Fighting Fools (1949) has a much more serious tone than the usual slapstick hijinks seen in the other BB movies. It opens with the Boys working as vendors at a boxing match. Their friend, Jimmy Higgins, takes a bad beating beating and dies in the ring. Sach and Slip find Jimmy's brother, Johnny, to tell him the bad news. Johnny was a promising fighter until he was double crossed by crooked hoodlum/gambler manager Blinky Harris and lost his will to box. Now he's living on skid row and is down and out. Slip convinces him to get back in shape and make a comeback. With Slip, Sach, and the other boys holding workouts in Louie's Sweet Shop Johnny becomaes a real contender. Sports reporter Gabe Moreno gives the Boys good coverage in the newspaper. But will blinks Harris interfere with Johnny's march to the title?
There's not much comedy in this one. It's mostly a regular B-movie boxing drama. It's definitely not the typical Bowery boys flick.
Frankie Darrow plays Johnny and he fits right in with the Bowery Boys. Gabriel Dell is Gabe and he was always a positive addition to these movies. Lyle Talbot is properly nasty as Blinky Harris.
Check the credits for John Indrisano as the boxing coordinator. John fought as a welterweight from 1923-1934. He had a record of 64-9-4. The Ring Boxing magazine once called him "The Uncrowned Champion of the World." He worked as a driver and bodyguard for Mae West. John was also friends with Frank Sinatra and appeared in five of his movies. He trained most of the big male stars for roles in which they played a boxer. John died at the age of 62, apparently a suicide by hanging.
Fighting Fools (1949) is enjoyable as long as the viewer doesn't expect to see the usual comedy routines of the boys.
