In a striking opening sequence, Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney), Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones), William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) appear in menacing plastic masks, at the "Bowling Green Van & Storage Company". The police arrive on the scene, and arrest the gang of five for robbing the place - but, they didn't commit the crime. Leader Gorcey and company claim they are celebrating Halloween (in April).
To bail out "The Bowery Boys", Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky) puts up his "Sweet Shop" as collateral; and, lawyer pal Gabriel Dell (as Gabriel "Gabe" Moreno) arrives to defend his old friends. Awaiting trial, Mr. Benedict receives information on the real robbers via his "short wave" radio. Acting on Benedict's lead, Gorcey and Mr. Hall plead "guilty" as charged, so they can investigate the case inside the "state pen".
Hall's "Triple Trouble" performance is especially good. And, there are a great bunch of supporting crooks to watch out for - George Chandler (as Squirrelly Davis), Pat Collins (as Bat Armstrong), Paul Dubov (as Pretty Boy Gleason), and Joe Turkel (as Benny the Blood). Also note, "Bowery Boy" Benedict gets a little more screen time than he's usually allotted. Unfortunately, the story really isn't very interesting.
Hall ("I'll have a ham on rye") and Gorcey ("The proper alliteration is you or me") have a courtroom scene which certainly suggests this film may have been seen by Beatles in Liverpool, England. Lennon and McCartney were admirers of Gorcey and Hall - and, in this film, a common sense of humor shows. See if you can identify moments resembling "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Band on the Run", herein. Later, Hall appeared on The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album collage (Gorcey was removed after demanding a fee).
***** Triple Trouble (8/13/50) Jean Yarbrough ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, William "Billy" Benedict