Fighting Fools (1949)

Name: Fighting Fools
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1949-03-17
Duration: 69 min
Rating: 6
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Frankie Darro, Lyle Talbot

Fighting Fools (1949), directed by Reginald Le Borg, starring Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall.

03/17/1949 BR Comedy 1h 9m

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Synopsis

The boys are working at the local boxing arena where their friend, Jimmy Higgins, is boxing. During a crooked match Jimmy is killed. The boys seek out his older brother, Johnny, a former boxer who gave up the sport rather than go crooked, and help train him to get back in the ring. They try to get him a shot at the title, and when they do the same crooked gangsters that were behind Jimmy's death try to get Johnny to take a dive.

William A. SicknerCinematography
Reginald Le BorgDirector
William AustinEditing
Jan GrippoProducer

The Bowery Boys Collection

The franchise in release order. 48 films.

About the film

Fighting Fools is a 1949 comedy film starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on April 17, 1949 by Monogram Pictures and is the thirteenth film in the series.

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Fighting Fools is a 1949 comedy film starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on April 17, 1949 by Monogram Pictures and is the thirteenth film in the series.

Plot

The Bowery Boys, led by the notorious Slip Mahoney, are helping out at a boxing arena, selling programs, drinks and snacks to the audience. The most popular upcoming fight is between their own Jimmy Higgins "The Battler from the Bowery" and the reigning champion Joey Prince. The fight will be Jimmy's chance to bring home the title, but his chances are slim at best. When the match starts, Jimmy takes a serious beating in the ring. He is knocked down already in the second round, which renders him unconscious. Eventually Jimmy dies from his injuries. When two of the boys go to break the awful news to Jimmy's mother, Mrs. Higgins, she is devastated.

The boys decide to help her out, by finding another one of her boys, Johnny, who disappeared some time ago. Johnny, who is Jimmy's older brother, vanished to get away from a gang of swindlers who played him for a fool and set him up. The boys soon find Johnny in a bar together with a hussy by the name of Bunny Talbot. Johnny is completely oblivious about his younger brother's death. He quickly sobers up after getting the news, and the boys start working him into fighting condition. Together with the journalist Gabe Moreno, the boys start promoting a series of fights in benefit for the Higgins family.

When Jimmy's manager, Blinky Harris, wants in on the action, the boys tell him to take a hike, since they consider it his fault that Jimmy died. What the boys don't know, is that Harris had fixed the fight against Prince, but Jimmy didn't go along with the plan. Johnny's first fight is announced, and the training starts in a loft locality the boys get to borrow from their friend Louie who owns a candy store. The thumping and crashing from the loft make Louie's business go bad.

Johnny wins his first series of fights, and is considered a challenger to the title. A fight against Prince is set up, and the winner will then fight the title-holder Dynamite Carson. Johnny's fight against Prince starts, but when Prince goes down in the first round, he claims that he did so because the match was fixed. The result is that both boxers are suspended from further fighting. Harris is the one who has fixed the fight, and he promises the Bowery Boys that Prince will confess and clear Johnny's name. The condition is that Johnny loses the first match between him and Carson, and then gets to win the second. The boys agree to the condition, but have no intention of following the plan. Unfortunately they didn't count on Harris taking Boomer Higgins, the youngest of the Higgins brothers, as collateral. Harris assures the boys that Boomer will be let out as soon as Johnny has lost the fight.

The boys go on a hunt throughout the city to find Boomer. Sach finds Boomer and helps him escape. Boomer arrives to the ring in time for Johnny to know he is safe, and then Johnny doesn't have to lose. Harris cheats by giving Carson a metal stick to hold in his hand, and Johnny is badly beaten. Between rounds Sach manages to remove the metal stick and Johnny can get the upper hand in the fight once more. He wins the fight by knocking out Carson, and Harris is exposed as a cheater to the boxing commissioner.

Cast

The Bowery Boys

Leo Gorcey as Terrance Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Huntz Hall as Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones

William Benedict as Whitey

David Gorcey as Chuck

Bennie Bartlett as Butch

Remaining cast

Gabriel Dell as Gabe Moreno

Bernard Gorcey as Louie Dumbrowski

Frankie Darro as Johnny Higgins

Lyle Talbot as Blinky Harris

Teddy Infuhr as Boomer Higgins

Bill Cartledge as Joey Prince

Dorothy Vaughan as Mrs. Higgins

Evelynn Eaton as Bunny Talbot

Robert Walcott as Jimmy Higgins

Bert Conway as Dynamite Carson

Home media

Warner Archives released the film on made to order DVD in the United States as part of "The Bowery Boys, Volume One" on November 23, 2012.

References

External links

Fighting Fools at IMDb

Fighting Fools at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

Fighting Fools at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Text from Fighting Fools on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Fools

Trivia

It premiered on March 17, 1949, a Thursday.
It runs 1h09 — short for a feature film.
It is film 13 of 48 in the The Bowery Boys franchise.
This film's quiz has 12 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosMonogram Pictures
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

Cast

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Crew

William A. Sickner Cinematography
Reginald Le Borg Director
William Austin Editing
Jan Grippo Producer
Bert Lawrence Screenplay
Edmond Seward Screenplay
Gerald Schnitzer Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Fighting Fools about?

Fighting Fools: The boys are working at the local boxing arena where their friend, Jimmy Higgins, is boxing. During a crooked match Jimmy is killed. The boys seek out his older brother, Johnny, a former boxer who gave up the sport rather than go crooked, and help train him to get back in the ring. They try to get him a shot at the ti…

Who directed Fighting Fools?

Fighting Fools was directed by Reginald Le Borg in 1949.

Who stars in Fighting Fools?

The cast of Fighting Fools includes Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Frankie Darro and Lyle Talbot.

How long is Fighting Fools?

Fighting Fools runs for 69 minutes, or 1h09.

What is the correct order of the The Bowery Boys Collection films?

The The Bowery Boys Collection franchise has 48 films in the catalogue. In release order: O Cadáver Esperto; Em Rápida Companhia; Um Invento Engenhoso; Cientista da Fuzarca; Macumba; Os Anjos e o Necromante; Aposta de Má Fé; Tesouro Maldito.