For their next-to-last outing, the Bowery Boys delivered one of their funniest films in 1957, thanks to the return of their usual director, William Beaudine, after a two year absence from the series and a script borrowing from the Faust legend. When Sach (Huntz Hall) gets duped into betting on a losing horse, he threatens to sell his soul to the devil for a winning tip. In response, up pops Mr. Bub (Byron Foulger), who promises to give him a winner a day for a week, after which he will collect the clown's soul. Hall's efforts to cash in on the deal and cancel the contract with Satan lead to a slapstick encounter with used car salesman Earle Hodgins and a hilarious scene with a psychiatrist (Fritz Feld). One big selling point for Up in Smoke is the character actors who help flesh out the plot. Feld was an expert at playing officious European types, a role he perfected in films like Bringing Up Baby (1938) and Phantom of the Opera (1943). Foulger was also an accomplished character actor who had been a member of the Preston Sturges stock company, appearing in such classics as Sullivan's Travels (1941) and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944).

By Frank Miller