Last night, The Bowery Boys were in their element, in "Ghost Chasers"(1951). The Boys are of course the renamed, adult version of The East Side Kids, still led by comic genius Leo Gorcey and sidekick genius Huntz Hall. Sadly missing are the other two main members of the group, Bobby Jordan and Sunshine Sammy Morrison, but Whitey Williams is back, and Gorcey is in fine form, a decade older but thankfully none the wiser. He's still perfectin' his malaprop-based manglin' of the English language, and as always, the first ten minutes of the flick (and any East Side/Bowery Boys movie) is taken up by hijinks, in this case as the Boys try to cadge free treats from Louie's Sweet Shop. Cynthia the waitress (Jan Kayne), in charge in Louie's stead, has been told not to give the nitwits any freebies, but that doesn't stop Leo, who is teachin' her to speak proppa angle-ish.
In the back room of the shop, Whitey is conducting a see-ance, wearing a swami's outfit. The other Boys are his audience. He wants to get in on the spiritualist craze that's sweeping the city (and the nation), and make a quick buck like the famous "Margo the Medium" (Lela Bliss). Margo is a sensation in town. Her seances are held at a private club with an imposing, humorless doorman. You have to have a membership to attend, but the Boys finagle their way in, and when they see "real" spirits appear, they want in on the action.
That is, until Leo discovers Margo's act is fake, which he suspected all along. His mom's neighbor, "Momma Parelli" (Argentina Brunetti), has been ripped off for a hundred bucks, after she trusted Margo to bring forth the spirit of her beloved son. Leo breaks the sad news to Momma Parelli that it's all a deception, and he gets her hundred dollars back, but what he doesn't realise is that it he isn't the one who exposed Margo; it was a real ghost from the 1600s, a pilgrim named "Edgar" (Lloyd Corrigan) who speaks Olde English (thee and thou), and despises phony mediums because they make a mockery of the real spirit world.
Of the Boys, only Huntz Hall can see Edgar, because he's the only one who has The Gift. When he tries to tell Leo that a ghost helped bust Margo, Leo threatens to punch him out. He doesn't believe in anything supernatural. The movie is then turned over to Huntz and Edgar, who go about shutting down Margo's empire, which includes a string of seance clubs. Much of the middle of the film is taken up with the usual running around inside the spookhouses, and the crack comic timing mayhem of the Boys. Huntz Hall shines. It's his movie because he can see Edgar, who creates doorways by magic that allow Huntz to walk through walls. The bouncers and doorman at Margo's club try to shut down the Boys' investigation by locking them, at gunpoint, in a basement water tank. I don't know if you have one of those in your mansion, but Margo does, and soon, the Boys are about to drown, until Huntz and Edgar rescue them.
It's interesting to see Leo Gorcey age. We've known him since "Spooks Run Wild", when he was 25 playing 18. He was a small man, and a lifelong alcoholic who died at 52, and he aged fast. In this film he's 34, and looks about 45 but his body has morphed as if he had some kind of genetic condition.
We're giving "Ghost Chasers" Two Huge Thumbs Up, even though we really missed Bobby Jordan and Sunshine Sammy. But Huntz Hall, Leo and Whitey more than take up the slack, as do the assortment of goofball caricature actors, including Leo's diminutive Dad, Bernard Gorcey, who plays "Louie Dumbrowski" the Sweet Shop owner. According to Wiki, the Beatles (meaning probably John Lennon, the comedy fan) wanted The Bowery Boys on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, and they were all included except for Gorcey, who wanted 400 bucks for his likeness, so he was left off. How cheap can ya get, Beatles? I've said it before, if he was starring on Saturday Night Live now, at the peak of his powers, Gorcey would've been as big a star as John Belushi, only not as nutty (Belushi was kind of remote from the audience if you go back and watch him). Gorcey would've been a yooge star now. A very, very talented comedian he was, as was Huntz Hall. This movie is very highly recommended and "da pik-chah is ray-zah shahp!" ////
The previous night, we had a crime story in a different kind of setting. How about the Canadian Rockies? Will Big Bear do as a substitute? Okay, then if you can handle a singing Mountie, you're ready for "Renfrew of the Royal Mounted"(1937). "Sgt. Renfrew" (James Newill) is actually pretty badass. He likes singing with his men (or to the ladies) as much as he likes solving crimes. He's also an amateur chef known for his barbecue sauce recipe, and as the movie opens, he's headed for a picnic at a lodge in Big Bear, Canada, thrown by his old pal "George Powlis" (William Royle), a Luigi-style ethnic caricature, who can-a cook-a him some mucho! primo!-a chili or clam-a linguini. He's-a much-a better cook than Renfrew.
All is merry at the picnic. Renfrew's dog Lightning is having fun, so is "Tommy McDonald" (Dickie Jones), a boy who is helping Renfrew make his barbecue sauce. Tommy is the son of Renfrew's comrade "Constable McDonald" (Donald Reed). We already know there's a counterfeit operation in the area. McDonald has found some fake bills during an inspection at the American border, hidden inside fish that are packed in blocks of ice. The Mounties know that "James Bronson" (Herbert Corthell), an expert engraver, has just been paroled from prison and may be living with his daughter Virginia in the area. In fact, Renfrew meets her at the picnic, looking for her Dad. Renfrew accidentally hooks her with a fishing pole he's trying out. This is, of course, to set up romantic friction between the two.
At the picnic, Virginia is later met by an Indian guide who tells her he was sent to take her to her father. But when they leave, they are trailed by Constable McDonald, who's in charge of locating the counterfeiters. The Indian waits for an opportune moment, then throws his knife and hits McDonald in the back, killing him. Next, we cut to a scene of Renfrew holding McDonald's little son Tommy in his arms as he sings a basso tenor version of "Son, You'll Soon Be a Man" as Tommy weeps. Get out your hankies big time. Now it's personal for Renfrew, and he heads out with his dog to find out who killed Constable McDonald. He tracks down the Indian and the counterfeiters, but Virginia tries to thwart him, because her Dad the engraver has been forced to alice-cooperate with them. He was trying to go straight after getting out of the slam, and he didn't really wanna do it, but they're forcing him because he's an expert at making funny money. Virginia is trying to protect him from both the crooks and the Mounties. She doesn't want him dead or sent back to prison.
The problem for Sgt. Renfrew is that he has no idea that his good friend George Powlis, who owns the lodge and throws the picnics, is the man behind the whole counterfeit operation. Behind his smile and gladhanding, he's as ruthless as they come. But Renfrew has now fallen in love with Virginia, and after serenading her a few times (James Newill has a great voice), she likes him too, but she still has to throw him off the scent to protect her father. There's some cool incidental stuff, like when Renfrew shows Tommy how to make a magnifying glass out of a paper clip and a drop of water. Two Bigs! A singing Mountie! They must've been trying for a Pepsi version of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald (the Coca-Cola of Singing Mountie movie couples), and they pulled it off. I loved it and you will, too. The picture is very good. ////
And that's all for this evening. I hope you had a nice four-day weekend. Now we'll settle in to enjoy the Christmas season, and at some point watch some holiday movies and our traditional Charles Dickens' mini-series. My blogging music for tonight was "Incantations" by Mike Oldfield, my late night is "The Flying Dutchman" by Wagner (Karajan), I wish you a good start to your week tomorrow and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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