High Society (1955) User Reviews

Always A Treat To See Leo And Huntz

[O'Malley · 5/10 · 12 February 2005]

It's not one of the better Bowery Boys pictures -- by the mid 50s the gang seemed pretty tired. It's main interest is seeing Amanda Blake just before Gunsmoke and, hell, I'd never turn down a chance to see Leo and Huntz, even when they're not at the top of their game.

But F Gwynplaine MacIntyre has it all wrong. The writers who were nominated for High Society weren't some delusional losers who thought some way they might actually win an Oscar. They were Hollywood veterans who had been in Hollywood for a quarter-century -- Bernds in fact started as a sound engineer at Columbia who worked on Frank Capra's 30s classics. Bernds and Ullmann toiled (profitably) in the world of B comedies and short subjects, working, in tandem or alone, on such fondly remembered endeavors as the the My Little Margie TV series, many Three Stooges shorts, some Blondie and Ma & Pa Kettle movies, and films starring Elvis, Brett Halsey, Zsa Zsa Gabor,Stanley Clements, Scotty Beckett (in a couple of Gasoline Alley pictures) and Rad Fulton.

They were fully aware of their place in the industry, and when they withdrew their Oscar nomination it wasn't for any self-serving reason but to spare the Academy any embarrassment when its writers branch screwed up so royally. As they said when they did so, the nomination "was clearly a case of mistaken identity." Ironically, although the MGM musical High Society is much better than the nominated Bowery Boys picture, I definitely prefer the best Bowery Boys films (Blues Busters, Blonde Dynamite, Live Wires, Bowery Bombshell) to the Charles Walters musical with Crosby, Kelly and SInatra.

Half a Million Laughs

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 19 December 2010]

"Bowery Garage" General Manager, General Superintendent, and General Treasurer in overalls Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) finds his absent-minded mechanic Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) sleeping on the job. Waking the hapless helper only causes a car wreck. But, the vehicle's owner thinks Mr. Hall might pass for "Terwilliger Debussy 'Twig' Jones", the long-lost son and heir to a family fortune. Hall accompanies Mr. Gorcey and fatherly Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky) to the Jones' Larchmont, New York estate...

David "Condon" Gorcey (as Chuck) and Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch) appear in the opening and closing scenes.

Perceiving Hall as an easy to control idiot, money-grubbing adults want Hall to claim his fortune from its rightful heir, young Ronald Keith (as Terwilliger Debussy "Twig" Jones III). Young Keith isn't going down without a fight, however. Hall and Gorcey in "High Society" leads to laughs, of course, with the latter's expectation they might meet a couple of "debu-tramps" and settle into the upper-crust treading a funny line. "The Bowery Boys" movie series had been sputtering in earlier years, but some of these final Gorcey-Hall team-ups are relatively smooth and successful, considering.

***** High Society (4/17/55) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Ronald Keith, Bernard Gorcey

Where did you get those beautiful blue eyes,, Silly they came with my head!

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 19 December 2010]

***SPOILERS*** When H. Stuyvesant Jones fund his car at the Bowery Garage totaled by mechanic Horace Debussy Jones, known as Sach to his friends, instead of being angry a bulb lit up in his head. Stuyvesant plans in having Sach impersonate his late uncle Pierpont Debussy Jones long lost and illegitimate son by falsifying his birth certificate and thus be able to inherited the Jone fortune! And at the same time gyp the legitimate heir to the money little Terwilliger "Twige" Debussy Jones III out of it and keep, after Sach is dispatched in a planned car accident, all the money together his scheming relative Claissa Jones for themselves!

It's not until almost halfway through the movie that Sach together with his friend and boss at the Boweryy Garage Slip find out what Stuyvesant together with Claissa and their shyster lawyer Coscrove are planning. It's then that Stuyvesant & Co. go to plan II in offing Sach not in a car accident but as soon as he signs the papers giving him full control of the Jones estate that will immediately go to Stuvesant & Claissa when Sach gets whacked!

The usual Bowery Boys shenanigans with Butch & Chuck seen only in the first and last two minutes of the film as car mechanics at the Bowery Garage just to get their names in the film opening credits. By far the funniest scene in the movie had nothing at all to do with the Bowery Boys but with a momma's boy Liberace like pianist, Dave Barry, who lose it halfway through his performance! That's when little Twige and the Jones estate butler Frisbie unleashes a hoard of flies into the audience that Barry is preforming for with disastrous as well as itchy results.

P.S Even though "High Society" was released on April 17, 1955 it was mistaken by some members, who must have lost their perception of both time & space, of the Academy of Arts and Motion Pictures for the far more popular film with the same name, staring Frank Sinatra Grace Kelly & Being Crosby, that was released 14 months later on July 17,1956 and nominated for best screenplay of that year! That despite it being ineligible for the award since it was not a 1956 released film!

Bowery Boys #37

[Michael_Elliott · 6 January 2011]

High Society (1955)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

After thirty-seven quality films, The Bowery Boys were finally shown respect by their colleges as this film was given an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. True story. Apparently the Academy meant to give the nomination to the 1956 film HIGH SOCIETY and Bing Crosby and Grace Killy but that didn't happen. The writers of this film kindly turned down the nomination but it's still a funny bit of Oscar history. The "story" has Sach (Huntz Hall) being told that he is the heir to a rich fortune so he heads to the so-called family location where it turns out to be a crooked scheme. It was very kind for the writers to turn down the Oscar-nomination because this here is without question one of the weakest entries in the series. It's a real shame this "joke" couldn't have happened with one of the better films but there's simply no argument that could made to say this issue should have just remained. I think the biggest problem is the screenplay, which just seems to have been rushed. Another problem is that we've seen every cliché here several times before. The mistaken identity, the crooked family members, the dumbness of Sach and Slip and most of the comedy bits are items we've seen before. Another problem is that both Leo Gorcey and Hall appear to know they're working on a dud as neither one of them seem overly interested in their performance. Hall is over-the-top as usual but it's missing any of his typical passion. Gorcey just seems bored out of his mind and don't even get me started on any of the supporting players. Bernard Gorcey even seemed out of it. HIGH SOCIETY is without question one of the weaker entries in the series and the entire Oscar joke is a lot funnier than anything that actually happens in the film.

extra point for misnomination

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 5 November 2023]

Slip (Leo Gorcey) is in charge of the Bowery Garage. Sach (Huntz Hall) 'works' there, too. He destroys a wall and wrecks a car. Out of nowhere, he is told that he inherited a vast fortune, but it's all a scam to keep the fortune from its rightful heir.

The Academy Awards nomination is hilarious and very much fitting for the Bowery Boys. I am giving them an extra point for the inadvertent comedy. They can't take it back no matter how hard they try. It's listed on IMDB. The only thing funnier is if the movie advertised the nomination. Beside all that, this is standard Bowery Boys with Slip and Sach.

The Bowery Boys win an Oscar? Almost...

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 2/10 · 23 March 2003]

'High Society', starring the Bowery Boys, is a bit more serious than most of their films, but otherwise extremely typical of their output ... except for one bizarre detail. The script of this Bowery Boys movie was nominated for an Oscar. Yes, it's true! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences actually listed this movie on the 1956 Oscars ballot to receive an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay!

There's a catch, of course. Like every other Bowery Boys movie, 'High Society' got an extremely limited release (to road houses and neighbourhood cinemas), and then it vanished into oblivion pending its release to television. A few months later, MGM released a big-budget musical with a Cole Porter score, starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly. This movie was ALSO titled 'High Society'. (Can you see where this is heading?) Several members of the Academy rather ignorantly nominated this MGM musical for Best Original Screenplay. But 'High Society' (the Crosby-Sinatra one) was doubly ineligible for this award, as it was a remake of the Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn film 'The Philadelphia Story', which in turn was adapted from Philip Barry's stage play. Any Oscar nominations for this movie's script should have been in the category of Best Screenplay Adaptation.

On the other hand, 'High Society' (the Bowery Boys movie) DID have an original story ... terrible, but original. As bad as it was, this movie (unlike the Crosby-Sinatra musical) was eligible for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. When all those nominations came rolling in, some misguided schlub in the back room at the Academy allocated them to the Bowery Boys movie. I'd like to have seen the look on the faces of the four hacks who wrote this movie, when they got word that their Bowery Boys opus was up for an Oscar!

Now here's where it gets well and truly bizarre. Many Hollywood screenwriters have a perverse sense of humour. With a Bowery Boys movie on the ballot for best screenplay, there was a genuine risk that a significant number of screenwriters in the Academy would wilfully vote for this film, just to spite the Academy and watch some obscure hacks step up to accept the award! Immense pressure was put on Edward Bernds and Elwood Ullman to withdraw their script from nomination. Alas, both of these poor deluded scribblers had faint hopes of some day winning an Oscar legitimately, and they didn't want to anger the Academy by accepting an Oscar they'd won under false pretences. With great regret, Bernd and Ullman withdrew their Bowery Boys epic from consideration ... and never again in their careers were they within shouting distance of an Oscar.

I really wish that this movie had won. Unfortunately, 'High Society' (this one) isn't even a particularly good movie even by Bowery Boys standards. Bowery Boys fans will be disappointed to encounter fewer gags than usual here, and more sentiment. I'll rate this movie 2 points out of 10, plus a counterfeit Oscar. (I've got a crateful of counterfeit Oscars in my cellar, just next to the dungeon.)

We're Not Approaching Newport Rhode I.

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 18 December 2010]

Now how anyone at the Motion Picture Academy could possibly have confused this High Society with the classic High Society that came out the following year is beyond me. But they did and contributed to one of the great faux pas in the history of Hollywood.

This film which came out in 1955 through a clerical error of massive proportions got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay which must have sent writer/director Edward Bernds into cardiac arrest. The better known High Society came out in 1956 so the Academy did not even get the year right. Bernds had the graciousness and good sense to turn the nomination down.

With no Cole Porter songs or Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra to sing them, this High Society involves a scam to use one Horace DeBussy Jones in a scam to deprive young heir Ronald Keith of the inheritance from his grandfather Terwilliger Jones. Since that is Huntz Hall's actual character name, the very high falutin' nature of that name with a little doctoring of Hall's actual birth certificate and certain other unscrupulous relatives have manufactured another heir.

Someone not as essentially decent as Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall were would have wanted a decent cut of the scam when they found out about it. But they wouldn't be the Bowery Boys then.

This rather ordinary entry in this series becomes a Hollywood legend. Positively stupefying.

COWARDS LIVE LONGER! NO QUESTION.

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 1 November 2023]

There's a lot more to the famous Oscar controversy concerning this entry in the series. True, it was mistaken for an MGM musical, but according to writer Ed Bernds, had they not informed the Motion Picture Academy of the mistake, the Bowery Boys film had a good chance of winning for original story. Bernds said the story category did not have many entries, and in itself was kind of a misleading category, so do the math!

For decades, Huntz Hall was asked about this and he firmly said, had it been up to him, he would have told the Academy nothing. He said they deserved it (also) for their many years of work. He had a valid point, and especially since comedians (with the exception of Laurel and Hardy), never received Oscars. Laurel and Hardy received two Oscars. Even Abbott and Costello were never considered, which was a shame, although their "Whos on first?" routine is honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Subsequently, The Academy said how grateful they were to Ed Bernds for pointing out the error, sending both he and co-writer Elwood Ullman Academy nomination placques. It was the least they could do, and Ed Bernds said he kept it in his office for years.

Oscar winning or not, HIGH SOCIETY is hilarious, directed in fine style by William Beaudine. While working in a garage this time, run by Slip of course, Sach learns he is heir to the estate of the late Terwillinger Debussy Jones. He and Slip are invited to the mansion to sign some important papers --naturally Louie, Chuck and Butch follow-- and they discover that 12 year old master Terwillinger the Third (or Twig) is the rightful heir. Ronald Keith plays Twig, and he's great. And you can tell he is having a blast with the gang.

There's more. In typical Bowery Boys fashion, Twig's unfaithful cousins are out to get him and claim the fortune for themselves. The rats! This is fast and goofy stuff with lots of gags and sucker punches.

Leo Gorcey said in later years the most fun he had was doing the fight scenes, and it shows. You have to admit, there was a lot of fancy footwork to doing those scenes, and to especially insure that nobody got injured.

There's also an early appearance of young Amanda Blake, playing sneaky Clarissa, just before she joined the cast of GUNSMOKE. The supporting cast is filled with veteran character actors, such as Paul Harvey playing an exasperated lawyer, and Addison Richards.

Best of the rest has Sach meeting up with a Liberace look-a-like (about to play the piano) while mischievous Twig sprinkles itching powder into the audience. This is one for the books, and the phony Liberace and Sach make one insane team.

Not to miss the hilarious "cold plate" scene where Sach takes a bite out of the fine China, sort of in the same tradition as the THREE STOOGES, who Ed Bernds also wrote for. Would that make Leo Gorcey Moe and Huntz Hall Curly, Shemp or Larry???

Great line department: Slip tells the lawyers, "There's only one thing more important than the money -- WHEN are we gonna' get it!"

A bit of Sach's family history is also thrown in for fun as Louie explains that his mother was not named Gwendolyn, but Gertie. This shows that Louie must have known the guys for a long time... but the audience is still in the dark about who their parents actually are and where do the Bowery Boys live????

Enjoy the insanity. This episode was followed by SPY CHASERS, very similar in style Released via Warner Brothers dvd, 6 to 8 films per box. Thank you TCM for rerunning the Bowery Boys!

"I don't wanna get pharmaceutical, but you're bleedin'.

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 18 December 2010]

Nearly the end of the line for the Bowery Boys franchise, with Chuck (David Gorcey) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett) making only bookend appearances in this flick. The story has Sach (Huntz Hall) presumably the heir to a large estate, but it turns out to be a con job on the part of unscrupulous relatives who want to get the loot for themselves. The boys found out about the ruse about half way into the picture, but instead of baling out, they wound up sticking around to help the young Master Twig (Ronald Keith) hold on to his fortune. You never know when you could take advantage of the situation and meet a couple of nice debu-tramps.

The story doesn't offer up much in the way of your typical Bowery Boys hi-jinks, and Gorcey's malapropisms are sparser than usual. One thing I got a kick out of though was a quick riff of Slip and Sach doing their version of Edward G. Robinson and Jimmy Cagney. A third impersonator was thrown in as a piano playing Liberace stand in, complete with candelabra.

Perhaps your best reason for tuning in would be Amanda Blake's appearance as one of the inheritance schemers, Clarissa Jones. I caught her name in the opening credits, but I have to be honest. Even though she debuted in the Gunsmoke TV series the same year, I would never have recognized her in this one. All things considered, I think she made the transition from debu-tramp to saloon gal pretty successfully.

No true love for the boys in this entry.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 8 July 2017]

"You got to admit. Cowards live longer" and "Only stupid rats stay on sinking ships" will never go down in history as words that Sophocles uttered, but they do end up coming out if the mouths of Horace Debussey Jones (aka Sach) in this Oscar nominated entry in the long running Bowery Boys series. Of course, the writing nomination it received was a mistake, meant for the yet to be released MGM musical version of "The Philadelphia Story", causing Leo Gorcey's vow to go for a Best Picture nomination. The film itself is stretching itself for ideas, having Sach (Huntz Hall) being used in estate fraud and their determination to help the real heir, a precocious kid who collects fleas.

Nearing the end of the road with a handful left, this series is long in the tooth, yet certain charms remain. They have fun with each one no matter what the ridiculous plot is, and with this one, they manage to stretch it to an hour, a few minutes short of their regular running time. For audiences in 1955, they get the chance to laugh at Liberace with a biting spoof of his image (complete with candelabras) where the audience starts scratching up a storm thanks to the loose flea collection. It's funny, but not related to the plot, and shows how desperate the writers were to continue with the series. "Gunsmoke" fans will be pleased by the use of Amanda Blake as the sequin dressed vixen who tries to get her claws on Sach and his cash. All over very quickly, it's harmless buy forgettable.

"I just can't imagine what an extinguished lookin' gentleman like that would want with a moron like you."

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 12 November 2016]

The thirty-seventh Bowery Boys film is another tired effort that sees an old plot being reused. This time Sach believes he has inherited a fortune so he and the gang go to collect, which leads to comedy gold. Well, more like comedy pyrite. In many ways, the Bowery Boys movies remind me of the Colorforms I used to play with as a kid. You know, those things where you can place characters like Batman into various backgrounds. Well the Bowery Boys did that with plots. They basically would use this sentence as the structure of their entire series: Sach gets ___ and the Bowery Boys must travel to ___. Each movie they fill in the blanks with a different word but it's basically the same thing each time, particularly in the 1950s films.

This one's notable only for the bit of trivia that it was mistakenly nominated for an Oscar because it was confused with the musical of the same name that starred Bing Crosy, Frank Sinatra, and Grace Kelly. There's not much fun to be had here. Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall go through the motions and most of their jokes fall flat. Even Bernard Gorcey, who is usually the bright spot in these things, does nothing to impress here. The other two "boys" aren't worth mentioning. One of the villains is played by Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke, so there's that. The music is also annoying in this one. Fans will want to see it to check it off their list but I doubt anybody else will find it worth their time.