Clevercell Very disappointing...

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

mark.waltz Slip, aka Leo Gorcey, provides a Philip Marlowe style narration in this entry in the Bowery Boys series that spoofs the new breed of crime film known as "film noir", perhaps not realizing what they were doing. It's as deliciously close to film noir as the spoof's, "The Cheap Detective" and "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" were. They are taking on a mysterious gang known as "the Loop" who attacked their pal, Gabriel Dell. Told in flashback, this has all the elements of the great film noir of the day, not that I consider this a classic by any means. The use of music, editing and photography is more cleverly used, making this stand out among the long running D grade series that was never meant to be anything but a quick money maker for Monogram studios during the late 1940's. I don't think that Leo Gorcey gets the credit for being as good an actor as he is, but this ranks as one of his best performances, really making the grade in his narration as well as in the use of his malapropisms in describing what's going on. So probably the best of the series up to this point, it would only find competition in a few more over the next decade.

bkoganbing This film of the Bowery Boys series finds them as Angels In Disguise. Though Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are only newspaper copy boys they go undercover as investigative journalists to track down the notorious Loop gang which has been pulling robberies all over the city. Their latest robbery wounds police officer Gabriel Dell and kills another officer who was a friend to the Boys.Gorcey's skill with a pool cue gains him entry to the gang which is headed by Edmond Ryan who is a really chilling character, a bit out of the general fun of a Bowery Boys film. The gang has been getting inside information on which places to rob, but I will have to say that the way it is transmitted is one of the cleverest gimmicks I've ever seen on film. Talk about hiding it in plain sight.The film is narrated by Gorcey with his usual command of the English language and syntax. And Huntz Hall is as clueless as ever. Definitely Angels In Disguise is one of the better Bowery Boys films.

classicsoncall I think it would have been fun if the Bowery Boys did more character parodies like the one presented here. Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) take on the persona of big time gangsters to ingratiate themselves with a Chicago mob called The Loop. Then they get cornered into bringing along the rest of their gang, Whitey the Whip (Billy Benedict), Chuck the Chiller (David Gorcey), and Butch the Butcher (Benny Bartlett). I don't know about you, but the one I wanted to see most was Big Louie (Bernard Gorcey). Wasn't he just great? It didn't take much of a stretch for the Boys to get tangled up in any of their adventures, and that's the case here as well. The story starts out with Slip and Sach as copy boys at the New York Daily Chronicle, and from there they get drawn into a murder investigation of one of the local beat cops. Gabriel Dell makes an appearance as Officer Gabe Marino, who really doesn't have a large role in the story after he also takes a bullet (off screen) in the early going. Slip and Sach visit him at General Hospital, where you'll stare in disbelief as a nurse lights up a cigarette for Gabe while he's convalescing - in bed!!! Every once in a while you'll catch a scene in an era movie like this where a doctor might smoke while seeing a patient, but this was the best!As long as we're on the subject of smoking, I can't forget to mention Jean Dean in the smoking hot role of mob boss Carver's moll, Vickie Darwell. She comes on strong right from the get go, and plays Slip just a bit more risqué than I think he was used to. It would have been great to see this one in color and watch Slip turn red as a beet. Had she turned up the heat just a bit more, Slip probably would have needed a blood confusion.

wes-connors Returning to work at New York City's "Daily Chronicle" (see "News Hounds" for an unconnected earlier stint), "The Bowery Boys" get involved in exposing a ring of mobsters, after policeman chum Gabriel Dell (as Gabe Moreno) is hospitalized in a shooting. Journalistic leader Leo Gorcey (as "Slip" Mahoney) is the newspaper's "chief copy boy" - and aspiring investigative reporter. Hapless Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) is his apprentice. William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) are streetwise paperboys.This "Naked City"-influenced satire starts off well, but loses steam several times during the running time. The startling opening works well, with Mr. Gorcey awakening in an alley, where he and Mr. Hall have been uncharacteristically beaten to a pulp. From there, Gorcey "narrates" the loopy, nonsensical detective story. Director Jean Yarbrough manages the tight budget reasonably well.In early film appearances, youngsters Joseph Turkel (as John Mutton), Mickey Knox (as Angles Carson), Richard Benedict (as Miami), and Pepe Hern (as Bertie Spangler) make especially good pool hall hustler impressions. You're likely to forget the plot entirely, later in the running time, when bookworm boy wonder Edward "Eddie" Ryan (as Mr. Carver) and sexy girlfriend Jean Dean (as Vickie Darwell) enter the picture.Watch for the scene where Mr. Ryan sadistically slaps Mr. Turkel's face, followed by Ms. Dean's sexually-charged entrance; in a dress which fills the movie screen like few others, Dean definitely gives the film a lift. Happily, the often underutilized Bowery supporting cast helps round up the forgettable, frayed storyline, with Bernard Gorcey (as "Big Louie") joining "Whitey the Whip", "Chuck the Chiller", and "Butch the Butcher".***** Angels in Disguise (9/9/49) Jean Yarbrough ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Joseph Turkel