While sharing a soda with a young blond boy, hapless Huntz Hall (as Horace De Bussy "Sach" Jones) mistakes a mock "Air Raid" drill for the real thing. Feeling patriotic, Mr. Hall takes three of "The Bowery Boys" to join the U.S. Army. Soon, wise guy leader Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) arrives to find father Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky) has barricaded his "Sweet Shop", fearing an attack. After learning his missing pals have gone to enlist, Mr. Gorcey seeks to retrieve them. But, Leo Gorcey is tricked into enlisting himself, by drill sergeant Donald MacBride (as Herbert Frisbie).
After turning the elder Gorcey away as too old, the Army recruits heroic "Major Dumbrowsky", due to his past service record (he invented the "hydrogen ray"). Meanwhile, son Gorcey, Hall, William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) provide Sgt. MacBride and the Army with "Bowery Boy" high-jinx. The best bit involves Gorcey and the gang unwittingly donning officers' uniforms. MacBride's engaging "Sgt. Frisbie" characterization gives the tired, old plot some spark.
**** Bowery Battalion (1/24/51) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Donald MacBride
