The Bowery Boys started off during the 1930's as "The Dead End Kids." In 1934, a Broadway play entitled Dead End introduced audiences to these "kids." The original group was Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Bernard Punsly, Gabriel Dell, David Gorcey, Leo Gorcey, and Huntz Hall. When Samuel Goldwyn bought the rights to the play, he also signed all the "kids" too. However, 1937's movie version of Dead End is the only movie the "kids" made for Goldwyn. Supposedly, they ran amok during film and he sold their contracts to Warner Brothers rather than try and make another movie with them. As "The Dead End Kids," they made six films at Warner Brothers, the most famous being Angels with Dirty Faces.
After Warner Brothers dropped the contracts of the "kids," Monogram decided to sign them. The new moniker for the group was "The East Side Kids." While various boys came and went, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, and Huntz Hall remained the main characters of these movies. Altogether "The East Side Kids" starred in 22 films from 1940 - 1945. I would have to pick 1943's Ghosts on the Loose as my favorite from this period. It costarred Bela Lugosi as a mysterious man who the "kids" think is a murderer on the loose.
In 1946, the franchise was updated because they truly weren't "kids" anymore. The new (and final) name for the group became "The Bowery Boys." Again, members came and went but the clear stars were Leo Gorcey as "Slip" and Huntz Hall as "Sach." Another constant was Leo's real life father, Bernard Gorcery, who played Louie Dumbrowski. Dumbrowski was the owner of the soda shop were the boys hung out and was a surrogate father to them. Unfortunately, the boys often dragged Louie into their messes (Poor Guy!). Altogether, there were 48 movies starring "The Bowery Boys." The series suffered the loss of Bernard Gorcey in 1955, when he died in a car accident. Leo made only one more movie after his father's sudden death -- he was said to have become very angry and hard to work with after the older Gorcey's tragic death. The series continued until 1958 (7 movies post Leo Gorcey) making it the longest running series in movie series.
I still crack up at Leo Gorcey's malaprops. Here are a few examples of Gorcey's misspeak: "optical delusion" ( optical illusion) and "Don't interrupt my strain of thought!" (...train of thought!). I believe Gorcey's legacy lives on in comic Norm Crosby. Crosby has acknowledged Leo as his inspiration and in true Norm Crosby style said, "He had pistachio!"( He had panache). I adored Huntz Hall who had great facial gestures and did physical comedy very well. In fact, I still wonder if Art Carney modeled Ed Norton of The Honeymooners after Huntz Hall. Actually, Ed Norton wears a crumpled hat ala Leo Gorcey but can mug like Huntz Hall. Hmmm?
In short, "The Bowery Boys" provided a snapshot of life on NYC's East Side in 1940's/1950's. These young guys made us laugh because the situations they got into were based on being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And who can't relate to that? In addition, I think these guys inspired many comics and comedic actors who followed them. Not a bad legeacy for a bunch of poor kids from NYC!
FYI -- TCM shows "Bowery Boys" movies every Saturday morning around 10/10:30 am!
1 comments:
Hi Gilby! I just loved the Dead End kids, especially in Angels With Dirty Faces. The transformation into the Bowery Boys, much more slapstick, was a lot of fun. And I loved your combination resulting in Carney's Ed Norton. You came up with a really clever idea in that one!
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