Leo Gorcey Movies
The shortest and most pugnacious of the original Dead End Kids, American actor Leo Gorcey was the son of character player Bernard Gorcey. The elder Gorcey encouraged Leo to audition as one of the tough street gang in the 1935 stage production of Sidney Kingsley's Dead End, which Leo did reluctantly; he was content with his apprentice job at his uncle's plumbing shop. When he temporarily lost that position, Leo was cast in a bit role in Dead End, eventually working his way up to the important part of Spit, the gang stool pigeon. Producer Samuel Goldwyn decided to make Dead End into a movie in 1937, further deciding to hire Leo and his fellow "kids" Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsley and Bobby Jordan for the movie version. The six streetwise hooligans scored an immediate hit with the public, paving the way for several films starring or featuring "The Dead End Kids", the best of which was Angels With Dirty Faces (1938).In 1939, the kids splintered off into subgroups, some of them heading for Universal Studios as the "Little Tough Guys". The following year, Leo Gorcey was signed by bargain-basement Monogram Pictures for a new series of "B" pictures produced by Sam Katzman--"The East Side Kids". Gorcey assumed the leading role of Muggs McGuiness, and by the time the series had run its course after 22 pictures in 1945, he'd been joined by his old Dead End buddies Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan and Gabe Dell. Determined to get a bigger piece of the financial pie and to have more say over production, Gorcey and Hall teamed with their agent Jan Grippo to reorganize the East Side Kids as the less scruffy but no less trouble-prone "Bowery Boys". In 1946, the first Bowery Boy picture, Live Wires, was released, launching a lucrative series of low-budget features that lasted for 48 installments. The Bowery Boys personnel fluctuated in size and prominence over the next twelve years, but Leo Gorcey as malaprop-spouting, two-fisted Slip Mahoney and Huntz Hall as lame-brained Sach Jones were clearly the stars. Gorcey stayed with the series until the 1955 death of his father Bernard, who'd been cast in the supporting role of gullible sweet-shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski in most of the films. Too grief stricken to continue, Leo bowed out of the series with Crashing Las Vegas (1956), leaving Huntz Hall to co-star in the remaining six "Bowery Boys" films with Stanley Clements. Working in films only fitfully over the next 14 years, Leo was content with managing his land holdings. By the time of his death in 1969, Leo Gorcey was financially secure thanks to TV residual payments from his 42 "Bowery Boys" features. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
On a pure storytelling level, Crazy Over Horses is one of the best entries in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" series. This time, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the gang come into possession of a race horse. Slip is convinced that the horse, which he'd picked up as payment for a debt owed to sweet-shop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) by stable owner Flynn (Tim Ryan), is a thoroughbred. For once, he's right: the nag had been left with Flynn by a group of gamblers who'll do anything to get her back, even unto switching horses on the boys. The film leads steadily and logically to an exciting racetrack climax, capped by a final confrontation with the crooks. Comic patsy Huntz Hall is curiously unpleasant and abrasive in Crazy Over Horses, though he reverts to his old bumbling self in an extended sequence wherein he disguises himself as a black stablehand (this scene is usually removed when the film is shown on television). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1951
The Bowery Boys tackle a phony seance racket in Ghost Chasers. The cliched proceedings and bromidic comedy routines are enlivened by the novelty of a genuine ghost: a jovial spirit named Edgar (Lloyd Corrigan), who narrates the film. Only the dopey Sach (Huntz Hall) can see or hear Edgar, which gives Sach a leg-up as he and the other Boys investigate the crooks' operation. When Slip (Leo Gorcey) and the others are trapped by the villains in a room slowly filling with water, Edgar uses his magic chalk to rescue them. No more expensive or elaborate than any other Bowery Boys epic, Ghost Catchers nonetheless has a goofy charm that raises it above the norm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Lucky Losers is an uncharacteristically dramatic entry in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" comedy series. Incredibly enough, Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) and Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) have gotten jobs in the office of Wall Street broker David J. Thurston (Selmer Jackson). Soon afterward, Thurston apparently commits suicide (not because of the boys' ineptitude, as one might suspect). Slip and Sach's TV-reporter pal Gabe Moreno (Gabriel Dell) suspects that Thurston was murdered, prompting the boys to search for clues in the dead man's office. The evidence trail leads to a gambling house, where Slip and Sach secure work as croupiers. Learning that their new boss, Bruce McDermott (Lyle Talbot), was somehow connected to Thurston, the boys report this to Gabe, who makes the information public--and gets beaten up for his troubles. Now it's up to Slip, Sach and the rest of the Bowery Boys to expose the protection racket in which McDermott is involved. There's too much plot and not enough laughs in this "Bowery Boys" entry; Fortunately, Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are in top form, making the most of their very few comic opportunities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1950
Blonde Dynamite was the 17th of Monogram/Allied Artists' 48 Bowery Boys entries. This time, the boys have transformed Louie's Sweet Shop into an escort bureau. Louie (Bernard Gorcey) has little to say on the matter, since he's on vacation and knows nothing about this new business enterprise. The boys' steadiest customers are a group of gorgeous ladies who are in the employ of a bank-robbery gang. The girls keep Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the others busy while their confederates dig a tunnel between the sweet shop and a neighboring bank. Gabe Marino (Gabe Dell), a bank employee, manages to alert the police, but it's lame-brained Sach who turns out (inadvertently, of course) to be the hero of the hour. One of the gun molls in Blonde Dynamite is Beverlee Crane, who in the 1930s was teamed with her twin sister Bettie Mae to deliver the "talking credits" for Hal Roach's Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang and Charley Chase comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1950
No good deed goes unpunished in the "Bowery Boys" entry Triple Trouble. When Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the Bowery Boys attempt to stop a robbery, it is they who wind up in prison. Once behind bars, the boys learn of an escape plan, but when they try to relay this information to the warden, they're threatened with solitary confinement. And when Slip and Sach try to sabotage a short-wave radio that is being used by one of the prisoners to orchestrate burglaries on the outside, our two heroes are thrown into solitary. Even poor sweet-shop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) is not spared; running into the street and calling for help after being robbed, Louie is told by the beat cop that he risks arrest for disturbing the peace! Amazingly, the Bowery Boys manage to survive all these knocks and bring the film's genuine bad guys to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1950
Blues Busters is a first-rate entry in the otherwise hit-and-miss "Bowery Boys" series. After having his tonsils removed, Sach (Huntz Hall) finds himself blessed with a beautiful singing voice. He becomes a popular crooner, inspiring Slip (Leo Gorcey) to convert Louie's sweet shop into a swanky nightclub (in the Bowery?) Rival club owner Craig Stevens tricks Sach into signing with him, which causes a rift in the lifelong friendship between Sach and Slip. But Sach returns to his old friends in the end--just in time for his mellifluous singing voice to disappear, replaced by his old familiar nasal bray. In addition to the surprising presence of the classy Craig Stevens (eight years removed from Peter Gunn), Blues Busters boasts fine supporting performances from a brace of favorite B-picture babes, Phyllis Coates and Adele Jergens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1949
Hold That Baby! was the 14th entry in Monogram's money-spinning "Bowery Boys" series. Ever in search of spare change, the Bowery Boys, headed by Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) go into the laundromat business. While unfolding some linen, Sach (Huntz Hall) comes across a seemingly abandoned baby. The infant turns out to be their heir to a huge fortune. Hoping to return the baby to its mother (Anabel Shaw), who has been wrongfully committed to a mental institution, Slip, Sach and the boys must contend with the child's avaricious aunts (Florence Auer and Ida Moore) and a bunch of gangsters. The best scene finds Slip posing as a Viennese psychiatrist; almost as good is a vignette involving Sach and a hospital supply room. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1949
The 15th film in the Bowery Boys series, Angels in Disguise combines lowbrow humor with "film noir" melodramatics. Bowery boys Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) are copy boys for a crusading newspaper, whose publisher (Ray Walker) is trying to crush the notorious "Loop Gang". When the boys' policeman pal Gabe (Gabriel Dell) is wounded in a shoot-out with the Loop mob, Slip and Sach take it upon themselves to expose the gang. All the Bowery boys (including sweet-shop proprietor Louie) disguise themselves as gangsters and infiltrate the Loop Gang, which is run by a young, erudite intellectual (Mickey Ryan). The scheme to destroy the Loop mob from the inside is flummoxed by the crusading newspaper's cartoonist, actually a member of the crooked gang who has been sending out coded tips in his comic strip. The Loop Gang gives the Bowery Boys a real "going over", but the cops arrive in time to round up the crooks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
When in doubt, drag out the "old dark house/mad scientist" formula. That's the philosophy of Master Minds, the 16th entry in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" series. It all begins when Sach (Huntz Hall), suffering from a toothache, develops the ability to read minds. Sach's pal Slip (Leo Gorcey), knowing a good thing when he sees one, exploits Sach's talents on the carnival-sideshow circuit. Soon, however, the demented Dr. Druzik (Alan Napier) comes calling, hoping to transplant Sach's brain into the body of ape-man Atlas (Glenn Strange). This film's funniest moments occur when the hulking Glenn Strange imitates Huntz Hall's familiar gestures and body language. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1949
In this entry in the long running comedy-drama series, the boys get into the world of prizefighting. When one of Slip's pals is killed in the ring, he and the boys plot their revenge against the gangster responsible. They enlist the aid of the late fighter's boozy brother, who was also a fighter. They convince him into entering the ring one last time. He does so despite the gangster's efforts to stop the boys. The fighter wins and his brother's death is avenged. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1948
Jinx Money is not so much a Bowery Boys vehicle as a murder mystery that happens to star the Bowery Boys. It all begins when a gambler is murdered shortly after winning $50,000 in a card game. As the other cardplayers scramble around in search of the money, Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) and Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) recover the loot from a gutter. Intending to turn 75% of the money over to charity and pocket the rest, our heroes get mixed up with the murder of yet another cardplayer. The cops are stymied, but Sach, who glimpsed the killer as he made his escape, prattles on and on about "The umbrella with the hand." Sure enough, the culprit does carry an umbrella, but it takes several more murders to ascertain his true identity. At times, there are more corpses than characters in this offbeat comedy thriller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Andrews, Ben Baker, (more)
- 1948
Smugglers' Cover was Number Eleven in Monogram's moneymaking "Bowery Boys" series. Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) receives notice that he's inherited a mansion. Actually, the real owner is another Terence Aloysius Mahoney (Paul Harvey), who is less than delighted when Slip, Sach (Huntz Hall) and the other Bowery Boys show up to take possession. But before a battle over ownership can get under way, the boys must deal with Martin Kosleck, who runs a smuggling operation from a subterranean tunnel beneath the mansion. Also showing up is the "intelligent" Bowery Boy Gabe Moreno (Gabriel Dell), arm in arm with his new war bride (Jacqueline Dalya)--who never again appears in the series. Though weighed down by an inappropriate musical score, Smugglers' Cove is an agreeable mixture of laughs and shivers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1948
Radio humorist Henry Morgan made his film debut in So This is New York. Based on The Big Town, a collection of stories by Ring Lardner, the film traces country bumpkin Morgan's progress as he uses an inheritance to take a trip with his wife (Virginia Grey) and sister-in-law (Dona Drake) to the New York of the 1910s. He encounters numerous oddball characters, the most colorful of which is a drunken jockey (Leo Gorcey). The boxer and at least four other Broadwayites (Hugh Herbert, Rudy Vallee, Bill Goodwin and Jerome Cowan) complicate Morgan's life when they court his wife's sister--most of them hoping for a slice of that inheritance. The movies were not the ideal medium for the satiric barbs of Henry Morgan, though he plays his role well and carries the film with assurance. In addition to being Morgan's first picture, So This is New York was also the maiden voyage for producer Stanley Kramer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Morgan, Rudy Vallee, (more)
- 1948
In this entry in the long-running "Bowery Boys" series, Slip Mahoney and his boys witness a murder, but cannot identify the killer. Upon seeing the victim in the newspaper, Slip and Sach head for the morgue and launch their own investigation. There they meet the victim's daughter; she owns the hotel where the boys witnessed the crime. To help them work undercover, she hires them on as bell boys. Later, a gangster mistakes Sach for someone else and gives him some valuable information about the murder which he immediately passes on to his policeman friend. Unfortunately, the policeman has been suspended for neglecting his daily duties. Fortunately, the Boys still manage to solve the murder, but not before embarking upon a crazy chase through a laundry chute. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1948
Angels Alley was the ninth entry in Monogram's Bowery Boys series. This time around, Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) welcomes his cousin Jimmy (Frankie Darro) into his home. Fresh out of jail, Jimmy takes a job with a ring of car thieves. Slip covers for Jimmy to the extent of confessing to a crime that his cousin has committed. A contrite Jimmy decides to turn the tables on the thieves, and with the help of Slip's buddies Sach (Huntz Hall), Whitey (Billy Benedict) and the rest (sweet shop owner Louie [Bernard Gorcey] isn't around for this trip), the crooks are rounded up by the cops. Any attempts by the makers of Angels Alley to pass off their film as a serious crime melodrama are dissipated when, at the end of the picture, Huntz Hall whines to Leo Gorcey "This is the last time I make a movie with you!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Billy Benedict, (more)
- 1947
One of the many Bowery Boys movies, in this one Slip and Sach are mistaken for two private investigators and risk their lives trying to solve a missing persons mystery. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Bowery Buckaroos would have the viewer believe that pint-sized sweetshop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey), perennial patsy for the Bowery Boys, is actually notorious western desperado Louie the Lout. When sheriff Luke Barlow (Russell Simpson) rides into the Bowery to arrest Louie for murder, the Boys-Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall), Whitey (Billy Benedict), Gabe (Gabriel Dell) and the rest-head to Hangman's Hollow to prove Louie's innocence. They also intend to "prosecute for gold" on behalf of Catherine Briggs (Julie Gibson), the daughter of Louie's murdered partner, using a map painted on Sach's back to guide them to a lost gold mine. While posing as rough, tough westerners, the Boys discover that saloon owner Blackjack (Jack Norman) was responsible for the death of Catherine's dad. Forcing a confession out of Blackjack, the boys save Louie's hide and collect their share of the gold-but their good fortune is, as always, very short-lived. A mild but enjoyable western spoof, Bowery Buckaroos is kept afloat throughout by a breezy sense of the ridiculous: At one point, Indian actor Iron Eyes Cody surveys the situation and mutters "Something not kosher here!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1947
News Hounds has more plot than usual for a "Bowery Boys" film-too much plot, so far as diehard fans of the series were concerned. Much of the action takes place at the Daily Chronicle, where Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) works as a copy boy and Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) as a junior photographer. Aspiring to become reporters, Slip and Sach try to get the goods on elusive underworld chieftan Dapper Dan Greco (Anthony Caruso). They manage to escape the clutches of Greco's henchmen, but not before Sach has snapped a picture of Greco in conference with supposed philanthropist Timothy X. Donlin (John Hamilton). Printing a story about Donlin's collusion with Greco, the Chronicle faces a libel suit until Sach is able to recover his photos, which he earlier managed to lose. Gabriel Dell, the Bowery Boys' resident straight man, is here cast as a conscience-stricken mob flunkey. At base, News Hounds is a reworking of the "East Side Kids" entry Bowery Champs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Benedict, Nita Bieber, (more)
- 1946
This second entry in the Bowery Boys series plays more like an extended 2-reeler than a feature film, perhaps because its director was Three Stooges veteran Del Lord. In this one, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the Bowery Boys find themselves in the middle of a "taxi war". Crooked cab company manager Steve Trent (Douglas Fowley) has been sending out his goons to wreck the taxicabs of his independent competitors. Slip and Sach try to convince Trent's boss McCormick (Paul Harvey) that his manager is a crook, but McCormick refuses to believe them until his daughter Marian (Jane Randolph) aligns herself with our heroes. Unlike later Bowery Boys efforts, In Fast Company closely resembles the East Side Kids films that preceded it, with the boys indulging in petty larceny before the plot proper gets under way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luis Alberni, William Benedict, (more)
- 1946
The first of the Bowery Boys' "haunted house" comedies, Spook Busters casts the boys as recent graduates of Exterminators' School. Setting up headquarters in Louie's Sweet Shop, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and their pals are hired by Mr. Brown (Chester Clute) to rid a forbidden old mansion of its various bugs and insects. Once they arrive on the premises, the Boys must deal with "pests" of a human variety-namely mad scientist Dr. Coslow (Douglass Dumbrille) and his assistants (Vera Lewis, Charles Middleton and Richard Alexander). The fun really begins when Coslow prepares to use Sach as a guinea pig for his latest diabolical experiment. The film's highlight is the obligatory fight scene, lensed on this occasion in ultra-slow motion! Gabe Dell makes his return to the Bowery Boys fold as returning GI Gabe Moreno, here equipped with a French war bride (Tanis Chandler) who would never be seen again after this film. One strongly suspects that Spook Busters was seen several times in childhood by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and other members of the Ghostbusters cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Alexander, Billy Benedict, (more)
- 1946
Although Bowery Bombshell was the third entry in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" series, it was released second in several regions. The trouble begins when Sach (Huntz Hall) is photographed leaving a bank at the same time as a group of bank robbers. The police think that Sach was involved with the crooks, forcing him to stay under wraps while his pal Slip (Leo Gorcey) and the rest of the Bowery Boys try to track down the genuine thieves. Posing as out-of-town gangsters, Slip and his pals win the confidence of slick gang boss Ace Deuce (Sheldon Leonard), but their subterfuge is destined to fail, and fail spectacularly. The story goes off on a new tangent towards the end when Ace's hulking henchman Moose McCall (Wee Willie Davis) accidentally swallows an experimental explosive, thereby turning himself into a human bomb. A moderately funny entry in the series, Bowery Bombshell might have been better with less plot and more logic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Barnett, Billy Benedict, (more)
- 1946
Originally known as the "Dead End Kids," the tough and rowdy Bowery Boys were the creation of playwright Sidney Kingsley from his play Dead End, a keen-edged, socially-conscious look at life in the New York slums. The play, featuring youngsters Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsley, Gabriel Dell, and Leo Gorcey as a gang of street-hardened toughs was a hit, leading William Wyler to buy the rights to the play and adapt it into a film in 1937. As an ensemble, the kids appeared in a total of six Warner Brothers features including the James Cagney film Angels With Dirty Faces and Bogart's Crime School. In their first B-movie series, the fellows appeared as The Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys for Universal -- based on the film Little Tough Guy. They next appeared in a trio of Universal Saturday afternoon serials and then, billed as the East Side Kids, staffed a low-budget comedy drama series for Monogram Pictures. In 1946, the series became strictly comedy and called the Bowery Boys, starring Leo Gorcey (who was responsible for the changes) as Slip and Huntz Hall as his buddy Sach. The series continued through the late '50s, and though by that time "the Bowery Boys" had become middle-aged men, they continued playing teens. Gorcey left the series in 1956 following the death of his father Bernard Gorcey, who played a storekeeper. He was replaced by Stanley Clements who remained with the series until its demise in 1958. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
