Blonde Dynamite (1950)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

William Beaudine

Writer:

Charles R. Marion (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 February 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

RIOTOUS ROMEOS! CUCKOO CASANOVAS!

Plot:

While Louie is on vacation, the boys turn The Sweet Shop into an escort service, and soon find a group of beautiful girls as their first clients...

Plot Keywords:

Vacation | Escort Service | Tunnel | Ice Cream Parlor | Knockout Drug

Cast

Leo Gorcey	...	Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
Huntz Hall	...	Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones
Adele Jergens	...	Joan 'Joanie' Marshall
Gabriel Dell	...	Gabe Moreno
Harry Lewis	...	Champ Fallon
Murray Alper	...	John Zero 'Dynamite' Bacchuss
Bernard Gorcey	...	Louie Dumbrowski
Jody Gilbert	...	Sarah Dumbrowski
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Whitey, aka Whitmore (as William Benedict)
Buddy Gorman	...	Butch, aka Bartholomew
David Gorcey	...	Chuck, aka Sir Cedric
John Harmon	...	Professor
Michael Ross	...	Samson
Lynn Davis	...	Verna (as Lynn Davies)
Beverlee Crane	...	Bunny

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #14300)

Company:

Monogram Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Followed by Looking for Danger (1957)

Soundtrack:

Overture to The Marriage of Figaro (K.492)

Gabriel Dell Makes Out

After wise-guy Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) and hair-brained Huntz Hall (as Horace De Bussy "Sach" Jones) spy a beautiful woman exiting an "escort service", they decide to answer the call for "Male Escorts Wanted - must be handsome, intelligent, cultured"; but, the business throws them out on the street. Undaunted, Mr. Gorcey decides "The Bowery Boys" should open their own male escort business. They turn to gainfully employed Gabriel Dell (as Gabe Moreno), for a helping hand-out. Alas, Mr. Dell, working at a bank two doors down from "Louie's Sweet Shop", can't provide the funding.

Back at the "Sweet Shop", Gorcey discovers real-life father Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowski) is sick (he's dishing out free sundaes). So, Gorcey sends the proprietor off on a Coney Island vacation, and turns the "Sweet Shop" into an escort service - with "Bowery Boys" Hall, William "Billy" Benedict (as "Whitmore" Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as "Bartholomew" Butch), and David Gorcey (as "Sir Cedric" Chuck) providing male companionship.

Meanwhile, Dell has been taken for a ride, by girlfriend Adele Jergens (as Joan "Joanie" Marshall). Dell discovers the duplicitous "Blonde Dynamite" has stolen a $5,000 bankroll from him, and her gang plans to frame Dell for embezzlement if he doesn't obtain the combination to the "Bowery Trust" bank vault, for gang leader Harry Lewis (as Champ Fallon). Then, Mr. Lewis plans to dig an underground tunnel from the "Sweet Shop" (now escort service) to rob the bank...

"Blonde Dynamite" has its moments, and "The Bowery Boys as male escorts" is a funny situation. The characters are oddly scripted to refer to Gorcey and company as "juveniles" and "kids", a distinction most of these movies had (wisely) dropped, by now. Dell is given a welcome storyline; he was the original "Dead End Kid" who seemed to age most quickly; but, now he appears younger than Gorcey or Hall. And, don't miss the elder "Louie" in his swimsuit, singing what sounds like a medley of "Aloha Oe" and "Hello Goodbye"!

***** Blonde Dynamite (1950) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell