User reviews

The Bowery Boys invade the world of music and nightclubs when after a tonsillectomy which the hapless Bernard Gorcey paid for leaves Huntz Hall with a radio crooner's voice. Naturally Leo Gorcey and the rest of the boys want to capitalize on this if for no other reasons than to pay poor Bernard Gorcey back. They don't want to lose the ambiance of Louis Dumbrowski's Bowery Sweet Shop as a hangout.

But the elder Gorcey gets in far deeper as song plugger Gabriel Dell and Leo get the Sweet Shop owner to turn his place into a nightclub as a showcase for Hall. That doesn't please Craig Stevens who owns a nightclub across the street with his featured singer Adele Jergens, they don't like the competition. That sets up the crazy antics of this Bowery Boys feature.

A few years earlier Eddie Bracken did a comedy at Paramount where he played his usual schnook character who is discovered to have a velvety singing voice. A guy named Crosby was also under contract to Paramount and they dubbed Bing's singing voice to Bracken's songs.

Monogram couldn't afford Bing Crosby so they grabbed a singer named John Lorenz to dub Huntz Hall. I'm sure Mr. Lorenz was like thousands of others who couldn't get a break because he sounded like Bing Crosby. Still he's effective in Blues Busters.

To waste a Crosby voice on Huntz Hall, the shame of it.

The archetypal Bowery Boys movie, which shows Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey at their best.

Sach, in one of those Bowery Boy incidents, accidentally ends up singing strikingly like Bing Crosby. All the boys capitalize on his success and everything is honky dory until Sach decides he has forgotten where he came from and starts acting like a diva.

This series, although labelled "B," which it was, has a lot of humor, strong characterizations and is simply a lot of un. You will notice that it is a family affair, with Butch (or is it Chuck) played by David Gorcey and, of course, Louie Dumbrowski is Leo "Slip Mahoney" Gorcey's Dad, Bernard.

THe earlier series, the "Dead End Kids," was also very good, although those films have not aged as well given production techniques. That series, though starred Billy Halop and Bobby Jordan, in addition to Gorcey, Hall, and Gabe Dell. Jordan did appear in some Bowery Boy movies.

BLUES BUSTERS (Monogram, 1950), directed by William Beaudine, the 20th entry to the long running 48 film "Bowery Boys" series, is regarded possibly the most entertaining of its entries. If not the best, then the most different from any film thus far or since. Following the earlier patterns of newspaper stories, "film noir" mysteries or even a hillbilly comedy, BLUES BUSTERS comes across as most original for being classified as a musical. Unlike their earlier "East Side Kids" series (1940-1945), the production values are first rate (though not with the MGM gloss) with good comedy, songs and fine story regardless of this not being highly original.

Naturally set in the Bowery district of New York City, the story starts off with the Bowery Boys: Whitey (Billy Benedict), Chuck (David Gorcey), Butch (Bennie Bartlett), and their ringleader, "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), accompanied by their closest friend, Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey), owner of Louie's Sweet Shop, visiting the hospital room where their goofy pal, Horace Debussy Jones, better known as "Sach" (Huntz Hall) is recovering from the removal of his tonsils. Later back at the suite shop, the Bowery Boys hear some nice vocalizing not from a radio but from Sach. To help pay back Louie for supplying the hospital expenses for Sach, Slip comes up with an idea of quick cast by showcasing Sach to the crooning sensation of a "Bing Crosby" or "Frank Sinatra." Rejected by Rick Martin (Craig Stevens), owner of the Cabana night club near Louie's, Gabe Moreno (Gabriel Dell), Slip's pal now working as a song plugger, assists the gang by reverting Louie's Sweet Shop into Louie's Bowery Palace. Sach's singing and tap-dancing specialty by Sally Dolan (Phyllis Coates), Slip's girlfriend, soon attracts crowds to standing room only. This forces Martin to lose customers and having his own vocalist, Lola Stanton (Adele Jergens) singing to a near empty night club. With the help of Lola, she manages to engage Sach, now known as "The Bowery Thrush," to go under contact with Martin. In spite of his fame and fortune, Sach lives to regret it. Others in the cast include Paul Bryar, Matty King, William Vincent and Alphonse Martel.

Songs include: "Wasn't It You?" "The Battle of Jerricho," "The Blue Birds Keep Singing in the Rain," "Let's Have a Heart-to-Heart Talk," "The Blue Birds Keep Singing in the Rain" (tap dance solo by Phyllis Coates); "You Walked By," "You Better Be Looking Out for Love," "Let's Have a Heart-to-Heart Talk," "Swanee River," "Dixie" and "The Blue Birds Keep Singing in the Rain" (reprise).

For anyone who has ever seen Eddie Bracken singing like Bing Crosby in the seldom televised OUT OF THIS WORLD (Paramount, 1945) may see similarities between this and BLUES BUSTERS. Naturally the singing voice for Huntz Hall is dubbed but not by the similar sounding Bing Crosby. Although a night club story has some rumbles, there's no Slip Mahoney giving out the signal to his Boys for a "Routine Six." Quite different in format yet change is often good for the advancement of a series such as this. Hall is still amusing but not overly goofy or childlike as he would be in the latter entries. Best moments: Slip trying to sing in Sach's place; and good somber moment between Slip and Sach that doesn't make any disturbance to the story. The finish, however, is true classic in the best Bowery Boys tradition. Of the series regulars, this would become Gabriel Dell's farewell performance as Gabe Moreno.

Available on DVD, BLUES BUSTERS, at 67 minutes, can be seen and enjoyed whenever it turns up on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: August 8, 1999). Next installment: BOWERY BATTALION (1951). (***)

When the story begins, Sach is in the hospital for an operation and has convinced everyone he's on death's door. The truth is it's just a tonsillectomy and soon he's discharged. But there's an unexpected side effect....Sach now is able to croon like Tony Martin and Bing Crosby!! I've had several operations and unfortunately never had that happen with me! But as you probably guessed, instead of just bringing Sach fame and fortune, it also brings problems. Are Sach and the gang up for all this?!

In many of the Bowery Boys' films, Sach develops some sort of amazing power--such as the ability to accurately predict outcomes in gambling and amazing intellect. Here, he's got a great singing voice. Overall, a cute installment of the series and like the rest, it's light and entertaining...but hardly life changing!

Blues Busters (1950)

** (out of 4)

Sach (Huntz Hall) goes into the hospital to have his tonsils removed and when he comes out he has an amazing, crooning singing voice. Slip (Leo Gorcey) decides to make money off of him so they turn Louie's shop into a nightclub but this causes trouble with the club owner across the street. Number twenty in the series is one of the lesser entries as it starts off pretty well but the one-joke nature gets tiresome rather quick and in the end I had a hard time making it through the rather short 67-minute running time. The early jokes in the hospital were pretty funny as were the scenes where Hall discovers his talent but after this it's one boring joke after another. As I go through this series I'm starting to re-think my opinion on director Beaudine who previously had been a favorite of mine. When you see the style of his films and compare them to other director's in the series you really start to see a product that is rather rushed and one that really doesn't look like a "B" picture. There were several sequences that just seemed like they were under performed and that a little better editing and perhaps a different take would have made the scene better. For the most part we get a one-joke film as Sach becomes a hot property and you've got two sides fighting over him. The one thing I didn't understand is that, in the end, Louie is broke yet they had a pack house for three shows a night so why he was broke at the end is beyond me but then again, perhaps I'm just putting too much thought into it. I think Hall is in pretty good form as he is obviously having a good time singing even though he's dubbed. His "acting" of a crooner was pretty good and his facial gestures at least gave us a few nice laughs. Gorcey, both father and son, are also in good form but Gabriel Dell is pretty must wasted in his part. I wasn't too impressed with any of the supporting players as they all struck me as being underwritten and none of the performers brought anything to the role. The real stand out here is John Lorenz who dubs Hall and I must admit that I really enjoyed the songs and his voice. However, this is a comedy and I just didn't laugh enough to make the film work.

Sach is in the hospital. The gang fears that he's on death's door. It turns out to be a simple tonsillectomy and Sach's voice is changed into something beautiful. Louie is besides himself over the hospital bill. Slip comes up with an idea to make the money back.

This movie needs a Susan Boyle moment. I mean that it needs to do the standard competition prize story. It starts with a great premise. It just goes down a less compelling road. It doesn't have a ticking clock or the tension from a competition. This is still fun with Sach getting a big head and a small brain. This is generally fine.

Huntz gets a rare chance to show his serious side, and the result is an absorbing study into how much latent talent there always was within the Bowery Boys troupe.

Bernard and Leo Gorcey along with Huntz make a great comic film trio indeed. But in 'Blues Busters', Huntz becomes a teen singing idol following a tonsillectomy which changes his voice to a rich baritone a la Bing Crosby. (There's flawless dubbing to the real voice of John Lorenz.) Louie's Sweet Shoppe is transformed into a nightclub, as Louis Dumbrowsky and the Boys attempt to capitalize on Sach's newly-developed gift of song.

The great title tune "Bluebirds Keep Singing in the Rain" and other ditties make 'Blues Busters' a rare and offbeat must-see entry in the Bowery Boys saga, and will be a reminder of the great old moviegoing days when you left the theatre humming.

Highly recommended to all.

After a tonsillectomy, hyper-maniac Huntz Hall (as Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones) begins crooning like Bing Crosby (a fine dubbing imitation, by John Lorenz). Enterprising Leo Gorcey (as "Slip" Mahoney) turns the ageing youngsters' "Sweet Shop" hang-out into "Bowery Palace" with help from piano playing pal Gabriel Dell (as Gabe Moreno) and "Bowery Boys" William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck); there, Mr. Hall becomes singing sensation "The Bowery Thrush". Alas, criminally-minded rivals want a piece of the action…

Formulaic to a fault, with highlights being sweet 'n' sexy guest stars, like Phyllis Coates (as Sally Dolan) and Adele Jergens (as Lola Stanton). Note, "Blues Busters" features the last appearance of Mr. Dell, an original "Dead End" kid, in the Bowery series.

**** Blues Busters (10/29/50) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, Phyllis Coates

I'm not sure who to give the praise to, but this entry in the series is quite above the quality of of the other Bowery Boys efforts. It has a more polished look and feel to it and seems more in the style of the Universal-International comedy series of the time (i.e., A&C, Francis the Talking Mule, Ma & Pa Kettle, etc.)in terms of craftsmanship and production value (and like those other series mentioned, nothing hilarious in general, but pleasantly amusing). Overall, a Bowery Boys movie even non-fans might enjoy. Being a longtime fan of Bing Crosby's work, I would have SWORN it was Crosby dubbing the voice (especially in the sequence where we first see Satch performing at Louie's "new" nightclub) and I read somewhere here this was made in 6 days, which makes this film even more remarkable.

I think this and "The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters" are the two standouts in the series' run. As Orson Welles once said, "There are good movies, of ALL kinds." I guess this fits into that category!

A rather good entry in the series and Horace DeBusey Jones gets a singing voice and the Boys get into the nightclub business. The ladies are beautiful as the Boys play out the film.

"Blues Busters" is a Bowery Boys miss. There's too much music, not enough laughs and it gets too serious. The supporting cast is good but they can't save this movie. "Blues Busters" makes for a long hour. This one is not for me. Honorable mention: Slip's weed joke.

I'm watching this one right now on TCM. Sach has his tonsils removed and suddenly finds that he can sing like Bing Crosby. Wonder why things like that never happened to Whitey? Rick Martin, the owner of the nightclub across the street from Louie's Sweet Shop, won't give Sach an audition and has Slip and Sach thrown out. The Boys turn the sweet shop into a night club with Sach, The Bowery Thrush, as the main attraction. Professional song plugger Gabe Moreno provides the publicity. Naturally, Rick across the street doesn't like the competition and is determined to get rid of it, one way or the other.

Gorgeous Adele Jergens and pretty Phyllis Coates provide the female touch. Phyllis is Slip's latest girlfriend. In a few years, she would become the first Lois Lane on the Superman TV series. Adele plays a singer at the rival night club and belts out "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" at the beginning of the movie. Both ladies really brighten "Bowery Blues." It's well worth watching.

BLUES BUSTERS will always be touted as the proverbial diamond in the rough Bowery Boys episode, and an episode that got them good reviews and staying power. This is one classy production, and obviously assembled with a higher budget.

For starters, Louie's old sweet shop is turned into a swank Park Avenue nightclub, and the place is filled with dozens of extras, including a fairly decent orchestra.

Sach shines as a new singing sensation, thanks to his tonsils, and, of course, Slip has a money making scheme, hoping to turn him into a recording star. Huntz Hall's singing voice was dubbed by actor/singer John Laurenz, who sounded a lot like Bing Crosby, and was a big band vocalist.

Also one of the few episodes where Slip had a steady girlfriend, played by Phyllis Coates (later to play the first Lois Lane in the Superman tv series). This was Adele Jergens second feature with the gang, who has a hilarious gag scene with Sach signing his autograph all over her apartment walls, ceiling and furniture. "Now everywhere I look, I'll see your name!" she sighs. BLUES BUSTERS also marked the final appearance for Gabe Dell, who, like Bobby Jordan a few years earlier, left to strike out on his own. Dell was quite successful as he enrolled in acting classes and returned to Broadway, which eventually opened up new roads for him in both movies and tv. Of course, as typecasting would have it (and endless reruns), he will also be remembered as Gabe Moreno, policeman, private eye, news reporter, and everybody's pal.

This entry was officially released in 2012 via Warner Brothers box set series collection. Check out the great color box covers. Thank you to TCM for rerunning this classic series.

Why did the black door man not receive his credit for being in the movie? And the other interesting thing is an African American female opened up the movie singing and she is nowhere listed in the cast as credited or unaccredited.

Someone and the screen actors guild needs to give this woman her credits for opening up this movie with her beautiful singing. Are the writers and directors are all passed away most of them pass away at a young age.