Edmond Seward Movies

Jalopy represents the first Bowery Boys film to be released by Allied Artists, though in essence it's still a Monogram "B"-picture. It all begins when Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) develops a new fuel formula that will enable a racing car to go around the track in 11 seconds! Sach's pal Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) uses the formula to win several jalopy races, thereby allowing sweet-shop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) to pay his debts. Gamblers try to muscle in on the Bowery Boys' winning streak, but to no avail. On the day of the obligatory Big Race, Slip is forced to enter his jalopy without the precious fuel. At the last minute, Sach arrives with a new batch--which only works when the car is shifted in reverse! Heavily reliant upon stock footage from the concurrently produced Allied Artists feature Roar of the Crowd, Jalopy is a typically nonsensical Bowery Boys entry, right down to the surreal climactic gag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

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

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

Impressed by the success of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Paramount Pictures ordered the studio's resident animation producer Max Fleischer to come up with a feature-length cartoon of his own. Utilizing an expanded staff and new production facilities in Miami, Florida, Fleischer and his brother Dave Fleischer spent six months mulling over story properties before deciding upon Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels; 20 months later, the film was completed and ready for release. Only the first part of Swift's novel, taking place in the miniature lands of Lilliput and Blefuscu, was used in the film, while the original plot, a satire of warfare stemming from an argument over which end of an egg to crack, was jettisoned entirely in favor of a sappy love story with slapstick overtones. Shipwrecked by a storm at sea, normal-sized Lemuel Gulliver washes up on the shore of Lilliput, where the citizens are no larger than Gulliver's thumb. Discovered by excitable town crier Gabby, Gulliver is roped to the ground by the Lilliputians, only to escape with ease upon waking up. While longing to head homeward to England, Gulliver becomes involved in a feud between Lilliput's King Little and Blefuscu's King Bombo. On the eve of the wedding between Little's son Prince David and Bombo's daughter Princess Glory, the two monarchs have a falling out over which national anthem will be played at the ceremony. After a seemingly endless series of misunderstandings and intrigues-many of them perpetrated by Bombo's comic-opera spies Sneak, Snoop and Snitch-Gulliver solves everyone's problems by suggesting that both anthems be played together, resulting in what was supposed to have been the film's hit song "Faithful Forever". Lacking the emotional "pull" of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--not to mention the excellence of Disney's animation--Gulliver's Travels must rely upon the slapstick antics of Gabby, the three spies, and carrier pigeon Twinkletoes to keep the audience awake (all of these characters would be spun off into cartoon series of their own). The songs, like the film itself, are nothing special, though Paramount managed to get a lot of mileage out of "All's Well" and "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day". Singers Sam Parker, Lanny Ross and Jessica Dragonette are heard as Gulliver, David and Glory, while such Fleischer "regulars" as Jack Mercer and Pinto Colvig play the comic roles. Its many flaws aside, Gulliver's Travels was reasonably successful at the box office, though one wonders if it wouldn't have been an even bigger hit had the Fleischers followed through with their original plan to cast Popeye the Sailor in the role of Gulliver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama a championship boxer retires and marries a rich, aristocratic woman. The woman's father is furious, but comes to accept the situation. When the father gets in trouble for making a major business mistake, the dutiful boxer returns to the ring and wins the money his father-in-law needs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this touching children's drama from Australia, a kindly rancher saves an orphaned joey and returns it to his home. As the creature grows up into a kangaroo, the rancher trains it to box. The trouble begins when a dishonest circus owner gets hold of the 'roo and begins abusing it. The critter tires of the abuse and escapes back to the rancher's house where he is welcomed and treated well for the rest of his days. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Walls of Gold is based on the Kathleen Norris novel of the same name. Sally Eilers stars as Jeanie Satterlee, a level-headed blue-collar gal to becomes the mistress of wealthy J. Gordon Ritchie (Ralph Morgan). This she does to spite her sweetheart, Ritchie's nephew Barnes (Norman Foster), who while stewed to the gills has married Jeanie's younger sister. The sister dies in childbirth, whereupon the elder Ritchie adopts the baby. Suffering a heart attack brought on by a vengeful woman from his past, Ritchie dies, leaving Jeanie in charge of her sister's child. Touched by Jeanie's dedication as a surrogate mother, Barnes begs her forgiveness just in time for a happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide