Let's Go Navy
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Beaudine
Leo Gorcey
Huntz Hall
Allen Jenkins
Tom Neal
Charlita
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Slip Mahoney and his gang, Sach, Whitey, Chuck and Butch, have just raised $1,683 for needy Bowery families at the Bowery Chowder Party, when thieves Red and Joe, posing as sailors, rob them of the money. During the robbery, Slip notices that one of the men has a heart with the name "Marie" tattooed on his chest and believes he can identify the robber with this clue. The neighborhood thinks that the hold-up was phoney, and even Louie Dumbrowsky, local soda parlor owner and friend to the boys, believes the gang concocted the story. When police officer Sgt. Mulloy refuses to help the gang because there is no tangible evidence to assist him in identifying the robbers, the boys decide to enlist in the Navy to find the robbers. While waiting at the local recruiting office, a paper mix-up causes the gang to be signed up under the wrong names. When they report for duty on the naval ship, Sach, whose enlistment paper read Algernon Hobbenocker, has a hard time pronouncing his name, much less remembering the fact that as Hobbenocker, he now has a wife and five children. As new recruits, Sach, Whitey, Butch and Chuck are assigned to swabbing the deck. They use the time to enact "routine 11," in which they trip Naval personnel, pull their shirts up over their heads and check their chests for the tattoo. After Sach decides the swabbing could be done more efficiently with an electric floor waxer, their immediate superior, officer Longnecker, reprimands him for making the floors too slippery, then slides overboard. When Slip, who has been assigned to act as headwaiter for Comdr. Tannen, stops to talk to the gang, Whitey, who has been using a block of soap for the floors, accidentally trades it for a block of cheese on Slip's lunch platter for Tannen. Slip delivers the lunch and just before Tannen takes a bite out of his cheese and crackers, Longnecker, soaking wet, bursts into the office. Tannen finally takes a bite from the "cheese," and when he sips his tea and an endless stream of bubbles floats out of his mouth. As a result, Slip is demoted to swabbing the deck. Sach, whose erroneous records show he is a qualified navigator, is assigned to the chart room. Suddenly a fire drill bell is sounded, and the gang is ordered to prepare a water hose. Sach, while searching for the chart room, sees his friends and attempts to help them by turning on the hose. The pressure is too strong for any of them to manage, however, and they soak all the sailors nearby, including Longnecker, who once again delivers Sach to Tannen's office for punishment. That night, the gang decides to check all the sailors for the tattoo while they sleep in their bunks. Longnecker, who is making the night rounds in the sleeping quarters, discovers Sach, who then feigns sleep walking into the shower room. When Longnecker asks Sach why he is taking a waterless shower, Sach turns on the water and soaks Longnecker again. Days later, the ship docks in Hawaii and the gang visit the famous tattoo artist, Chief Narumo, to see if he remembers creating the tattoo. Narumo, with the help of his daughter and translator Paphula, reports that he has no record of that particular tattoo, but gives Sach a parrot named Davie Jones. Back on board, Sach's continued antics force him to hide out in the cannon of one of the ship's guns to avoid punishment. When a firing drill commences, Sach is unaware of the impending danger, but Slip and the rest of the gang spot him and pull him out of the cannon just in time. Later Slip plays a few rounds of thimblerig with three small cups and a ball and is swindled out of all his remaining money. He leaves dejected, but Sach remains in the game, and with the help of the eagle-eyed Davie Jones, wins back all of Slip's money plus several thousand dollars. The gang then decides to return home with their winnings and discontinue looking for the robbers. Later, when they arrive back in the Bowery, Red and Joe attempt to rob the gang again, just as Longnecker suddenly appears and introduces the gang to his girl friend Kitten. Suspicious of the two strangers, Longnecker prompts the men to fight and punches one of them out. The rest of the gang pummel the other robber, while Sach practices his punches on the sidelines and accidentally hits Longnecker, who lands in the gutter where a street cleaning machine soaks him with its spray. Later, the gang receive commendations for their bravery and then return to the recruiting office to explain the false mix-up. At the office, the same five men with whom they were confused, are ready to sign up for service, but decide at the last minute not to join because Hobbenocker is having a seventh child. When their papers are messed up again, the gang, having enjoyed their world travels in the Navy, decide to sign up.
Director
William Beaudine
Cast
Leo Gorcey
Huntz Hall
Allen Jenkins
Tom Neal
Charlita
Richard Benedict
Paul Harvey
Jonathan Hale
William Benedict
Bernard Gorcey
Buddy Gorman
David Gorcey
Emory Parnell
Douglas Evans
Frank Jenks
Dave Willock
Ray Walker
Tom Kennedy
Dorothy Ford
Jimmy Cross
Bill Chandler
Don Gordon
Neyle Morrow
Murray Alper
Joey Ray
William Vincent
Peter Mamakos
Paul Bryar
Harry Lauter
Richard Monahan
William Lechner
George Offerman Jr.
Lee Graham
Pat Gleason
George Eldredge
Mike Lally
Bob Peoples
William Hudson
Emil Sitka
Russ Conway
Harry Strang
Ray Dawe
Crew
Max Adams
William Austin
William Calihan
William Calihan
Lieut. Robert M. Garrick
Jan Grippo
Jan Grippo
Edward J. Kay
Bert Lawrence
Marcel Lepicard
William Lynch
David Milton
Tim Ryan
Otto Siegel
Ilona Vas
Allen K. Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
In the opening credits "Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys" are listed above the title. The film was the last in the series to be produced by January Grippo. Hollywood Reporter production charts add Russell Hicks and Nico to the cast; Hicks was not in the released film, and the appearance of Nico has not been confirmed. Portions of Let's Go Navy were shot on location in San Diego Bay, Long Beach and San Pedro, CA and on a United States Naval craft. Many of the film's reviews suggest that Let's Go Navy was the best in "The Bowery Boys" series up to this date. For more information on "The Bowery Boys" series, consult the Series Index and see the entry for Live Wires in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50 .
