BOWERY BOMBSHELL (1946)

  This is only the 3rd in The Bowery Boys series of films. Not my favorite in the series but pretty standard for The Boys. This time they get mixed up with some bank robbing gangsters and have to clear their name. There are impersonations of Edward G. Robinson and the old SCARFACE movie in this one and also a mad scientist that turns a guy into a walking bomb(hence the title). SPOOK BUSTERS is next and that was always one of my favs just for it's haunted house setting. 

BOWERY BOMBSHELL

THE AMAZING MR. X (1948)

  I have this movie on a DVD set of horror films but I think it fits more into the thriller category. It's hard to talk about this without spoiling it because they set it up to possibly be a supernatural film but that may or may not be true throughout. The title character is played by Turhan Bey who I recall from THE MUMMY'S TOMB and despite there being no classic Universal monster in this movie(you do get a trained pet Crow though so that's something) it is certainly a better overall film than that one. AKA THE SPIRITUALIST 

DISORDER IN THE COURT (1943)

 One of the Three Stooges shorts I've seen the most thanks to it being in public domain for some reason and ending up on pretty much every cheap-o Stooges set released on DVD or VHS. This one has the boys in a courtroom causing their usual chaos. They try and murder a parrot, shoot a man's toupee and, of course, smack the shit out of each other among other things. A classic if you're not sick of seeing it yet. 

                          Nothing says cheap-ass VHS quite like a crayoned cartoon drawing!:

MR. WISE GUY (1942)

   This is the 8th film in the East Side Kids series, right after the classic SPOOKS RUN WILD, and it's kind of a forgettable one. The kids get sent to a reform school this time and have to solve a murder. Not much stands out about this chapter except maybe the black kid(Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison) getting covered in white paint and ending up in white-face after stealing a chicken. Also we find out Muggs'(Leo Gorcey) first name is Ethelbert. Not exactly essential unless you're some kinda completist. 

WHO DONE IT? (1949)

  This is one of my favorite Three Stooges shorts featuring Shemp. The Stooges are detectives this time investigating a murderous gang that includes a rather large fellow(Duke York, famous stuntman) referred to as "The Goon" throughout. Shemp has a great freakout scene after being poisoned which is a highlight. Dumb, goofy classic violent and fun hijinks that at 16 minutes never overstays it's welcome. 

 There was an Abbott & Costello movie with this same exact title 7 years earlier. 

THE FLYING SERPENT (1946)

 I dig that 1980s monster movie Q:THE WINGED SERPENT so I always wanted to check out this way older flick based on the same Aztec god-monster. In comparison this was a pretty big disappointment and even in comparison to other 40s monster flicks this one is no great shakes. For one thing the titular creature here is not very big. A monster that's just a bird that's a bit larger than your average turkey isn't exactly a terrifying sight to behold. The plot is just a retelling of the one in THE DEVIL BAT which was made by the same studio(PRC) just a few years earlier but Bela Lugosi is a lot more entertaining than George Zucco any day. I now know why this is such an obscure title.

    The all-night PRC thrill show along with the original version of THE SWAMP THING!:

I ACCUSE MY PARENTS (1944)

  Not only do you get the main character(Robert Lowell) saying the title once in this clunky 40s melodrama but you get him saying it twice in case we forgot what we are watching. This is a story of a fella with some pretty crappy alcoholic parents who are more concerned with partying it up than taking any interest in their son. This then leads to a life of gangster entanglements when he meets a nightclub singer(Mary Beth Hughes). 

 I've only seen this movie on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and that's probably the only way you should watch it too. AKA ACCUSE MY PAST 

10 years earlier there was GUILTY PARENTS which is basically the same idea but with a female protagonist.    

FOG ISLAND (1945)

 You would think a movie named FOG ISLAND might have some fog in it. Well think again because there's none of that here. Undoubtedly it is cheaper to just reference there being fog and this is clearly one of those poverty row PRC studios low-budget affairs.  It's also more of a murder mystery deal than a horror flick. It all takes place in an old spooky mansion, which was a pretty common setting back in the these days. There's a bunch of skulls around and George Zucco plays the main weirdo that invites a bunch of murder suspects to come hang out with him in hopes of getting rich or something. Lionel Atwill is one of his guests. The plot gets a bit convoluted and the crappy choppy print of this doesn't help clear things up. One of those old-timey classics that isn't really very classic.

VOODOO MAN (1944)

 Bela Lugosi stars as a hypnotizing, voodoo-practitioner who attempts to bring his dead wife back to life by performing zombifying rituals helped out by George Zucco and also John Carradine as one of his goofy henchmen.  You get some zombified ladies and Bela and Zucco doing their creepy shtick wearing what look like magician's robes. Pretty good for a quick(only 62 minutes long!) breezy watch if you like the creepy classics.

ALIAS THE CHAMP (1949)

 The only movie starring legendary pro-wrestler Gorgeous George. It's mostly just a story about mobsters trying to infiltrate the wrasslin' business though and focuses on a detective(Robert Rockwell) trying to stop this and solve a wrassler's murder. This might have been due to George not being the greatest actor in the world(outside of the ring anyway). A few other real life wrestler's show up including Sammy Menacker and the great Tor Johnson, under his Super Swedish Angel moniker. Sadly Tor is only in one big brawling scene but he would go on to meet Ed Wood and the rest is crap-movie history. The film overall is pretty simple but it breezes by in just 1 hour so check it out for some old-timey grapplin' action.
 I can't help but believe that this was an influence on those later Mexican Santo films since it basically follows the same blueprint without the comic-book super-heroics and monsters that they would throw in to help spice things up.

                With bonus pro wrestling short SCRAMBLED LEGS!:

CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA (1940)

 In this Charlie Chan flick(#26 out of a whopping 47!) Mr. Chan(played by non-Asian actor Sidney Toler) along with his #1 son(played by actual Chinese man Victor Sen Yung) break up a spy ring intent on blowing up a ship and blocking a naval fleet heading through The Panama Canal. Lionel Atwill, from a bunch of classic horror films, also appears but doesn't stick around too long. A few mysterious murders take place and, as is familiar to anyone who's seen a couple of these old Chan flicks knows, things get resolved fairly predictably, however, in good mystery fashion, you may not be able to guess the main culprit in this one very easily. This one was directed by a friend of mine's grandad, Norman Foster, and it was his last Chan movie before moving on to more obscure stuff and eventually television work. He borrowed the plot for this from a 1934 Spencer Tracy film titled MARIE GALANTE which I have not seen and I assume it might be too classy for my taste.

The big-ass list of classic Chan films starring Sidney Toler!:

1. CHARLIE CHAN IN HONOLULU (1938)
2. CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO (1939)
3. CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND (1939)
4. CITY IN DARKNESS (1939)
5. CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA (1940)
6. CHARLIE CHAN'S MURDER CRUISE (1940)
7. CHARLIE CHAN AT THE WAX MUSEUM (1940)
8. MURDER OVER NEW YORK (1940)
9. DEAD MEN TELL (1941)
10. CHARLIE CHAN IN RIO (1941)
11. CASTLE IN THE DESERT (1942)
12. CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE (1944)
13. CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT (1944)
14. BLACK MAGIC (1944)
15. THE JADE MASK (1945)
16. THE SCARLET CLUE (1945)
17. THE SHANGHAI COBRA (1945)
18. THE RED DRAGON (1945)
19. DARK ALIBI (1946)
20. SHADOWS OVER CHINATOWN (1946)
21. DANGEROUS MONEY (1946)
22. THE TRAP (1946) 

 

LET'S GET TOUGH (1942)

                                                   "don't forget to keep your rice dry"

 This movie was made right in the middle of World War 2 which gives some historical context to the way Japanese folks are treated in this. I think if you looked at the way our "heroes", The East Side Kids, treat one particular Japanese fellow(who eventually turns out to be Chinese and they feel bad about it) at the beginning of this movie, given the current insanely politically correct era we inhabit, they would surely be convicted of a hate crime. Then again the kidding around they do with their black member, 'Sunshine'  Sammy Morrisson, about fried chicken and not being able to tell little white lies would probably also get them in a lot of hot water these days. If you can overlook these dated aspects (and if you can't why the hell would you be watching this old crap anyway?) then it's a pretty typical entry(#9) in the 'Kids' series where they foil a Japanese/German spy ring and do their part for the war. Oh yeah, I guess you have to overlook all the pro-war stuff also you silly America-hating snowflake!

BOYS OF THE CITY (1940)

 This one is only the 2nd East Side Kids movie out of 22. The weird thing, to me, about this one is it doesn't have Huntz Hall in it(I guess he hadn't become a regular member of the gang yet). Despite this it's still a pretty decent episode that takes our gang out of their normal stomping grounds and throws them in a creepy old, potentially haunted, mansion upstate. There's murder, a weird old witchy lady and lots of wandering around in the dark. Huntz woulda made it better but don't worry because we basically get that movie the very next year with SPOOKS RUN WILD and then again with GHOST ON THE LOOSE three years later which kinda makes this one a minor, forgettable footnote.
 Another footnote about this one is that it may be the only one of these films that's actually a direct sequel bringing back the Knuckles Dolan character from the first EAST SIDE KIDS movie. AKA THE GHOST CREEPS

The whole whopping East Side Kids series!:

1. EAST SIDE KIDS (1940)
2. BOYS OF THE CITY (1940)
3. THAT GANG OF MINE (1940)
4. PRIDE OF THE BOWERY (1940)
5. FLYING WILD (1941)
6. BOWERY BLITZKRIEG (1941)
7. SPOOKS RUN WILD (1941)
8. MR. WISE GUY (1942)
9. LET'S GET TOUGH! (1942)
10. SMART ALECKS (1942)
11. 'NEATH BROOKLYN BRIDGE (1942)
12. KID DYNAMITE (1943)
13. CLANCY STREET BOYS (1943)
14. GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE (1943)
15. MR. MUGGS STEPS OUT (1943)
16. MILLION DOLLAR KID (1944)
17. FOLLOW THE LEADER (1944)
18. BLOCK BUSTERS (1944)
19. BOWERY CHAMPS (1944)
20. DOCKS OF NEW YORK (1945)
21. MR. MUGGS RIDES AGAIN (1945)
22. COME OUT FIGHTING (1945)

SMART ALECKS (1942)

 10th movie(out of 22!) in the East Side Kids series. This time the kids(who are actually pretty old to be called "kids") tangle with some tough guy gangsters. They tend to do this a lot, which can be a little confusing when trying to recall which movies you've seen of theirs. This one stands out because one of the kids, Danny(Bobby Jordan), gets his ass kicked so bad that he ends up almost dying which is kind of heavy for one of these light-hearted comedic romps. The power of prayer helps him out though, which is a bit more religious than these movies usually get. Fairly generic stuff but if you're a fan of the antics of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall(who come off as real dicks for the first half of the movie and even rob one of their pals at one point) you know what to expect. AKA THE EAST SIDE KIDS IN SMART ALECKS

'NEATH BROOKLYN BRIDGE (1942)

 The 11th film in the East Side Kids series. This time the kids get involved with some gangsters and wrongfully charged with murder. It's hard to say much about this movie because it's a pretty generic and predictable film but I suppose you know what you're in for and that makes for some comfortable junk food for the eyes for fans of old-timey comedy/crime capers. There is a gal involved who has to cross-dress in an attempt to disguise herself as one of the gang(Such progressivism!). One thing that I do find slightly annoying is that the title seems to be missing the word "the" but I guess people spoke differently back in the 40s.

KING OF THE ZOMBIES (1941)

 It's kinda hard to find any movies that starred Mantan Moreland. Outside of the all-black cast films he made in Harlem, many of which aren't even around anymore, he usually just plays a supporting role. In this one he's pretty close to the top though. Mantan, as Jefferson Jackson, crashes on an island along with 2 not as entertaining white fellows and ends up in a mansion that happens to have a mad doctor, played by Henry Victor but was originally supposed to be Bela Lugosi and then Peter Lorre who both backed out, and some old-timey shambling zombies. At one point a couple of zombies try and put the bite on Mantan but this was was before zombies were synonymous with flesh-eating ghouls so perhaps it was just some coincidental general monstrous hijinks they were getting up to. This is a pretty good example of a not very serious but still entertaining goofy classic and it was so popular at the time that they cranked out a sequel, REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES, 2 years later which I need to check out pronto.

 

ONE BODY TOO MANY (1944)

 I only really watched this movie because of Bela Lugosi which is unfortunate because he's just portraying a supporting character here and he spends most of the time trying to get people to drink coffee which may, or may not, have rat poison in it. This is one of those old creepy house mysteries where people are getting bumped off left and right except here it's mostly all played for laughs. There's a bungling insurance salesman(Jack Haley, best known as The Tin Woodsman from THE WIZARD OF OZ) who gets most of the screen time and he spends that acting pretty stupid. He also manages to get completely nekked at one point but since this is 1944 there is a handy spot for him to hide his shame. This probably will not make too many people laugh these days but it did help me fall asleep one late night so it does serve a purpose.

 

THAT GANG OF MINE (1940)

 The 3rd movie in the East Side Kids series.This one is before they got Huntz Hall so the comedy is not as over-the-top yet and it goes a little heavy on the melodrama at points. The story deals with Muggs(Leo Gorcey) attempting to become a horse-racing jockey and then being a big scaredy cat. It sets up the next movie PRIDE OF THE BOWERY where Muggs decides to be a champion prize-fighter. It's only about an hour long so if you want to see what's basically a more grown-up and slightly more serious version of The Little Rascals on horseback here ya go. I'm more of a fan of the later Hall stuff myself.

THE MUMMY'S CURSE (1944)

 Rushed out the same year as the previous installment (THE MUMMY'S GHOST) in the Kharis The Mummy saga this one manages to wrap things up pretty well by giving us a reincarnated Mummy's bride as well. They throw in a pretty standard plot about the monster being reincarnated because some land developers are draining the swamp where he last met his demise except now it's in a Louisiana bayou instead of Massachusetts. Oh and also some stock footage from THE MUMMY'S HAND. They do leave it open for a sequel at the end but that didn't really happen although we did get ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE THE MUMMY 11 years later but that's a totally different Mummy-man named Klaris.

THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1942)

 This is the 3rd mummy movie in the Universal studios series following THE MUMMY'S HAND. If you have not seen that one there's a lot of recapping going on here with a bunch of reused footage to start things out. When things finally get underway our  Mummy, this time played by Lon Chaney Jr., is revived and brought to America for his revenge on those who messed with his tomb. Chaney is pretty much wasted under all the makeup and this one is pretty by-the-numbers and never quite as entertaining as the last entry.
 I'm working my way through the whole Mummy box-set and I assume the next couple will be more of the same but I will keep my hopes up.