Movie Review: The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)
Synopsis: After Louie's window is once again broken by a stray baseball, Slip Mahoney and Sach travel to Dr. David Gravesend's home to convince him to let the neighborhood kids use one of his Bowery commercial properties as a baseball diamond. When they arrive, they discover a home filled with eccentric relatives, an ape, a man-eating plant and vampires. They also discover Gravesend plans to use Slip's head for a robot he and his relative, Anton, are building.
Who's in it? The movie stars Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey, Lloyd Corrigan and John Dehner.
Review: I hadn't planned on watching a movie this morning because it was foggy outside and I figured I should leave for the office a bit earlier as a result. However, when I came across The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, I decided to give it a try. I am happy to report I still made it to the office safely. My opinion about the movie, however, was a bit mixed.
I'll start by saying, even though it isn't anything I held against the film, having the two main characters be in their mid-to-late 30s did stretch the whole "boys" description by this point. It also made me wonder if and when Slip (L. Gorcey) and Sachs (Hall) were going to get jobs rather than just hang around Louie's (B. Gorcey) soda shop all day.
That aside, I did think the movie had an intriguing plot and a long list of interesting characters, whether it was the two mad scientists (Corrigan and Dehner), the alluring vampire (Laura Mason) or the obedient butler (Paul Wexler). This, in turn, kept the movie from having a single dull moment because there was always something going on, whether it was an attempt to collect a head, an escaped ape or a plant that was just as likely to eat a person as it was to steal a sandwich.
Since it was mostly just Sach and Slip, there were times when the movie felt more like an Abbott & Costello ripoff than a Bowery Boys film. This probably wouldn't be such a big deal, but while Hall managed to do the Costello part pretty well, Gorcey wasn't quite pulling off Abbott's straight man role. Meanwhile, Louie, a character who never gets the screentime he deserves, was mostly just there to provide a bit of filler and the other two Bowery Boys (David Gorcey and Benny Bartlett) who showed up with Louie were just there.
The movie also spends too much time on Slip's habit of mispronouncing or misusing words when he talks. It's a funny quirk that defines the character, but you can have too much of a good thing. Oh, and what was up with the multiple fat jokes at Slips' expense? That just didn't seem to fit.
Final Opinion: I didn't hate the movie. It is a quirky and funny film that makes full use of its hour runtime. I'm just not certain it can truly be considered a Bowery Boys movie when the two stars are closer to 40 than 20 and the film puts more emphasis on a duo rather than an ensemble.
My Grade: B-
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Here are some reviews of other Bowery Boys and East Side Kids movies:
Movie Review: In the Money (1958)
Movie Review: Fighting Trouble (1956)
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