RichE Wrote:Watching and hearing Leo Gorcey murder the English language is worth the price of admission!
RichE I don't know if you are aware of how The Bowery Boys got their start. First there was a Broadway play, then a film of the same name, starring Humphrey Bogart called "Dead End." Originally, they were called "The Dead End Kids." The Dead End where the film/play takes place looked a lot like old York Ave., down in the Fifties, not far from Sutton Place/Square.
Then, they started making B movies as "The East Side Kids." That Sunday afternoon show on WNEW (Channel 5) was titled "East Side Comedy." The same studio on East 68th St. gave us "Wonderama" and "The Soupy Sales Show." Later, they became "The Bowery Boys," but the Bowery is some miles from the Dead End, where the "Dead End Kids" got their start (they were all sons of Broadway actors/actresses). The first demonstration I ever saw was when WNEW was going to cancel Soupy Sales. Kids picketed the studio for days.
I met Huntz Hall briefly backstage of the Johnny Carson Show (before it moved to California). Did you know that Louie, who ran Louie's Sweet Shop, was Leo Gorcey's father? Also, "Slip" Mahoney was supposed to have started out as "Spit" Mahoney, but I like "Slip" better.
I just bought "One-Eyed Jacks," on DVD and in the case was a brochure showing a lot of other old movies you can order, among them about a dozen "Bowery Boys" films, like "Bowery Brigade," and two or three with Bela Lugosi!