Allied Artists' 41st Bowery Boys film shows the series formula all but worn out. The 'boys' had stopped being juvenile delinquents headquartered in a basement, and the stories were reduced to the same elements. Huntz Hall's 'Sach' Jones invariably picks up some fantastic ability for Leo Gorcey's 'Slip' Mahoney to exploit, while Gorcey's diminutive father Bernard provides extra comic relief as Louie, the owner of the candy store where the Boys congregate. Leo Gorcey owned 40% of the series and controlled its content; for the most part the other gang members were reduced to small supporting roles. In Crashing Las Vegas (1956) Sach discovers that he can predict gambling numbers, leading to the expected tangles with casino gangsters and kidnappings. But Crashing Las Vegas turned out to be a major turning point for the series. Bernard Gorcey was killed in an auto accident just before filming was to begin. A negligent father when Leo and his brother were young, Bernard reconciled with them as teenagers and encouraged them to try out for the Broadway play of Dead End, which was the beginning of twenty years of full employment for all and stardom for Leo. Despondent over losing his father, Leo threw a drunken tantrum on the sound stage of Crashing Las Vegas, and destroyed the set in a rage. After making demands for more money, he quit his own series and never again played a leading role. For the next film Fighting Trouble (1956), the ground rules would have to be entirely reworked.

By Glenn Erickson