Bowery Bombshell

"You seek to misinterpret my indications"

Louie Dumbrowski (B. Gorcey) needs $300, so Slip (L. Gorcey) and the boys try to sell their dilapidated old car to help him out.  They are talking to their photographer friend Cathy (Loring) outside of the bank when it is robbed.  Cathy takes a picture of Sach (Hall) just as he is holding a bag of money that the robbers dropped.  This picture ends up in the hands of Detective O'Malley (Burke) who believes that Sach is behind the robbery.

When Sach's photograph is published in the newspaper, the real criminals, led by Ace Deuce Baker (Leonard), decide to further frame him for the crime.  Can Slip, Bobby (Jordan), Whitey (Benedict), Chuck (D. Gorcey), and Cathy clear Sach's name and save Louie?

The Bowery Boys made a series of 48 films, beginning in 1945.  Prior to that, they starred together in 6 films as The Dead End Kids, 12 as The Little Tough Guys, and 21 as The East Side Kids.  This is the third entry in the Bowery Boys series.

Like most of the films in the series, the main focus is on Leo Gorcey's fast talking Slip Mahoney and Huntz Hall's lovable goof Sach Jones.  Gorcey gets the chance to really shine when the boys pose as gangsters to bust Ace Deuce and his goons.  His character, Slip, likes to be the man in charge and get everyone to listen to him, and making him a "gangster" is a stroke of genius and really lets him go big with the character.  Hall doesn't get to join in the gangster fun, as he is in hiding, but becomes increasingly and humorously paranoid as the film progresses, which provides ample opportunities for laughs.  As usual, Slip's entertaining way of misusing words is on display, "Wait'll I dehydrate my brain."

The rest of the cast are just there to set up the situations.  Bobby Jordan and Teala Loring each get some nice moments in the gangster scene.  James Burke's Detective O'Malley and Sheldon Leonard's Ace Deuce Baker are nice matches for Slip.  O'Malley is smart enough to keep up with Slip, while still not quite catching onto the scheme... and Leonard is just menacing enough to pose a hazard.  I always love the pairing of Sach with Bernard Gorcey's (Leo and David Gorcey's father) Louie.

Their car is also a character in it's own right.  It has a lot of character and nuance, and it's entertaining to watch them interact with the car (by showing it off, or how they get in and out of it).

There are a few nice callbacks to their previous series, such as the spare tire on the back of their car which reads "Dead End".  It is funny if you know the previous series, but it is also used to setup a sight-gag at the end of the film (that doesn't require any previous experience with the series).

An entertaining film from a comedy group that never grows old.

Bowery Bombshell (1946) 65 minutes
Director: Phil Karlson
Starring: Leo Gorcey as Slip Mahoney
Huntz Hall as Sach Jones
Bobby Jordan as Bobby
Billy Benedict as Whitey
David Gorcey as Chuck
Teala Loring as Cathy
Sheldon Leonard as Ace Deuce Baker
Dawn Kennedy as Maizie
James Burke as Detective O'Malley
Bernard Gorcey as Louie Dumbrowski