In The Money

IN THE MONEY-1958-In the last installment of the the Bowery Boys series (which started as the Dead End Kids in 1937), Sach (Huntz Hall) is hired by some diamond smugglers to escort a dog on an ocean liner to England. It's a lot of talk and a lot of Sach acting goofy while Duke (Stanley Clements) tries to figure it all out. Eddie LeRoy as Blinky and of course David Gorcey as Chuck are along for the last ride. The three of them become stowaways while Sach is "romanced" by the smuggler's moll, Babs (Patricia Donohue). A running gag for a while is that the dog's name is Gloria but when Sach says things like "I have to give Gloria a bath" the others think he's talking about Babs. They land in England (not really) and spend some time worrying about Gloria when she gets sick. Somehow Sach winds up on an apartment ledge! 


Dick Elliot reprises his (un-billed) role as Mike who owns the "joint" the gang hangs out in. Snub Pollard, Ralph Gamble and Norma Varden also have un-billed roles. Once again most of it seems like s drawn out TV sitcom or short. English actor Paul Cavanagh is Inspector Sanders who is trailing the bad guys. 


Huntz Hall would go on to appear in several other films and many TV shows. His standout role would be portraying Jesse Lansky in Ken Russell's bizarre bio-pic VALENTINO. Stanley Clements (from Long Island, NY) would also make various TV appearances (many un-billed) and died at 55 in 1981. According to IMDB David Gorcey made only one more film and became a minister. He died at 63 in 1894. 


ITM was directed once again by William "One Shot" Beaudine who found time to direct episodes of BROKEN ARROW and THE NAKED CITY around the same time. BB screenwriting vet Ellwood Ullman co-wrote this last one with Al Martin, who wrote the screenplay for INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN the same year. 


OK, it's over...for now. There are a few I missed. Bowery Boys movies are hard to see these days. They used to be a mainstay of weekend comedy when I was a kid in the '60's but are seldom  talked about these days...


Thanks for reading!