clements) and the rest of the boys accompany sweet shop owner Mike Calncy (Percey Hilton) to his newly acquired country home "Cedarcrest". Upon arriving, they discover that the dwelling is nothing more than a ramshackled old farmhouse. Furthermore, it's haunted! Or is it? Gangsters start to figure prominently in the proceedings (sort of like in Abbott and Costello's "Hold That Ghost"). I must say that Stanley Clements was likable as Leo Gorcey's replacement in the series. He had appeared in one of the early East Side Kids movies "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943) and then stayed away from the gang until 1957 (when Leo Gorcey left the series). Gorcey's brother, David, is here as Chuck. He had been one of "the boys" since the East Side Kids series (featuring Leo Gorcey) had commenced at Monogram in 1940. It's too bad that the film "Spook Chasers" is rarely seen. It would be nice to see these later Bowery Boys films, which were made by Allied Artists, get released on DVD.