Moviecut—Spook Chasers

I wanted to love this movie, like all the other Bowry Boys featuring Leo Gorcy, but the spark is simply not there. The storyline was good as well as the script itself, the direction was good, and the rest of the cast were good but without Gorcy it just did not have the timing or spark that Gorcy would inject. Not to say that Huntley didn't do a good job, but its almost like he tried too hard to not be a Gorcy standin all the while essentially being a better-looking and younger Gorcy wannabe. The entire time I kept thinking what a treat this could have been if only....oh well, see what you think....

There's something about those old black and white movies, especially around Halloween, or at least late at night. Although Leo Gorcey left the series a year earlier, SPOOK CHASERS is still a funny Bowery Boys episode. Huntz Hall is Huntz Hall, and goofier than ever, this time with Stanley Clements (who actually went back to the early days of the EAST SIDE KIDS in the 1940s.) Clements is not Gorcey, but he's ok with malaprops and in a way more of a straight man to loony Hall, much like Abbott was to Costello; at least he's smart enough to let Hall get clobbered by the ghosts. The old cobwebbed haunted house setting has its moments, similar to the THREE STOOGES at times, especially with Hall acting like Shemp and fixing the plumbing! An added treat is veteran Percy Helton as exasperated Mike, the owner of the sweet shop. Louie (Bernard Gorcey) still is missed. See for the memories, especially all us big kids who grew up watching the gang. WARNER BROTHERS BOX SET dvd.

The Bowery Boys get mixed up with gangsters in an old dark house in this tired entry, the forty-fifth in the series. Humpbacked Percy Shelton plays the cafe owner Mike, yet another attempt to replace the irreplaceable Bernard Gorcey. I like him in many other roles but he's not quite the right fit for the exasperated old gentleman that has to put up with the boys' hijinks. Huntz Hall does OK but he continues to be 'off' without Leo Gorcey. He just doesn't have the same chemistry with boring Stanley Clements and he seems to be trying too hard with the constant mugging for the camera. David Gorcey and Jimmy Murphy are their usual forgettable selves. Eddie LeRoy also joins the gang as Blinky. He makes no impression. Darlene Fields plays the obligatory eye candy. It's a comedy but it's not very much fun. The haunted house gags are worn-out and, at this point, Sach making stupid faces just isn't cutting it anymore.

Diner owner Mike Clancy is told by his doctor to get some rest as the Bowery Boys cause general mayhem. Sach (Huntz Hall) tries to help but you know how that goes. A real estate agent and his assistant overhear their conversation and offer a country home for sale. The boys take Mike up to the place but it's a wreck. They try to fix up the place and end up finding hidden loot. The place was formerly owned by a gangster's widow and other gangsters come looking for their money. That's before the ghosts. It's more of the same from Sach and the Bowery Boys. It's rather late in the franchise and I would think the audience of its time must be getting tired of it all. Aside from some new personnel, this is very much the same old stuff. It's not necessarily good but it's not actually a bad thing. You get what you expect.

They aren't boys anymore. Leo Gorcey's gone, but Huntz Hall keeps going (just like the energizer bunny), and here he is dealing with gangsters again, as well as a new diner owner (replacing the late Bernard Gorcey) to give IOU's to. Somehow, Huntz and the boys end up renting a country home a gangster has hidden money in, which his cohorts can't find. All pretty familiar, but there are some extremely funny moments, including the initial discovery of the money. Hall's sch-tick is getting a bit tiresome, but the lack of respect he gets from the other "boys" (don't they know he's the sole survivor from "Dead End"?) is a bit unfair. Percy Helton is an amusing replacement for the late Gorcey, whose death lead to his son Leo's retirement due to the grief over dad's death. Helton's performance is a far cry from some of the sleazy roles he played in film noirs such as "The Set Up". The gag at the end is one of the funniest in all of the Bowery Boys movies, and has a nice twist.

For Bowery Boys addicts, this entry emerges as passable entertainment. The pace is fast enough to disguise the absence of the two leading Gorceys—Percy Helton makes a nice substitute for Louie—though the spooks make rather a late entrance and the sets are neither atmospherically designed nor photographed in true "haunted house" style. Although George Blair's direction has little other than its paciness to recommend it, the players are noisy enough to keep audiences entertained. Dorothy Fields makes a most attractive villainess, while Huntz Hall runs through his usual routines as the bumble-footed Sach. His timing is sharper than usual, which is a help. Stanley Clements makes an effective straight man. As with other films in this series, an anti-climactic little scene is tacked on after the final punch line (the disappearing ghost).