Spook Chasers

This particular post Gorcey Bowery Boys film is distinguished by having Stanley Clements adopt Leo Gorcey's gift for the malaprop without the same humor. It also is an attempt to use character actor Percy Helton as the proprietor of a Bowery diner as a substitute for Bernard Gorcey. Spook Chasers is just a pale imitation of the series at its height.

A couple of sharp real estate agents unload a lemon of a house on poor Helton who has been prescribed a nice country rest. But the joke gets turned on them when it turns out a whole lot of stolen loot from a former gang boss is found by the Bowery Boys and Helton. Now gangster Peter Mamakos is after it as well as the agents William Henry and Darlene Fields.

Some good bits are in this especially when Fields decides to vamp poor Sach and gets him drunk in the process. Also Sach manages to wreck and mix up all the house utilities in a bit lifted from Abbott&Costello.

The title Spook Chasers comes from the gangsters efforts to frighten the boys away with ghosts as a last gambit. Still it was all done before in this series and elsewhere.

Spook Chasers (1957)

** (out of 4)

The Bowery Boys must battle crooks when a real estate agent sells their friend Mike (Percy Helton) a rundown piece of land. The group end up finding money there, which draws the attention of a couple gangsters who plan on making the boys think the house is haunted so that they'll leave. Number forty-five in the series is a step-down compared to the previous film and you can't help but feel the screenwriters have gone to the well one time too many. The horror-comedy bit was something that the Bowery Boys hit upon countless times and dealing with gangsters was another plot point that they did countless times. There are a few nice jokes here, a great supporting cast but in the end there's just not enough laughs to make the film work. There are a couple good sequences and the ending is one of them as the pacing finally picks up as the boys are running from room to room trying to get away from the "ghosts" that are chasing them. There's a funny sequence early on where Sach has to wait on a table and the incident with the coffee was quite funny. Another good joke is when the group first finds the money. Sadly the screenplay doesn't offer much else as the characters just go through the motions and in the end it really doesn't add up to much. There are countless scenes where Sach proves what an idiot he is but this time it comes off rather annoying because he's just too stupid for his own good. Check out the sequence where he tries to fix a faulty drip and ends up ripping up the entire kitchen. Another example of seeing the same thing too much happens when the girl seduces him into giving out yet more information. This is something you could possible use over and over but I wish they would have at least changed it up a bit. As with the previous film, Huntz Hall and Stanley Clements actually do a nice job together as their chemistry is certainly starting to click. David Gorcey, Jimmy Murphy and Eddie LeRoy actually get more to do here and I thought Darlene Fields did a fine job as the sexy seducer. Helton clearly steals the show as the weak-hearted shop owner whose restaurant appears to be the same set that Louie's Sweetshop was at originally. Robert Shayne has a very funny cameo at the end.

I really enjoyed this Bowery Boys caper "Spook Chasers". In it, Sach (Huntz Hall), Duke (Stanley Clements) and the rest of the boys accompany sweet shop owner Mike Calncy (Percey Hilton) to his newly acquired country home "Cedarcrest". Upon arriving, they discover that the dwelling is nothing more than a ramshackled old farmhouse. Furthermore, it's haunted! Or is it? Gangsters start to figure prominently in the proceedings (sort of like in Abbott and Costello's "Hold That Ghost"). I must say that Stanley Clements was likable as Leo Gorcey's replacement in the series. He had appeared in one of the early East Side Kids movies "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943) and then stayed away from the gang until 1957 (when Leo Gorcey left the series). Gorcey's brother, David, is here as Chuck. He had been one of "the boys" since the East Side Kids series (featuring Leo Gorcey) had commenced at Monogram in 1940. It's too bad that the film "Spook Chasers" is rarely seen. It would be nice to see these later Bowery Boys films, which were made by Allied Artists, get released on DVD.

Now hanging out at "Clancy's Cafe" in New York City, "The Bowery Boys" are concerned about fatherly proprietor Percy Helton (as Mike Clancy), who has been ordered to get some rest and relaxation. Coincidently, crooked real estate agent Bill Henry (as Harry Shelby) and his busty companion Darlene Fields (as Dolly Owens) arrive to sell Mr. Helton a farmhouse in the country. Insuring that a lack of rest is in the offing, Helton takes "The Bowery Boys" with him to "Cedarcrest", which turns out to be falling apart, connected to gangsters, and possibly haunted!

With two decades behind them, and only three movies to go, "Spook Chasers" was the last time around for what was possibly the group's second most recycled storyline (give or take a few). Despite its frequency, this plot was never one of the Bowery's best.

"The Bowery Boys" herein are: Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones), Stanley Clements (as Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie), David Gorcey (as Chuck), Jimmy Murphy (as Myron), and Eddie LeRoy (as Blinky). Although his assignment did not last, Mr. Helton was a better replacement for Bernard Gorcey's "Louie" than Mr. Clements was for Leo Gorcey. Also note, with his brother and father gone, David Gorcey no longer uses his "Condon" surname. And, this was the first appearance for bespectacled Mr. LeRoy, who would stay for the remaining films.

*** Spook Chasers (6/2/57) George Blair ~ Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements, Percy Helton, Darlene Fields

Hanging out in Mike Clancy's (Percy Helton) diner, the Bowery Boys are engaged in their usual loafing sessions; Sach (Huntz Hall) works on a puzzle book; Duke (Stanley Clements) chows down on Clancy's Iris stew special, and Myron (Jimmy Murphy), Chuck (David Gorcey) and Blinky (Eddie LeRoy)are looking at the pictures in the eatery's library of comic books.

Two diner, real-estate agent Harry Shelby (Bill Henry)and his assistant, Dolly Owens (Darlene Fields), hear that Mike has been ordered by his doctor to take a long rest in the country. They sell him "Cedar Crest," -a paradise in the mountains---which actually had been a robber's hideout. Mike and the Bowery Boys move to the place and find a dilapidated farmhouse. While doing repairs, they find a secret compartment containing new banknotes. Thinking they have found a recluse's treasure, they pay off the mortgage on Cedar Crest.

This draws the attention of three hoodlums, Snap (Peter Mamakos), Ziggie (Ben Welden) and Ernie (Robert Christopher), who order Shelby to buy back the place. Sach, Duke and Mike refuse the offer, even when told the place is haunted. Meanwhile Dolly has vamped Sach---an easy task---into revealing how they got the money to pay off the mortgage, and she and Shelby devise a plan of their own of obtaining the house with many greenbacks in deposit.

A few nights later, the six residents find themselves harassed by a pair of phantom-like goons, and attacked by three loot-hungry gangsters.