In Fast Company (1946) Online

Second of the '48' BOWERY BOYS films from MONOGRAM which was the longest series ever produced by Hollywood to date. Usual story which pits 'the BOYS' and their independent 'Cassidy's Cab Company' (CCC) versus 'Red Circle Cab' (RCB). Now you would think in a metropolitan area as large as N.Y.C. there would not be much of a conflict, then there would have been no movie. RCB plays rough, running off (literally) the competition.

'The Boys' lead by Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), his stooge Sach (Huntz Hall) plus, Bobby (Bobby Jordon), Whitey (William Benedict) and Chuck (David Gorcey) take it on the chin for the first half of the film. Then they make contact with the rival companies owner Patrick McCormick (Paul Harvey), with the help of his Daughter Marian (Jane Randolf) reveal the true source of the problem, Steve Trent (Douglas Fowley). After a furious fight the Police arrive and the offenders of 'Cab Etiquette' are taken off to jail.

Leo Gorcey (Slip) fills his character with the usual amount of 'malaprops' and abuse too Hall (Sach). The rest of 'the Boys' just fix cars or stand around. It is the supporting cast that is of real interest. Luis Alberni, Charles D. Brown, Douglas Fowley and Paul Harvey were all quality character actors. Who spent most of their time in the 30s' plying their trade among the 'Big Five Majors' or at least the middle tier studios and would continue to do so. Why then appear in a poverty row quickie from MONOGRAM? It kept you busy, you did not have to invest more then a week to pick up your check and it took no great stretch too fulfill your acting obligations. Need a quick '2 Gs' for a new car or a home improvement then MONOGRAM was a good place to stop.

Overall would rate the BOWERY BOYS series from as low as Two**Stars to a maximum of Six******Stars depending on the entry.

When a competing driver won't succumb to pressure, New York City's crooked "Red Circle Cab" company derails him in an accident, overturning his cab. While the driver recuperates, a local Priest recruits "helpful lad" Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney) to drive the rival "Cassidy" company cab. Sacrificing a night out with angelic girlfriend Judy Clark (as Mabel Dumbrowski), Mr. Gorcey clashes with the criminal "Red Circle" cabs. Gorcey quickly employs "The Bowery Boys": Huntz Hall (as Sach), Bobby Jordan (as Bobby), William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) to humorously help make amends.

"In Fast Company" is above average for "The Bowery Boys", but nothing special overall. In this film, (Leo's father) Bernard Gorcey, who had been appearing in the series films regularly, receives his familiar character name "Louie Dumbrowski" (herein, proprietor of "Louie's Ice Cream Parlor"). Good moments include an entertaining fruit stand owner (nicely played by Luis Alberni), a seltzer water sequence, and an early example of "telephone booth stuffing" (or, How many people can you fit in a telephone booth?). Since telephone booth stuffing became a fad in the 1950s, it looks like "The Bowery Boys" were ahead of the curve.

***** In Fast Company (6/22/46) Del Lord ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, William 'Billy' Benedict

The gang saves a neighborhood cab co. from an outlaw rival.

Like the Marx Bros. or the Three Stooges, the Bowery Boys are best when bringing chaos into the well-ordered world of the rich or pretentious. Their's is a street tough brand of chaos, too moronic to be organized. Slip (Gorcey) may try, but the gang are like wacky billiard balls, causing the so-called leader to take out his frustration on the hapless Sach (Hall) in sometimes humorous fashion.

Too bad this entry doesn't get more of that energy on screen. It's actually a pretty dull affair. The one big set-piece, the packed telephone booth, goes on too long with no variation, soon losing its humor. Surprisingly, Hall and Gorcey remain pretty subdued without many of their usual wild antics. It's almost like the producers of this second series entry aren't sure the direction they want the series to take. At the same time, poor Bobby Jordan as the sometimes sane member looks a little lost. Still, it is a good chance to catch the lovely and classy Jane Randolph taking a break from her Cat People role.

The real problem, however, is with the premise. The rival cab company is simply filled with too many characters like the Boys. So the usual silly antics remain just that, silly, and aren't redeemed by puncturing the balloons of the high and mighty.

The second in Monogram's Bowery Boys series starring the always funny Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. Well, always funny to me, anyway. Gorcey's malapropisms and Hall's buffoonery might not be high comedy to some but I get a kick out of them. The plot to this one has Gorcey's Slip Mahoney becoming a taxicab driver, which leads to he and his friends becoming involved in a feud with a rival cab company. In addition to Gorcey and Hall, the Boys includes Bobby Jordan as Bobby, William Benedict as Whitey, and Leo's brother David Gorcey as Chuck. This was David's first Bowery Boys film. In keeping with the theme of nepotism, Leo's father Bernard makes his first appearance as series regular Louie, the ice cream parlor owner. Douglas Fowley makes for a hissable villain. Jane Randolph, Judy Clark, and Marjorie Woodworth provide the pretty. It's a decent entry with some good lines and gags. The phone booth bit is a highlight. Far from the Boys' best but fun.

In Fast Company finds the Bowery Boys involved in taxi wars as the big Ponderosa outfit of the NYC cab companies managed by Douglas Fowley is trying all kinds of intimidation tactics to push the independent owner operators out of business. One of those independents is banged up pretty bad so the local priest Charles D. Brown prevails upon Leo Gorcey to pinch hit. Well when you get Gorcey you get the rest of the Bowery Boys bringing whatever skills they have to bear on the situation.

This film is a nice combination of Bowery Boy hijinks and a bit of pathos as brought by Mary Gordon, wife of the injured cab owner. That woman besides playing Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series played more sweet Irish moms in film than anyone else by far. Yet you can hear her Scot's speech pattern loud and clear.

There are three other women who get substantial roles here, unusual for a Bowery Boy film. Jane Randolph as the daughter of the real owner of the cab company that Fowley is running for his own benefit, Marjorie Woodworth a glamorous dame who leads Gorcey down the path to a severe beating and Judy Clark niece of Bernard Gorcey who Leo Gorcey keeps standing up for a date. And yet Louie Dumbrowski let those kids hang out in his Sweet Shop.

Bowery Boy fans should like this one.

The second entry in "The Bowery Boys" series at Monogram contains one of the funniest segments in film history which I am surprised has not shown up in comedy montage edits. It involves the boys getting trapped in a telephone booth and everybody who tries to get them out getting trapped as well. Obviously taken off from the ship's cabin sequence in the Marxx Brothers "A Night at the Opera", this scene is just as funny and stands out equally on its own. There's also the recurring gag of Sach (Huntz Hall) trying to grab a watch from an electric claw, losing it thanks to the distractions of the various eccentric characters coming into Louie's ice cream parlor. That includes Louie himself, played by Bernard Gorcey who would play this character throughout the remainder of his life.

The storyline is also strong, focusing on an attempt by the manager of Paul Harvey's cab company to keep other taxis off the road. The boys are only involved because a local priest has asked Slip (Leo Gorcey) to help out while an injured cab driver is recovering. Slip and Sach seek to contact the owner of the cab company to inform him of what his employees are doing and encounter his feisty daughter (Jane Randolph) which upsets Slip's girlfriend, the dizzy Judy Clark. Car chases and all sorts of other chaos ensues, leading to a no-holds barred fight in a car garage. After a slow start with "Live Wire", the series jump-started itself and never looked back, although the plots sometimes just got too absurd for its own good. Charles D. Brown plays the local priest as too good to be true, while that favorite of all Scottish character actresses, Mary Gordon, offers a spin of home-spun goodness as the injured cab driver's mother.

Steve Trent, the ruthless owner of the Red Circle Cab Company is driving independent cabbies out of business. John Cassidy refuses to sell to Trent and soon thereafter Trent's henchmen cause Cassidy to have an accident which leaves him with a broken arm. The kindly and savvy Father Donovan tries to get Slip to drive Cassidy's cab while Cassidy is recovering. Donovan, acting in cahoots with the Irish beat cop, convinces Slip that the only way he can keep from getting arrested for vandalizing a fruit vendor's stand is by helping Cassidy. Somewhat resentful at first, Slip has a change of heart when the priest introduces him to Cassidy and his daughter and mother. There is quite a touching scene between Slip and the little girl. The best gag in the movie is the phone booth stuffing; it's well done and funny. As often happens in the series, the movie ends with a brawl between the bad guys and the Boys. This is Gorcey's movie as the rest of the boys have little to do. He did a good job with it. A highlight was seeing Mary Gordon as Cassidy's mother. Gordon was a Scotswoman (I always thought she was Irish, but no) who will be best remembered for her role as Mrs. Hudson in the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies. Strong supporting cast with always reliable Douglas Fowley, Charles D. brown and Paul Harvey. Although darker than most of the series entries, it still has its frenetic and funny moments.

In Fast Company (1946)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Second film in the Bowery Boys series has Slip (Leo Gorcey) offering to drive a cab for a driver who was injured on the job. Soon he and the boys find themselves in the middle of a cab war with the big cabs trying to knock over the little ones. The subject line of a cab war has been dealt with in quite a few films with the most memorable being TAXI with James Cagney and Loretta Young. This film here can't hold a candle to that one nor the previous film in the series. This second film comes off as a major disappointment as it appears the film was rushed into production without too much thought put into the screenplay. For the most part there are very few laughs to be found in this film and the biggest one comes towards the end when Sach (Huntz Hall) walks into a trophy room with various stuffed animals and gets scared. The rest of the comedy comes from rather silly slapstick including a really bad scene where the boys and a few others get locked inside a phone booth. Other forms of so-called comedy comes from the boys eating up all the bananas from a dealer and another one dealing with a watch inside one of those claw machines that Sach keeps getting but losing at the last second. As with the first film, there's no question that this was meant to show off Gorcey but that doesn't even happen that well. As expected he spills a lot of mangled dialogue but the character really doesn't do much else. Most of the supporting cast is wasted and especially Bobby Jordan. Character actor John D. Brown comes off the best as Father Donovan and I'm sure many will remember him from countless Warner pictures in the 30s.

While I don't vividly recall all the Bowery Boys' films, In Fast Company seems to be much more serious as well as less funny than any of the others I remember.

Right near the beginning, a man is sent to the hospital when his taxi is rammed and knocked on its side. Later, Slip is seriously woozy after being beaten by the Red Circle Cab thugs, who seem not at all interested in picking up fares, just eliminating the competition. Another member of the Boys is pistol-whipped, resulting in his hospitalization with bandages all over his head. To me, it's hard to laugh among this sort of serious violence. Most Bowery Boy violence is not nearly as serious.

The laughs are few and far between. I thought Sach had almost no quality scenes. He kept dropping the watch he was pulling out of the iron claw machine whenever anyone tapped him on the back. One thought--have one of his entourage stand behind to keep that from happening. Or...don't be so touchy. He didn't need to drop it just because someone touched him.

I didn't care about illogical parts of the plot--it is the Bowery Boys. But there was almost nothing in here that even seemed like it was supposed to be funny.

Director Del Lord directed many of the Three Stooges best comedies. This may have been his and the Bowery Boys' least funny film ever.

**Spoilers** To avoid a stretch in jail for stealing bananas off Tony's fruit stand Slip is given a chance to rehabilitated himself by Father Donovan in him driving a cab for the Cassidy Taxi Company. It was John Cassidy who in not selling his company out to Steve Trent, the owner of the rival Red Curcil Cab Co., that had Trent have two of cabbie goons, Gus & Pete, run him off the road and put him in the hospital with a broken arm. All this made things very difficult for Slip in that he's not exactly the "working man" type but also he's forced to break a hot date with Mable Dumbrowsky, no relation to sweet shop owner Louie as far as I know, who's been after Slip to take her out for a date for months!

Not really being that interested in hacking Slip has a change of heart when he's told by Father Donovan that the injured John Cassidy has a family to support and without him driving his taxi, and earning a living, he and his family including his 5 year old daughter Nora may well end up out in the street. Being the independent soul that he is in not giving into Trent's offer to drive for his taxi company Slip is soon given the business by goons Gus & Pete in trying to do to Slip what they did to John Cassidy. The big difference here is that Slip has back-up in the "Bowery Boys", Sach Whitey Chuck & Bobby, which Cassidy didn't! And that made a whole lot of difference when push came to shove in the upcoming taxi war that was soon to follow!

Slip Sach and the "Bowery Boys" really get their act together here in "In Fast Company" which worked so well for them for the next dozen or so years in the over 40 "Bowery Boys" flicks that followed it. We have towards the end of the movie what was to became the signature scene of almost all "Bowery Boys" films with a wild free for all between then "Bowery Boys" and their opponents, Trent and his goons, which was the highlight of the movie.

There's also introduced into the film Louie Dumbrowsky the owner of "Louie's Sweet Shop" on the Bowery where the boys, when they wren't doing anything special, used to hang out at. This was a big change as well as part for Bernard Grocey who played Louie who in the first Bowery Boys film "Live Wires" played a bit part as the local neighborhood bookie Jack Kane. Bernard Grocey, Slip's real life father, was to play Louie for the next nine years in every "Bowery Boys" movie until he was killed in a traffic accident in 1955.

The second of the "Bowery Boys" series of films is somewhat interesting due to its semi-serious tone, something which would occur infrequently during this comedy series. Here, a shrewd tycoon who owns a major taxi cab company is trying to coerce smaller rival cab businesses to sell out and join his firm, or else suffer the unpleasant consequences. When one of these competing drivers is run off the road and badly injured, it's Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) to the rescue to take over his cab and collect his fares for him. There are still some laughs to be had in between the drama as Slip requires the aid of his pals, including Sach (Huntz Hall). This entry is noteworthy in that it's the first to introduce Louie (played by Leo's dad Bernard Gorcey), the tiny and frazzled owner of Louie's Sweet Shop where the boys hang out. **1/2 out of ****

Slip and his gang of middle aged juvenile delinquents take on a cutthroat cab company. I've never seen one of these movies before, and I hope I never see another. Not that it was a total wash-out, but the jokes were pitifully lame and the acting unbelievable hammy. I'll bet that all these Bowery Boys pictures followed this same general format. This film would probably appeal to those of us who want to walk down memory lane.