After their success in the Broadway play of the same name, The 'Dead End Kids' were introduced to an unsuspecting public in Samuel Goldwyn's 1937 film 'Dead End', a crime drama featuring Humphrey Bogart. Next to the actors, 'The Dead End Kids' stood out. They weren't acting, they were the real thing, rough around the edges and eager to cause trouble.
Goldwyn signed the boys but he couldn't tame them. After Goldwyn fired them they headed over to Warner Bros Studios and made 7 'Dead End Kids' films. The success of the films caused other studios to copy the winning formula. Universal Studios produced 12 films and cashed in with their 'Little Tough Guys' Series. Meanwhile Monogram Films, known as the King of the Poverty Row Studios cranked out 23 popular 'East Side Kids' movies.
The anarchistic actors hopped from studio to studio and film to film. They knew no boundaries. Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the Boys finished films at a furious pace. Between 1940 and 1957 they made an average of five films a year. As they experienced more films, their characters came into a sharper focus. The final winning formula of Leo Gorcey as Slip Mahoney (The Chief) and Huntz Hall as Horace Debussy Jones (Sach) came into its own in 1946 when Monogram/Allied-Artist churned out 48 hilarious 'Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys' movies.
Hollywood could take the boys out of the Bowery, but they couldn't take the Bowery out of the Boys. They continued causing trouble with girls, booze and general mayhem. They were wild and rowdy off-screen as they were before the camera. In 1955, 20 years after their original on stage appearance, Bernard Gorcey, who played Louie of ' Louie's Sweetshop' died in a tragic car accident. Leo was stricken with grief and soon bowed out of the franchise. The show must go on and Huntz Hall, teaming up with Stanley Clements (Duke) led the remaining Boys until 1958, when the series finally drew to a close.
Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys (1946-1958)
Live Wires- 1946- 64 minutes: The first entry of the Bowery Boys series. Slip and Sach are process servers and meet up with the giant gangster Patsy Clark. Bernard Gorcey (before he is Louie at the sweetshop) appears briefly as a small time bookie.
In Fast Company- 1946-- 61 minutes: The Red Circle Cab Company is wrecking other cabs so Slip and the gang take matters into their own hands.
Bowery Bombshell- 1946-- 65 minutes: While Sach is having his picture taken near a bank, a robbery is committed and Sach becomes the prime suspect.
Spook Busters- 1946- 68 minutes: The boys went to school to learn exterminating and have opened shop. Gabrielle Dell is back and plays a mature friend of the boys. Their first assignment is to exterminate ghosts in a spooky mansion.
Mr. Hex- 1946- 63 minutes: Sach takes on superhuman strength when put into a trance by a magician.
Hard Boiled Mahoney- 1947-- 63 minutes: Slip and Sach go to a detective's office to collect salary earned there by Sach. A woman mistakes them for sleuths and hires them to find a missing woman.
News Hounds- 1947- 68 minutes: Slip and Sach work for the Daily Chronicle. They try to find evidence about underworld fixing of sports events.
Bowery Buckaroos- 1947- 66 minutes: Sach can't understand why Louie gets nervous when a western sheriff comes looking for Louie The Lout. Louie then tells the boys he is Louie The Lout, who 20 years earlier had left the west to escape a murder charge. The boys set out to clear Louie.
Angel's Alley- 1948- 67 minutes: Slip hopes his cousin ex-convict Jimmy will be a good addition to the family but trouble ensues. This film is unique because it ends with Sach telling Slip, 'This is the last time I make a movie with you'.
Jinx Money- 1948- 68 minutes: A gambler wins $50,000 and turns up dead. Slip and Sach find the money in the gutter and all types of trouble begins. Great ending when Louie tells the boys they still owe him $3.80 and by suprise we see the boys tumbling out of the shop and Louie emerging victoriously rubbing his hands and then finally after all these years gets his money!
Smuggler's Cove- 1948- 66 minutes: While Slip and Sach are working as janitors, Slip accepts a telegram informing him that Terrance Mahoney Esquire has inherited an old estate. Confusing himself for that person, Slip takes the boys to the Long Island mansion where a smuggling ring is in operation.
Trouble Makers- 1948- 69 minutes: While looking through a telescope, the boys witness a murder. Gabe plays a Police Officer.
Fighting Fools- 1949- 69 minutes: Slip convinces Louie to loan him the sweetshop loft to train a fighter whose younger brother was killed in a fixed fight.
Hold That Baby- 1949- 64 minutes: The boys are operators of a laundromat and find a baby in the linen.
Angel's In Disguise- 1949- 63 minutes: The boys aid the Police to capture the gangster that shot their friend Gabe the cop.
Master Minds- 1949- 64 minutes: When Sach gets a toothache, he is able to predict things.
Blonde Dynamite- 1950- 66 minutes: The boys turn Louie's sweetshop into an escort service.
Lucky Loser's- 1950- 69 minutes: Slip and Sach work in a Wall Street brokerage firm when their boss allegedly commits suicide. The boys tangle with gamblers and gangsters.
Triple Trouble- 1950- 66 minutes: While coming home from a masquerade party at midnight, the boys try to stop a warehouse robbery and are themselves accused by the police of robbing it. A very film noire film for the Boys.
Blues Busters- 1950- 67 minutes: Sach's tonsillectomy leaves him with a good singing voice and Louie's Sweetshop is converted into the Bowery Palace Nightclub. One of my favorites.
Bowery Battalion- 1951- 69 minutes: Slip, Sach, Whitey, Butch & Chuck are privates in the Army who are assigned to guard Louie, who is being used to bait spies. Louie is kidnapped under their noses, but the boys get on his trail, and round up the spies.
Ghost Chasers- 1951- 69 minutes: Slip becomes interested in communication with spirits when a spiritualist moves into his neighborhood and fleeces old woman of their money. Slip and the boys go out to expose this fake.
Let's Go Navy! -1951- 68 minutes: $1600 raised in the Bowery for charity and entrusted to the boys is stolen by two men in sailor suits. To vindicate themselves, the boys join the Navy to find the crooks.
Crazy Over Horses- 1951- 65 minutes: Louie is mad when the boys bring him a horse as repayment of a debt owed by stable owner Flynn. But Slip thinks the horse 'My Girl' is a thoroughbred. The former owners of the horse, a bunch of gangsters want the horse back!
Hold That Line- 1952- 64 minutes: The boys are sent to Ivy University by two trustees to see what effect the boys will have on the student body. Sach develops a vitamin mixture that turns him into a star athlete.
Here Come The Marines- 1952- 66 minutes: Slip is drafted into the Marines and the other boys get their notices soon after. On his first day Sach impersonates a cook and almost kills a Colonel. The boys get involved without a deadly gang of gamblers who are preying on other Marines.
Feudin' Fools- 1952- 63 minutes: Sach inherits a farm in Hogliver Hollow, Kentucky. On their first day in the country the boys learn that the 'Jones' family is mortal enemies with their neighbor 'The Smiths'. Bank robbers end up at the Jones Ranch and the fun begins.
No Hold Barred- 1952- 65 minutes: Sach's cranium hardens bizarrely so that it can withstand any pain. Slip enters him into wrestling matches but the power begins to move to other parts of his body like his elbow, finger etc. A barrel of laughs!
Jalopy- 1953- 62 minutes: Slip enters the boys jalopy in an auto race hoping to pay off Louies bills but comes in last. Sach develops a super fuel and the competition will do everything to get the formula. Great special effects.
Loose In London- 1953- 62 minutes: Lawyers determine that Sach is a relative of a rich dying British Earl. The boys head to jolly old London and end up rescuing the Earl from the other relatives who want him dead. The British loved the Boys.
Clipped Wings- 1953- 65 minutes: Slip and Sach go to the Air Force headquarters to visit their pal Dave Moreno who is being held for treason. The boys end up in the Air Force and help uncover spies. A funny, funny scene when Sach ends up flying a plane with Slip in the copilot seat.
Private Eyes- 1953- 64 minutes: After being punched in the nose by 10 year old Herbie, Sach develops mind reading capabilities. The boys open up a detective agency and their first case involves a beautiful blonde and of course, gangsters.
Paris Playboys- 1954- 65 minutes: French Professors mistake Sach for a missing world renowned French scientist who is developing a secret fuel formula, Professor Le Beau. The boys agree to allow Sach to impersonate Le Beau. They head to Paris to assist the Professors in locating the missing Professor only once again to get involved with spies who want the secret formula.
The Bowery Boys Meet The Monsters- 1954- 65 minutes: Considered the best of all The Bowery Boys movies. Slip and Sach think the empty lot owned by the Graves family would be ideal for the neighborhood kids to play basedball. They head to the spooky mansion to talk to the Graves only to get involved with mad scientists, monsters, robots, vampires and man eating trees.
Jungle Gents- 1954- 64 minutes: Sach has the ability to smell diamonds because of his sinus medicine. The boys go to Africa to locate diamonds and get mixed up with criminals and cannibals. Sach falls in love with 'Jane' only to eventually meet 'Tarzan'.
Bowery To Bagdad- 1955- 64 minutes: The story of Aladdin's lamp begins in the Middle Ages where the lamp is stolen. Hundreds of years later it ends up in the Bowery and in the hands of the boys. Great fun story with genies and gangsters.
High Society- 1955- 61 minutes: While Slip and Sach are working in an auto garage, Sach is told that he is the heir to the fortune of the late Terwillinger Debussey Jones. Sach is invited to the mansion for a weekend of paper signing only to learn that the real heir is a 10 year old boy, Terwillinger III. The boys help the righful young heir fight against his scheming cousins for control of his fortune. This is the only Bowery Boys film to earn an Academy Awards nomination for Best Original Story which was an error by the Board.
Spy Chasers- 1955- 61 minutes: Slip, Sach and the boys come to the aid of Princess Ann of Truania and her Father, the exiled King. The King ask ex-Truanina Louie to hide a secret half-coin until the time is right for the return of the exiled King. Slip and Sach distrust the Kings right hand man (Colonel Baxis)(Who eventually played the General in Hogan's Heros) who is plotting against the King.
Jail Busters- 1955- 61 minutes: After newspaper employee Chuck suffers a beating while undercover in prison, the boys decide to enter prison to find the culprits.
Dig That Uranium- 1956- 62 minutes: The boys discover that the Uranium mine that they talked Louie into buying isn't filled with riches but instead find themselves fighting with outlaws. This is the last film with Louie.(Bernard Gorcey died in a car accident after the film was made)and this was the last film with Bennie Bartlett.
Crashing Las Vegas- 1956- 62 minutes: Sach is able to predict numbers after receiving an electric shock. The boys head to Las Vegas after he wins a hotel stay on a game show. Gangsters blackmail Sach to give them all his winnings. This is the last film with Slip. (Leo Gorcey) After his Father died, Leo became very depressed and its quite obvious that throughout the film, he is drunk, particularly during a roulette table sequence, where is his bobbing up and down while Sach and the gamblers act. Sach becomes the lead man in this film and Mrs. Kelly, the landlady takes Louie’s place.
Fighting Trouble- 1956- 61 minutes: The first film with Duke (Stanley Clements). Sach and Duke attempt to photograph notorious gangster Frankie Arbo for the New York Morning Blade and they succeed. But Sach exposes the negative. They continue to try and get the picture by infiltrating the gangsters gang. Look for Stanley in a few early Little Tough Guys films.
Hot Shots- 1956- 61 minutes: Sach and Duke acquaint themselves with television executives after an 8 year old Joey Monroe, the TV star steals the boys car. Sach and Duke are hired to baby sit the star and find out that the stars Uncle is stealing money.
Hold That Hypnotist- 1957- 61 minutes: The boys want to expose hypnotist Dr. Noble as a quack. He has already taken Mrs. Kelly’s money. Sach is hypnotized and learns in his past life that he hid a treasure. A hot pre-cursor to Marilyn Monroe is in the film.
Spook Chasers- 1957- 62 minutes: The boys go with Cafe owner Mike Clancey to a mountain house that he bought to help him rest his nerves. Sach discovers a fortune hidden away. Gangsters want their money back.
Looking For Danger- 1957- 62 minutes: Duke tells an officer of the War Department how he lost a pot during World War II. Disguised as Nazi officers, the boys battle the Nazis.
Up In Smoke- 1957- 61 minutes: Sach sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for horseracing tips. The gangsters want the tips.
In The Money- 1958 61 minutes: The Boys Last Film. Sach is hired to cross the Atlantic as the escort of a pedigree poodle. Unknowing to the boys, the poodle is carrying a fortune in gems. Scotland yard and gangsters keep the movie full of fun.
Please enjoy this informational page- No copyrighted films are for sale. If you would like a "free" set of all 48 Bowery Boys films on DVD, we can send you a set as a courtesy but we ask that you pay a shipping and handling fee of $ 99.99. Please contact us for full instructions on this wonderful and limited offer: E-mail: eggream@earthlink.net
