Hold That Hypnotist (1957) User Reviews

I wonder if I found it funnier in a past life

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 15 January 2017]

The Bowery Boys tackle the past life regression fad that was popular in the '50s thanks to the Bridey Murphy book and film. This is the second movie in a row where the series tried something different from the rut it had been in for a long time. I give it credit for trying but, unfortunately, it's too little too late. Without Leo and Bernard Gorcey, the laughs are all on Huntz Hall's shoulders. Hall is someone I found barely tolerable at the height of this series but I find him insufferable in these later entries. This is the forty-fourth Bowery Boys film, which is pretty amazing. But the end is near and that's pretty obvious by the lack of memorable scenes in the last few films. A chuckle here and there but, for the most part, these movies stink.

This one has Sach undergoing hypnosis and remembering a past life. From there we get into some nonsense about a pirate treasure. Hall does his usual shtick, for those who enjoy him. Stanley Clements continues to be unimpressive as Slip Mahoney-wannabe, Duke. David Gorcey and Jimmy Murphy blend in with the wallpaper. Queenie Smith makes her final appearance as landlady Mrs. Kelly. She was a likable enough actress but never had the comedic talents of Bernard Gorcey or the chemistry with the rest of the cast that he had. Anyway, this isn't the worst of the post-Leo Bowery Boys movies. It might even be the best. That being said, it's really nothing special. I wouldn't bother with it unless you want to see every Bowery film at least once.

Duke leads The Bowery Boys

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 12 November 2023]

The Bowery Boys help their sick landlady Mrs. Kelly. It turns out that she paid hypnotist Dr. Simon Noble to 'regress' her. The boys say that he's a fake, but Mrs. Kelly refuses to believe them. They set out to disprove him. Noble challenges Duke to get hypnotized and Sach is right behind him. Sach regresses to 1682 when he's a tax collector who meets up with Blackbeard.

Slip is gone and Duke takes his place. Duke is simply no Slip. On top of that, I don't care about the regression section. It's not that funny and it's all in Sach's mind. Even the investigation detracts from the comedy. Duke is simply too serious and the humor gets drown out.

"He's won again - a slobyash the hard way!"

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 8 January 2017]

Try as they might, the Bowery Boys just aren't up to speed without their leader Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) on board. You could give Huntz Hall an 'A' for effort for soldiering on, but the gags are thin and the only other recognizable gang member is Gorcey's brother David holding on to the end of the series run with Hall.

Considering how the film makers recycled themes regularly in their stories, I thought sure the hypnotist gimmick would have already shown up in a Bowery Boys flick, but having seen almost all of them now I can't seem to locate another entry. Needless to say though, Sach (Hall) will be on the receiving end of hypnotist Simon Noble's (Robert Foulk) attempt to regress Duke Coveleskie (Stanley Clements) to a past life.

You know, I had to stop and think about how much Noble was actually going to charge the Bowery Boys' landlady (Queenie Smith) for the regression technique - two hundred dollars! For 1957, that seemed to me to be quite a hefty piece of change when even today you could probably find one of these shysters to do it for less than half the amount. No wonder Noble could feel 'that soft pink light bathing me', he would put all the cool green right in his pocket.

Well, with Sach discovering that he was once a royal tax collector back in the Seventeenth Century, it doesn't take long for both the Boys and the bad guys to go on the hunt for a missing treasure that Blackbeard the Pirate stowed away in 1682. You know, I was curious about that mention of Hobson's Cove, having been a New York, Hudson Valley resident all my life and never having heard of it. Turns out if you do a google search, 'Hobson's Cove' actually turns up in an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom under King Edward VII in 1908. It's right there on page 187 under a heading for the Department of Marines and Fisheries, but you have to be fluent in Roman numerals to find it.

So with all the shenanigans by Sach and the rest of the Boys, and the clumsy attempt of the bad guys to abscond with the jewels, I was left to ponder what might have been the real treasure chest of the story. For that I would refer the viewer to Dr. Noble's able assistant Cleo, portrayed by actress Jane Nigh, who did all her best work here in profile.

Almost laughless.

[pmtelefon · 3/10 · 15 September 2019]

"Hold That Hypnotist" is bottom barrel Bowery Boys. There are almost zero laughs in this movie. I feel funny saying this about a Bowery Boys movie but this one is kind of dumb. The only thing going for it is the short running time (61 mins). Huntz Hall does his thing but he's not enough to make this one worth while.

Hold That Thought

[wes-connors · 3/10 · 19 March 2011]

Motherly landlady Queenie Smith (as Kate Kelly) has been reading about reincarnation. Curious about her own past lives, Ms. Kelly makes an appointment with regression hypnotist Robert Foulk (as Simon Noble). Concerned boarding house residents "The Bowery Boys" Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones), Stanley Clements (as Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie), David "Condon" Gorcey (as Chuck), and Jimmy Murphy (as Myron) decide to investigate the hypnotist. To prove Mr. Foulk is a fake, Mr. Clements becomes a failed hypnotist's subject. As you might imagine, Mr. Hall seems to fall under the dubious doctor's spell while staring at an earring worn by bosomy accomplice Jane Nigh (as Cleo Daniels)...

In a short 1682 flashback to colonial America, cowardly tax collector Hall (as Algy Winkle) must obtain revenue from Blackbeard the pirate. After this scene, the story runs out of steam. While obviously recycling and regurgitating older situations, "Hold that Hypnotist" manages to be no worse than recent entries in "The Bowery Boys" series. For those keeping track, this was the last appearance for Smith, who was brought in as a replacement for Bernard Gorcey's "Louie" character. Apparently, filmmakers felt the "boarding house" springboard for stories wasn't as good as "Louie's Sweet Shop" had been. A new "diner" base was attempted in the next film, but the movie franchise was clearly struggling with fresh ideas.

*** Hold That Hypnotist (2/24/57) Austen Jewell ~ Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements, Jane Nigh, Queenie Smith

Bridey Murphy Lives

[dougdoepke · 9 April 2011]

It's not surprising that the Bridey Murphy phenomenon would turn up on the silver screen, even if it's only a low-budget Bowery Boys production. In 1956, a Pueblo, CO housewife claimed to have been "regressed" under hypnosis to a previous life as an Irish farm girl, complete with Irish brogue, etc. For some reason, it caught on and became a brief national fad with all kinds of similar claims being made.

Here, Sach gets regressed to a former life as a 17th century English fop, where he encounters pirate Blackbeard and his treasure. Back in modern time, the boys go after the treasure, ahead of the bad guys, they hope, while busty blonde Jane Nigh provides brassy eye candy.

Aside from the predictable hi-jinks, Hall (Sach) gets to show off some real acting skills, getting to play more than just his usual buffoonish character. Rather poignant to think how many of those skills went unused once he settled into playing Sach. (An interview with him would be interesting.) Clements does okay as Gorcey's replacement, but Gorcey really makes a better tough-talking Moe (The Three Stooges) to Sach's ever-befuddled Curley. All in all— the 60-minutes provides something of a departure for both the plot and and actor Hall, but with no more chuckles than usual.

Don't bother to watch !!!!

[hero029 · 1/10 · 16 June 2016]

The last decade of Bowery Boy films are among the most beloved of all the films the gang had made. But be aware, after Leo Gorcey was fired, (his last film was Dig that Uranium) the seven remaining movies were not only a departure from the usual formula, they were weak, disjointed, and badly executed. By this time, Leo and Huntz were a well-oiled comedy team. Without Gorcey, and his late father who played Louie (he died in a horrible car crash), the very heart and soul of the series was no more. But the contracts called for 7 more films. The boys became men (wearing suits and now interested in women rather than girls, and focused on making money more than ever). This film is the worst of the bunch! A lost attempt to play on the Bridey Murphy phenomenon. Sach is taken back to his past life. This involves a treasure. The story doesn't resemble a Bowery Boys romp in the least bit. If you are a fan and have seen their best films you will be saddened to witness this installment.

A bit better than usual.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 31 July 2020]

This is the 44th of 48 Bowery Boys movies. And, being one of the later ones, Leo Gorcey isn't in the film and was replaced by Stanley Clements as leader of the gang.

When the story begins, Duke (Clements) is convinced that the landlady is being bilked by a local hypnotist. The hypnotist claims to be able to take people back to previous lives through his services and so it's not surprising Duke assumes the man is a crook. Soon, he and the gang arrive at the hypnotist's apartment, as he's having a party for the press...and they pretend to be from a local paper. Duke challenges the man to hypnotize and regress him...and nothing happens. But Sach is hypnotized and he recalls being a 17th century tax collector. This tax collector, according to this regression, bested Blackbeard while gambling and obtained his treasure map. Now, back in 1957, Duke insists that they research more about this tax collector so that they can, perhaps, find the treasure.

This is a most unusual installment because Sach is, uncharacteristically, not all that stupid. In fact, he seems pretty clever at times! As for the regression bit, it's not unusual as Sach had all sorts of strange things happen to him in the later films in the series....and this is no stranger than most! Overall, mildly enjoyable and mindless fun. Better than usual.

By the way, there really are hypnotists who claim they can regress people to previous lives or to in utero recollections. Their claims are unproven and are very dubious to say the least.

Back in Time

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 20 March 2011]

***SPOILERS*** The "Bowery Boys" get involved with a phony regression back to an other lifetime parlor act when their sweet Irish landlady Kate Kelly decides to get a lifetime or pre-lifetime reading, for $200,00, from shyster hypnotist and quack doctor Simon Nobel.

Deciding to expose this fraud to the public Duke and the boys crashed a news conference held by Dr. Nobel to expose him by volunteering to be hypnotized by the scoundrel. As it turns out it's Sach not Duke who ended up getting both hypnotized and regressed by Dr. Nobel to another lifetime. Dr.Nobel regressed Sach back to American Colonieal times in 1682 as tax collector for the English Crown Algy Winkle who get stuck in a local saloon as he's trying to collect back taxes from the local townspeople! After him beating the pants off Blackbeard the Pirate in a bean counting game Algy, or Sach in his previous incarnating, ended up winning Blackbeard's treasure map revealing where he hid millions of gold and jewelry from his latest pirate sea looting adventure.

At first thinking all this regression talk on Sach's part is nothing but BS Duke and the boys check out Sach's story in the local library's historical archives and find out that it's all true! There in fact was an Algy Winkle tax collector back in the 17th Century and there also was a Blackbeard the Pirate back then as well! And even more astounding Blackbeard did in fact hide a shipload of gold silver and jewels just like Sach said that has never been recovered with Sach or Algy being the only one, by memorizing Blackbeards treasure map, who knows where the treasure is buried or hidden!

***SPOILERS*** Nothing new here with the "Bowery Boys" minus their leader Slip Mahoney doing the right thing in exposing a fraud, Dr.Nobel, who as it turned out really had something going for him. Finding out about Blackbeard's hidden treasure Dr.Nobel and his hoods try to re-hypnotize Sach only to have him stay awake or go back farther in time, back to Roman times, then the Doc wants him to. It's almost by accident that the boys find out where the treasure is hidden: In a cave on the banks of the Hudson River. The "Bowery Boys" after dispatching Dr.Nobel and his hoods, with the famous routine #5, at the cave site to their surprised find out that the treasure wasn't that of Blackbeards at all! It in fact was the results of a Jewel robbery that took place not some 250 years ago in 1682 on the high seas but one that took place just six weeks ago in 1957 in the New York City Jewel & diamond district!

Good on it's own terms- but not really a Bowery Boys film

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 30 May 2011]

One of the final Bowery Boys films when the only one left was Sach.

When Louie died, he was played by Leo Gorcey's dad, the desire to keep making the films went out of Gorcey and some of the others. The studio however soldiered on with Huntz HAll and brought in a few others including a new character named Duke. The films are fine but really Bowery boys.

The plot has the boys land lady deciding to be regressed to a past life... wanting to prove the guy a fraud they show up at a press conference with the doctor. A challenge is laid down to prove it all as real, however instead of Duke being put under, it's Sach who regresses back to the time of Blackbeard where he ends up with a map of the treasure. Everyone thinks its a joke until they find that what Sach says pans out. Its then a race to re-hypnotize Sach and then find the treasure.

Good film is a little too slow even at an hour. It's an enjoyable time killer either way.The problem is that the film really isn't a Bowery Boys film even if we do get Sach. The boys were a different make up of characters and this, while good is something else entirely.

Still its worth a look if you run across it.

Huntz Hall is Sach in any incarnation

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 7 January 2017]

Although the Bowery Boys just doesn't gel in many ways without Leo Gorcey still it's nice to see Huntz Hall alone in the spotlight in these last remaining Bowery Boy films that Allied Artists did. In this one Sach is hypnotized by faker hypnotist Robert Foulk and he regresses back in his mind to when he was His Majesty's tax collector and none other than Blackbeard the Pirate gives Hall a treasure map in lieu of hard cash for his back taxes. Al Capone could certainly sympathize.

It wasn't Foulk though it was a pair of earrings that Foulk's gal pal come on Jane Nigh was wearing. The bit with the earrings was later used in the Road To Hong Kong to put Bob Hope under. So for Duke, Sach, and the rest it means get the earrings to get the treasure.

One thing this does prove is that Horace DeBussy Jones is the same in any incarnation.

much later, just okay chapter.

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 25 November 2023]

Leo gorcey had already left the bowery boys series after his dad passed away. But this one still has huntz hall, and leo's brother david. Without leo, the last couple chapters just didn't have the zing and wordplay gags that the earlier ones had. Here, sach discovers his landlord is getting hypnotized, and believes everything the hypnotist says. The usual misunderstandings and goof ups. Sach gets hypnotized, and stumbles into a plot to find a buried treasure. You'll recognize dick elliott, the desk clerk; he was also the mayor on andy griffith! That's probably the most notable thing in this one. No big deal. It's okay. It kind of just ambles along. The series was getting pretty tired by this time. Directed by austen jewell. A sixty one minute shortie.

Bowery Boys #44

[Michael_Elliott · 27 March 2011]

Hold That Hypnotist (1957)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Sach (Huntz Hall) and Duke (Stanley Clements) try to protect Ms. Kelly from a crooked hypnotist so they set out to prove that he's a fake. When the hypnotist puts Sach under it turns out that the nutty fool at one time knew Blackbeard the Pirate and also knows where a hidden treasure is. The forty-fourth film in the Bowery Boys series is the third without Gorcey and I must admit that compared to the previous two horrid entries this one here comes off as a mini-masterpiece. A new writer and director were introduced to the series and they clearly made a much better movie than we've seen in quite a few films and this goes back to when Leo was with the series. I was a little skeptical when the movie first started because we got all sorts of silly slapstick that really didn't prove any major laughs but once the story is set in place I thought the pacing was very good and things really started to pick up. I think this film works for a number of reasons but one is that the screenplay doesn't get burdened down in familiar plots. Yes, it turns out that the hypnotist is a crook who tries to steal the treasure from the boys but thankfully this doesn't take over the entire plot. Instead of the plot being centered around this, the bad guy aspect doesn't turn up until the final ten-minutes and by doing this the screenplay can center on the boys and I think it does a very good job at keeping everything moving. There's a very funny sequence when Sach first goes under and then another one later when the boys are flirting with the doctor's sexy blonde. There's a flashback sequence where we see Sach's previous life with Blackbeard and while I didn't understand the "game" they were playing, the entire thing was funny and rather clever. Another plus this time out is that Hall and Clements have got a nice chemistry flow, which is yet something else that was missing in the previous two movies. I thought the two worked well off one another and they also mixed well with the other cast members. At just 61-minutes the movie really doesn't contain any dry moments and in the end it turned out to be one of the most entertaining entries in the series.