Angels' Alley (1948)

Slip invites his cousin Jimmy to stay with his family after he is released from prison. However, Jimmy soon gets mixed up with an auto-theft ring. While trying to help Jimmy get out of the ... See full summary »

Director:

William Beaudine

Writers:

Edmond Seward (story), Tim Ryan (story),

Stars:

Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leo Gorcey	...	Terence 'Slip' Mahoney
Huntz Hall	...	Sach 'Turkey' Horace Debussy Jones
Gabriel Dell	...	Ricky Moreno
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Whitey (as Billy Benedict)
David Gorcey	...	Chuck
Frankie Darro	...	Jimmy
Nestor Paiva	...	Tony 'Piggy' Locarno
Rosemary La Planche	...	Daisy Harris
Geneva Gray	...	Josie O'Neill
Benny Bartlett	...	Harry 'Jag' Harmon (as Bennie Bartlett)
John Eldredge	...	Asst. Dist. Atty. John Willis
Nelson Leigh	...	Father O'Hanlon
Thomas Menzies	...	Boomer O'Neill (as Tommy Menzies)
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Mamie Mahoney
Dick Paxton	...	Jockey Burns (as Richard Paxton)

Storyline

Slip invites his cousin Jimmy to stay with his family after he is released from prison. However, Jimmy soon gets mixed up with an auto-theft ring. While trying to help Jimmy get out of the gang, Slip is implicated in a warehouse break-in that was actually committed by Jimmy and the auto theft ring.

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Plot Keywords:

warehouse | automobile thief | district attorney | mother son relationship | racketeer | 

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Taglines:

The Bowery Boys Make It Rough On Racketeers!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 1948 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ninth of forty-eight Bowery Boys movies.

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Quotes

Police radio dispatch: Calling all cars, stolen police car.
Sach 'Turkey' Horace Debussy Jones: [unknowingly driving the police car] Police shouldn't steal cars, well, just goes to show you can't trust anybody.

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Connections

Follows Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947)

User Reviews

Bowery Boys #9

Angels' Alley (1948)

*** (out of 4)

A surprisingly effective entry in the Bowery Boys series has Jimmy (Frankie Darro) being released from prison and staying with Slip (Leo Gorcey) and his mother. Slip soon learns that Jimmy's involved with a small-time gangster and wrapped up in a auto-theft business. This was the ninth film in the series and it comes as a refreshing one as a lot of the silly comedy winds up on the back burner and we're given a lot more drama. The film really comes off as a major throwback to their 30s period when they were known as the Dead End Kids. Pretty much the only thing missing here is Pat O'Brien playing the Father and Humphrey Bogart playing the gangster. The first fifteen-minutes features the type of comedy we've come to expect from the series and it's actually pretty funny. We start off with a pretty good gag with Slip trying to go after the girl who he of course can't have. We get a few other funny pieces but it doesn't take long for the film to take a quick turn and enter the drama mode. The storyline here isn't anything original as we have troubled kids working for a gangster who is of course taking advantage of them. We have a Father (Nelson Leigh) who of course wants to protect his boys and of course we have Slip and the gang taking charge and trying to bring the bad guys down. I was really surprised at how dark some of the subject matter got including one turn of events that you really won't expect. I thought Gorcey gave his most effective performance of the series and manages to handle the comedy well but also the drama. Huntz Hall is once again called on to act the role of the idiot, which he does quite well but at times his comedy style is really out of place. We got Gabriel Dell playing yet a different type of character in Ricky and Nestor Paiva is pretty good as the crime boss. The film's biggest problem is that there's some comedy bits later in the film that don't work as well as they should but this is still a pretty good entry in the series and most importantly a refreshing one.