Jungle Gents

If as Carol Channing and Marilyn Monroe sang that Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend than it would have been in Lorelei's interest to befriend Huntz Hall because in Jungle Gents a sinus operation has left Sach with a nose that can smell where diamonds are located. What to do with that but go to Africa and do a little prospecting.

The whole Bowery Boys gang including Bernard Gorcey who once again leaves Louie's Sweet Shop to accompany Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the rest to the Dark Continent. Of course diamonds already mined and out of the ground are easier to find which leads the boys into contact with some smugglers played by Patrick O'Moore and Rudolph Anders.

Really at this point the series was sliding downhill. How many more plots can they have where Huntz Hall develops some strange power that gets them all in a jackpot?

Sach's special power this time is smelling diamonds and the special location the boys are headed to is Africa. Yeah it's time for another misadventure of everybody's favorite group of morons, The Bowery Boys. This is the thirty-fifth entry in the series, of which I'm generally a fan. However, it's pretty obvious not much thought was put into the stories. But that's not the end of the world, provided Leo Gorcey still has some funny malapropisms and Huntz Hall can find new ways to contort his face. I found Huntz flat-out annoying in this one. Leo has some funny lines, though. As usual, Bernard Gorcey is the highlight as the lovable Louie. David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett are hanging around in the background. Laurette Luez is the obligatory pretty girl this time around. Look out for Clint Walker at the end. It's enjoyable enough for what it is but, like many of the later Bowery Boys films, the first half is the best. So if you start watching it and aren't laughing within the first twenty minutes or so, you're probably not going to.

Since I've reviewed a couple of Grade B Jungle Movies I'll try my hand at this one. I liked it a lot. The Gorceys and Huntz Hall always cracked me up. I regard this as one of their better late outings. Leo Gorcey's malaprops are there in all their glory. My favorite, "Africa, the dark condiment". Louie Dombrowski (Leo's dad Bernard in real life) from the sweet shop bringing his luggage on safari, jungle girl Laurette Luez' ridiculous fight with the stuffed lion to save Satch, most of all the wonderful chemistry between Slip Mahoney (Leo) and Satch(Hall). The thing moves. It doesn't let you think. They paid attention to little things, particularly casting. Laurette Luez is a vision as the Jungle Girl Onata and Clint Walker's cameo as a Tarzan type is priceless. Too bad they didn't make a real Tarzan movie with those two in the lead. Also look for the great Woody Strode as one of the native bearers. Apparently not all of the reviewers were crazy about the flick. It's a matter of taste, but it certainly works for me for me.

Jungle Gents (1954)

** (out of 4)

The Bowery Boys head to Africa after its learned that Sach (Huntz Hall) has the ability to smell diamonds. Once in Africa they must battle natives, lions and of course some bad guys who want to steal the diamonds. By the time this entry came along it was doubtful anyone was expecting any type of classic and a classic is exactly what we don't get. JUNGLE GENTS isn't the worst film in the series but at the same time you can tell that the writers started to aim at a lower type of comedy meant to appeal to those under the age of ten. I don't mind that the series is working away from some of the darker entries but at the same time I found much of the humor to just be downright silly and not in a good way. There's a lot of added sound effects, which were clearly being "borrowed" from the Three Stooges shorts but they don't work here. Even Hall is a lot more animated with his facial gestures and they too don't get any laughs. The film contains a lot of stock footage from the BOMBA series and this includes various shots of the wild life. One of the most embarrassing moments in the film is also perhaps the funniest and it's when Sach and Slip are in a tent sleeping an a lion walks in on them. There's some footage of a real lion but then it switches to a fake one and this fake lion is without question the worst prop I've seen from a movie in God knows how long. If you've seen any of pre-1920 versions of THE WIZARD OF OZ you will see that the lion, as expected, is played by a man in costume but you also have humans playing horses and various other animals. Those outfits looked a lot more realistic that the fake lion here but what happens with the boys at least made me laugh. Gorcey must have paid the writers a few extra bucks because his mangled words are faster and happening at a higher rate than the previous entries. Hall and Gorcey are both in the right mood and deliver a few nice moments. Bernard Gorcey is on hand as usual as is Woody Strode in a few scenes. Clint Walker nearly steals the film with a hilarious bit at the end. The thirty-fifth entry in this series isn't one of the best but it' s fast moving enough to where fans will want to watch it.

After a diamond heist, Huntz Hall (as Sach Jones) sniffs out some booty, which leads police to believe he's an accomplice. Actually, pill-popping Mr. Hall has acquired the power to smell the presence of diamonds; then, he is released. To wit, leader Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney) decides to take Hall and "Bowery Boys" David "Condon" Gorcey (as Chuck) and Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch) to the "dark condiment" of Africa. There, they search for a fortune in lost diamonds, and mingle with natives…

"The Bowery Boys" and "Africa" do not mix. A good rest would have been preferable to this moronic, cheap, and clammy movie. The "lion scenes" are startlingly ineffective - look at them for an example of what NOT to try on a small budget. Gorcey appears alternately tired and angry. Hall is stuck with absolutely humorless material. Curvy Laurette Luez plays a luscious jungle girl in modest one-piece, Woody Strode collects a paycheck, and Clint ("Cheyenne") Walker has a memorable film cameo debut as "Tarzan", just before the curtain closes on "Jungle Gents".

** Jungle Gents (9/5/54) Edward Bernds ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Gorcey