Live Wires (1946) User Reviews (17)

Not enough Bowery in very first Bowery Boys movie

[BrianDanaCamp · 5/10 · 7 March 2010]

The East Side Kids, knockoffs of the Dead End Kids, appeared in 21 films at Monogram Pictures from 1940-45. They became the Bowery Boys in a new series, also at Monogram, starting with LIVE WIRES (1946) and destined to last until 1958. Of the six actors who made up the original Dead End Kids, only Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Bobby Jordan appear in LIVE WIRES. (Jordan left the Bowery series in 1947 after eight films. Gabe Dell, another former Dead End/East Side Kid, joined the Bowery Boys for the fourth film in the series, but stayed only through the end of 1950.) The East Side Kids films tended to have a gritty, urban feel to them, with dramatic plots, bursts of violence, and characters who looked, sounded and behaved like they hung out on the street 24 hours a day, amidst settings built to replicate familiar slum spaces like cramped tenement apartments, basement clubhouses, alleys, storefronts, warehouses, soda counters, cheap dives, bookie joints, etc. The Bowery Boys films tended to specialize in lowbrow comedy and slapstick hijinks, often sending the Boys on not-so-exotic adventures far from the Bowery.

LIVE WIRES has some comedy and familiar schtick, including Gorcey's patented mangling of big words ("why, they'll put me up on a pedestrian") and lots of slapping each other with hats, but it's much more interested in a routine crime tale that gets unnecessarily convoluted as more characters pile on. Slip Mahoney (Gorcey) has trouble holding a job and is seen failing at one thing after another (including a long, tiresome routine involving the sidewalk peddling of a phony stain remover) until he joins Sach (Hall) as a "skip tracer," basically repo men assigned to track down deadbeats and repossess merchandise that hasn't been fully paid for. It's an unlikely profession for these two and not something we'll ever see them do again. Slip does, however, prove quite efficient and, in one clever scene, manages to trick an unlucky nightclub chanteuse out of her coveted convertible. Eventually, the boys are recruited to track down and serve summonses to the ringleaders of a citywide car theft ring. This leads to a comical encounter in the film's final 15 minutes with a childlike but physically aggressive mountain-sized gangster who effortlessly (and "playfully") bounces the hapless Slip off the walls of a well-appointed lounge with a fully-stocked bar. (The gangster is played by third-billed Mike Mazurki as a take-off on Moose Malloy, the not-so-gentle giant he played in the Philip Marlowe film noir classic, MURDER, MY SWEET, 1944, a connection referenced in the ads for LIVE WIRES.)

Too much of the film takes place in spacious offices, apartments, stores and a fancy club. You'd think the film actually had a budget. There's very little East Side or Bowery flavor on view. When addresses are given, they're not recognizable Manhattan addresses. (I'm sorry, but there are no "Walnut and 3rd" or "4th and Main" in Manhattan.) Slip's sister Mary (Pamela Blake), who plays the mother figure in his life, has far more screen time than any of the other Bowery Boys, aside from Sach. There's a Louie's Ice Cream Parlor, but no Louie Dumbrowsky. The actor who later played Louie, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad), shows up at the parlor here, but as a bookie named Jack Kane. Of the five Bowery Boys, in addition to Slip, Sach and Bobby (Jordan), there are Whitey (Billy Benedict, also a regular in the East Side Kids) and the wildly unfamiliar Homer (played by William Frambes in his only Bowery Boys movie), a farm boy who seems to have wandered off the set of one of Universal's Ma and Pa Kettle films.

LIVE WIRES was the fifth film directed by Phil Karlson, who is better known for his violent, hard-hitting crime thrillers from the 1950s (KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL, 99 RIVER STREET, FIVE AGAINST THE HOUSE, THE PHENIX CITY STORY, THE BROTHERS RICO) and '70s (WALKING TALL, FRAMED). He keeps things moving when he can and throws in a couple of action scenes, including a brawl started by Slip at a nightclub, but the script gives him little opportunity to craft anything particularly memorable out of this. Later films in the series would perfect the formula by placing Gorcey and Hall in center stage as a comedy team and putting them in all manner of slapstick situations and crimefighting shenanigans, sometimes keeping them at home in the Bowery and sometimes sending them off to such not-so-very-convincing locations as Paris, London, Bagdad, Las Vegas, the Wild West, the Ozarks, and assorted military bases.

Live Wires (1946) **1/2

[JoeKarlosi · 6/10 · 13 March 2010]

This is the very first of the true "Bowery Boys" pictures (not confusing them with earlier films where they were billed as "The Dead End Kids" and "The East Side Kids"). From here on into the late 1950s, Leo Gorcey (as Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) and Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) would gradually become more of a comical duo and take center stage over the rest of their gang members.

For me, LIVE WIRES is a promising start to this revamped series. Leo Gorcey plays his usual short-fused self who can't seem to hold down a job because he keeps resorting to punching people in the nose. A highlight of the film comes when he tries to sell a fake liquid stain removing product on the streets of the city. His faithful sister keeps after him, and eventually he and his buddy Sach land jobs as men who repossess unpaid-for merchandise (such as automobiles). The slapstick ensues as Slip and Sach get stuck having to confront a large-sized but simple-minded gangster (played by Mike Mazurki), who beats up on them. For fans of Huntz Hall, he is rather underused in this debut entry and it's mostly Leo Gorcey's show, but Leo acquits himself very well. Things would change as the films went on with Sach becoming on equal footing with Slip. What's odd here too is that the gang hangs out at "Louie's Ice Cream Parlor" in this movie, but the actor who would go on to play Louie himself (Bernard Gorcey, Leo's father) is cast in another part. **1/2 out of ****

Leo Gorcey at it again, trying to get ahead.

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 10 March 2010]

Well, this one opens with Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) losing his job as a taxi driver, and coming home to his sister Mary (Pamela Blake) and friends... check out that dolled up, rolled-up 1940s hair-do on Blake! Huntz Hall is "Sach Jones", Slip's sidekick; Acc to IMDb, they would work or appear together 69 times! Keep an eye out for Bernard Gorcey (Leo's real dad) as Jack Kane at the soda fountain. Also keep an eye out for Bill Benedict, the blond-haired tall skinny guy in all those films from the 1940s.. he was called "Whitie" in most of the roles he played. Slip tries various schemes to earn some money, with mixed results along the way... mostly bad. This post- WW II film shows life on the gritty side of town, and the difficulty in getting work, with some humor thrown in along the way. Not bad. A film that's short & sweet, mostly a more mature version of the "Muggs Maloney" characters Gorcey had played in the early 1940s. A bit more slapstick right at the end than I like, but they got some mile-age out of real-life wrestler Mike Mazurki. Also a pleasant number "The Right Kind of Man" sung by Claudia Drake in the nightclub. Phil Karlson directed this 65 minute shortie from Monogram Pictures.

"I can be a double thinker, can't I"?

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 9 November 2015]

Learning that this was the first film in the Bowery Boys series explains a lot. I was mystified for example when Bernard Gorcey appeared on screen as a customer instead of the proprietor of Louie's Sweet Shop. As bookie Jack Kane, he was obviously not as likable as the character he portrayed in later pictures in the series. At the same time, Leo Gorcey's 'Slip' Mahoney also seemed like an unsavory character who couldn't hold a job because of his volatile temper and quick fisted nature. Perhaps the biggest surprise was seeing Huntz Hall as the mature member of the group, to the point of giving Slip some advice on how to hold a job and not be a disappointment to his sister Mary (Pamela Blake), who was more like a mother to him than a sister. Oh well, things would change.

Otherwise, the picture does have that Bowery Boys flavor with it's cool New York City street scenes and situations calling for Slip and Sach (Hall) to get out of one scrape after another. As a fan of former pro wrestler Mike Mazurki, I never realized just how big he was until I saw him manhandle Slip from pillar to post the way he did here. I don't know if it was for real or a camera trick, but he lifted Slip and Sach off the floor with one hand in separate scenes; I don't believe I'd like to get in the guy's way for any reason.

The one constant that I enjoyed in the film was Slip's malapropisms just about every time he opened his mouth. Seeing him in a tux on the way to the High Hat Club was a trip in itself, about the best he ever looked outside of a military uniform which he wore as an East Side Kid in 1942's "Let's Get Tough" or later on in 1951's "Bowery Batallion".

The other cool element in the picture for me was Earle Hodgins as a snake oil salesman, a role he played with some frequency in old time Westerns of the Thirties and Forties. That he showed up in a Bowery Boys flick seemed only natural, leading me to consider that had he been born a little bit later, he might have been right at home as part of the gang.

It's like finding a jackpot in a slot machine!

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 6 August 2010]

***SPOILERS*** First of the "Bowery Boys" films has Slip between jobs living with his sister Mary who's getting a bit sick and tired of always supporting him. Finally landing a job with his friend Sach's help at the D.A's office handing out summons Slip is now well on his way to become a both productive and tax paying citizen. It's when Slip is sent out to a local women's clothing boutique to hand out a summon to it's owner that he finds out just how dangerous his job really is.

Thinking he's to hand out a summon to a woman named Pasty Clark, to testify against her boss, Slip finds out that the person is not only a man but ex-convict Pat Clark played by ex-professional wrestler and all star collage defensive back 230 pound six foot five five inch tall Mike Mazerki! The very playful Mazerki,or Pat Clark,thinking that Slip is a fellow cell-mate of his shows his hospitality towards him by bouncing the almost totally unconscious Slip against the wall of his office as if he were a Ping Pong ball! It's only when Pat's friend and fellow mobster Red showed up it was discovered that Slip who had put Red to sleep, by belting him earlier in the movie, is not the person that he said he was!

With Slip's fellow "Bowery Boys", Sach Homer Bobby & Whitey, rushing to his aid all they do is get worked over by Pat who's finally subdued when what seems like the entire local police precinct comes to rescue the rescuers! It's during that ruckus that it's discovered that Pat & Red's boss, the Boss of Bosses in the New York City underworld, is non other then Herbert Sayers! The person who Slip had previously worked for, and got fired by, as well as Slip's sister's employer who works for Sayers as his private secretary!

With Sayers now planning to leave the country and fly to Mexico, before the police can arrest him, It's now up to Slip and the boys to stop and capture him in that he's taking Slip's sister, who has no idea of his criminal background, along with him! Sayers plans to either use Mary as a hostage or human shield if he's stopped at the border, or airport, by the local law enforcement personnel!

What's so usual about this first "Bowery Boys" movie is that the usually nutty Sach is about the most normal of the bunch. Not only is Sach the only one of the "Bowery Boys" to be game-fully employed but also the best dressed of the entire lot! There's also Bernard Grocey, Slip or Leo Grocey's real life dad, in the movie not as whom we later got to know as Sweet Shop owner Louie Dumbrowsky but as the local neighborhood bookie Jack Kane!

Bowery Boys #1

[Michael_Elliott · 9 March 2010]

Live Wires (1946)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The first of forty-eight films in The Bowery Boys series follows familiar grounds but in the end the film delivers enough cheap laughs to make it worth seeing. In the film 'Slip' Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) keeps getting fired from one job after another due to his short temper and willingness to throw a punch. This eventually gets under the skin of his sister who pretty much gives up on him but Slip finds work as a skip tracer and hopes that this will get him on the right path. This first film in the series could easily be mistaken for one of the East Side Kid entries as there's really not much difference. This is certainly to be expected but the one big difference here is that the budget appears to be slightly higher and the overall production seems to have stepped up a notch. The 65-minute running time begins to wear a little thin towards the end but fans of the group will probably stay entertained throughout. The opening credits read "Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys", which is pretty much correct as there's no doubt the film belongs to Gorcey and it's pretty clear that this was an attempt to take everything over. At least in this first entry the "gang" takes a backseat to Gorcey's one-man show. That might sound like a negative thing but Gorcey can certainly handle carrying the film and he ends up delivering a fun and fast performance. He continues the mangling of big words, which was quite familiar by this point in his career but as childish as it is I can't help but laugh at it. The hot temper stuff would seem to be growing old but he still manages to put some fire behind it and makes it fun. Huntz Hall, Mike Mazurki, Bobby Jordan, William Benedict and William Frambes bring up the support and aren't too bad even if the screenplay doesn't do them any favors. The screenplay itself is pretty familiar stuff and it never tries to be too original but it still works due to the train that is Gorcey. The highlight of the film is the sequence where Gorcey tries to get a break into the "stain removal" business.

Sach and Slip as repo men

[Paularoc · 7/10 · 26 June 2013]

You either like the Bowery Boys films with their low brow humor or you don't. I like them. They're silly, funny, and light hearted. Slip gets and loses one job after another for being too hot tempered and quick with his fists but since his sister who he lives with has a steady job he doesn't worry about it. That is, until she gets fed up and insists he get a steady job. He first thinks he's going to make a bundle as a street peddler selling Pierce's Peerless Stain Remover. In this skit, Gorcey well demonstrates how very good he was at patter. Of course, the peddler scam doesn't work out and he then gets a job at the repossession firm that Sach is working at (somewhat surprisingly Sach has a steady job). They get the assignment of finding a couple of crooks, Patsy Clark and the crook known as The Pidgeon. Slip tells the boys that in tracking down Patsy they'll first make a list of the possibilities and then "It's just a process of illumination." Slip does indeed find Patsy who turns out to be a towering, violent and menacing crook played by Mike Mazurki. There are a number of pretty funny bits in the movie but my favorite was the scene at the high class nightclub, the 'High Hat' where Slip takes his girlfriend as part of a car repo job. After hearing from Slip that "money is no objection," the snooty waiter recommends a 1928 champagne. Slip and his girlfriend are mightily annoyed and insist that the waiter bring something newer than that.

The East Side Kids turn into The Bowery Boys

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 23 July 2010]

As this was the first entry in "The Bowery Boys" film series, it seems a good time for a Bowery kid round-up. After "Dead End" (1937) hit big, the original gang of six screen scene stealers - Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, and Bernard Punsly - became "The Dead End Kids" aka "The Little Tough Guys". The alternating name was dictated by interpersonal studio and actor conflicts, with the main group evolving into "The East Side Kids". This group regularly featured half the original team - Mr. Jordan, Mr. Gorcey, and Mr. Hall (along with others). The original leader, Mr. Halop quit after leading the "Little Tough Guy" group; later, he would be employed to start "The Gas House Kids" (which included Bowery regular Benny "Bennie" Bartlett). Mr. Dell would continue to make his irregular appearances, and Mr. Punsly retired altogether.

Presently, popular "East Side Kid" leader Gorcey and manager Jan Grippo gained the upper "East Side" hand, and took control of the series. Continuing as "The Bowery Boys" are Gorcey (as Terrence "Slip" Mahoney), Hall (as "Sach"), Jordan (as "Bobby"), and William "Billy" Benedict (as "Whitey"). Brother David Gorcey took the week off, but father Bernard Gorcey appears in "Louie's Sweet Shop" (though not yet as its proprietor). Filling in for the former is William Frambes (as Homer), in a one-shot appearance as a Bowery Boy; previously, Mr. Frambes was as a member of rival group "The Cherry Street Boys" (with Billy Benedict) in the East Side Kids' "Clancy Street Boys" (1943). "Live Wires" is fairly typical plot-wise. Gorcey unwittingly gets a job as a snake-oil salesman, with the gang assisting; inevitably, the get-rich-quick scheme leads to gangsters.

**** Live Wires (1/12/46) Phil Karlson ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Mike Mazurki, Bobby Jordan

THE GOOFY GUYS VERSUS THE GAGSTA'S

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 5 September 2023]

The BOWERY BOYS were a reworking of the EAST SIDE KIDS, which ran for five years (1940-45), produced also by Monogram Pictures. The East Side Kids were more comedy/dramas; tough kids in a mess, usually a murder, fashioned after the original DEAD END KIDS, although by the final few episodes were leaning more to comedy.

Comes a super idea!

This was actually the creation of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall who wanted to expand the series, but with more ad-libbing and throw in their brand of outrageous schtick. At times, if you watch closely, they borrowed bits and pieces from the Three Stooges. In fact, Edward Bernds, who wrote for the Stooges, directed later episodes. It was a gamble that paid off as the series has been in reruns for decades on tv and has a following.

The early Bowery Boys series had more gangster ties, LIVE WIRES the perfect example, which is well written, all about process servers who get beat up a lot. That's why unemployed Slip gets the job in the first place! It's also a neat time capsule of the 40s with the styles and jive all thrown in for good measure. Giant Mike Mazurki makes a special appearance as Slip and Sach try to get the goods on some big shots the HARD way.

Mike had played college football and was at one time a pro wrestler, appearing before this episode in MURDER MY SWEET, as a hulking thug, which became his signature role.

In tv reruns, BOWERY BOMSHELL is sometimes re-run as the first episode, which opens with the gang just hanging around Louie's sweetshop. There is no real "hang out" place for the guys in LIVE WIRES, except for Slip getting yelled at by his sister in their apartment. After this episode, Slip's sister would be faded out, though we would occasionally meet his mom.

Lots of gag scenes at work here, such as Slip dancing around a nightclub singer (played by Claudia Drake) and presenting her with court papers ---while she's on the air. Drake had previously played a singer in the iconic film, DETOUR, the previous year. Also the nightclub fight scene is outrageous with Gorcey acting as the the MC and throwing in some plugs for his boss' company. Listen to the dialogue throughout as its sharp, fast-paced and hilarious.

Bernard Gorcey, who was Leo's father and played Louie the sweetshop owner, is seen here as a man named Jack Kane at the soda fountain. The original gang consisted of Bobby Jordan, who just returned from WWII, also Billy Benedict (as Whitey), Gabe Dell, who would play a variety of different roles, and David Gorcey, Leo's younger brother, who would remain with the series right to the end in 1958.

Not to be missed and remastered by Warner Brothers in boxes of eight films each.

The first Bowery Boys film...and one of their better ones.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 9 November 2019]

With the movie "Dead End", Warner Brothers brought us the so-called 'Dead End Kids'...a group of juvenile delinquents who were usually up to no good in this urban drama. Because they were popular, the studio brought them back several times. And then, something unusual happened...members of the group splintered and formed similar teen gangs with different studios (The East Side Kids and The Little Tough Guys). Then, after a few years, the original members of the two groups as well as some new members got together and they formed The Bowery Boys...and they went on to make a long string of films for Monogram. None of these were exactly intellectual nor original...but they were entertaining. Of the 48 films as the Bowery Boys, "Live Wires" is their first.

In this story, Slip (Leo Gorcey) is more puglacious than usual. Again and again, he loses jobs after he ends up taking a sock at someone. And, in sharp contrast to the rest of the series, Sach (Huntz Hall), is well-dressed, not especially stupid and responsible!! Eventually Slip gets a job working for the same folks who employ Sach and now his job involves repossessing cars....which isn't the easiest of jobs. But it gets worse when the boss asks them both to be process servers--to give out subpoenas for the District Attorney. Their first case involves a crazy giant of a man (Mike Mazurki---and not surprisingly, Slip is scared to death to serve him. But when he learns that his sister's boss is a crook and he's taking her out of the country, he knows he needs to get out of there but quick.

While this isn't the most cerebral of films, it is pretty entertaining...especially for a Bowery Boys flick. Nothing special here but with the gang acting less stupid and usual...well, that makes for a better movie.

In his usual pugnacious manner

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 7 November 2015]

The Bowery Boys made their screen debut after being revamped from the East Side Kids in Live Wires. As this was Gorcey family affair the other kids with the exception of Huntz Hall were gradually reduced to being little more than extras. You'll see Bernard Gorcey, but not in his familiar role as Louie Dumbrowski owner of the Sweet Shop where they hang out.

Leo Gorcey in his usual pugnacious manner loses the job he has with a construction company. His patient sister Pamela Blake who also works there gets him a job with the District Attorney as a process server. It's a job where Gorcey's kind of aggressiveness comes in handy as do his pals when he needs them.

He certainly does need them when he tries to serve Mike Mazurki who's a triggerman for the city racket's Mr. Big. There's a great scene with Mazurki and Gorcey with Gorcey getting sloshed as he tries to serve Mazurki. The help he needs to get out of that fix is somewhat tardy in arriving.

The Bowery Boys series gets off to a fine start with Live Wires.

first

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 9 September 2023]

Slip (Leo Gorcey) is driving a flower delivery truck and can't keep his eyes off the dames. He crashes the truck and loses another job. Each lost job has issues and frustrates his worried sister Mary (Pamela Blake). He refuses to serve summons for the DA. Instead, he joins Sach (Huntz Hall) to serve notices for finance guy Barton and doing repo jobs. They end up serving summons for the DA anyways.

It's the first of The Bowery Boys movies. It has Slip and Sach and many of the players. Some things have not been settled yet. Slip is doing most of the talking. Sach is not doing much in this one. It's a good start and has some good fun.

Hard work may not kill anybody, but Slip ain't takin' any chances.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 2 October 2014]

The first of the long-running "Bowery Boys" series is also probably the weakest in plot, basically the same characters of "The East Side Kids" series with new names and locations. The newly monikered Slip (Leo Gorcey) obviously doesn't want to work, going from flower delivery boy to ink remover pitchman to construction site digger (a job that only lasts two minutes) and finally to process server. He joins pal Sach (Huntz Hall) in that profession, serving everybody from a chorus girl (trying to avoid him while performing) to the gigantic Mike Mazurki. Of course, there's a criminal element here, involved with Slip's sister (Pamela Blake), which provides the only attempt at a linear plot.

The slightly more than an hour film is mostly enjoyable because of Slip's "slip of the tongue" malapropisms which are sometimes hysterical, sometimes stupid and sometimes non-sensical. The film provides mostly "moments" rather than the great atmosphere of the aging youth of the lower east side that would prevail for another 11 years in 40 plus movies. While most of the gang appears to be mid-late 20's, "Whitey" Billy Benedict for some reason looks much older. Bernard Gorcey, who always popped up in the oddest places when the series began to travel, doesn't appear as Louie here, looking very different as a bookie. Ironically, Louie's ice cream shop is one of the major settings, but his character is not even mentioned.

Curio From The Forties

[sambase-38773 · 6/10 · 11 September 2023]

My favorite scene in the whole movie by far was the scene between Leo Gorcey and Mike Mazurki about 50 minutes into the movie. That scene was much funnier than anything else in the movie. It was the only time during the movie that I laughed out loud. This is not a terribly funny movie except for some amusing gags here and there, but that scene was on a whole other level. They were perfect together. They would have made a great comedy team.

Other than that this movie is just a curio from the 1940's. It's watchable and is a breezy 64 minutes long so it's not a big time investment. But nothing too great and nothing to bad. I watched it one Saturday - or was it Sunday. Anyway, it's an okay way to kill an hour on the weekend.

Fun

[WankerReviews · 6/10 · 15 June 2020]

About a guy who lives with his sister, who is his own worst enemy, and finds himself involved in self inflicted confrontations. Jumping from gig to gig because he keeps finding trouble, his sister is fed up with him.

I thought this was fun to watch. Not laugh at loud funny but entertaining. The lead character played by Leo Gorcey was getting on my nerves after a while, and I was surprised his sister put up with him for as long as she did. The movie is only an hour long but the events of Leo running into trouble, and his sister telling him off, got repetitive quickly. I wished it was a little longer because him transitioning to his new job as a repo, felt rushed. We only see him repo two people and they both happen in the last 20 minutes. I thought it would be the many funny adventures of being a repo man. Nevertheless it was still a fun watch.

"Whoever said ignorance is bliss musta been talking to you foist."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 9 December 2015]

The first entry in the Bowery Boys series for Monogram. The Boys, led by Leo Gorcey, previously went by other names and even worked on some major movies for studios like Warner Bros. before landing at Poverty Row. This series of movies is my favorite of theirs, with Gorcey and Huntz Hall shining and none of that Billy Halop nonsense. The humor with these guys is not everybody's cup of tea. I've always found them very funny, albeit simple and silly, but there are many who find them grating and stupid. The plot in this one is that little tough guy Terrance Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney (Gorcey) has trouble keeping a job because he's always punching people. He lands a job working as a repo man with his friend Sach (Hall) and winds up tangling with gangsters. In addition to Gorcey and Hall, the gang includes Bobby Jordan and William Benedict. Leo Gorcey's father, Bernard, also appears in this one. He would become a regular character, Louie, in the next entry in the series. It's a funny movie but not the Boys' best. Gorcey's hilarious malapropisms provide many of the laughs. The scene in the fancy restaurant is a riot. Short runtime certainly helps. A good time-passer that should put a smile on most faces.

Not particularly funny

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 15 February 2019]

LIVE WIRES is the first of the endless screen outings for the Bowery Boys gang, headed by former East Side Kid Leo Gorcey. These were a gormless group who got up to the usual dead-headed mischief, with lots of lame and dated humour along the way. I'm more of a Little Rascals fan myself. This one's story, if it can be described as such, involves Gorcey losing his job and going job-hunting; he ends up playing an enforcer official which leads him to uncover a crime plot. It's cheap and mindless stuff, not particularly funny either.