By Glenn Erickson
Looking for Danger
Brief Synopsis
The Bowery Boys' leader recalls his days as a World War II spy in Arabia.
Cast & Crew
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Austen Jewell
Director
Huntz Hall
Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones/Hauptman Otto von Schnabel
Stanley Clements
Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie/Schultz
Lili Kardell
Shareen/The Hawk
David Gorcey
Chuck
Jimmy Murphy
Myron
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct
6,
1957
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
After a series of café robberies in New York's Bowery district, Mike Clancy, the owner of the café that the Bowery Boys frequent,is concerned that he might be next, so Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones rigs his cash register to set off a string of booby traps. One day, Lester Bradfield, an official from the U.S. War Dept., visits the café to demand the return of an aluminum cooking pot issued to Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie when he served on a mess detail in North Africa during World War II. Duke claims to have lost the pot during the war, but Bradfield insists upon proof, so Duke launches into a long story about his adventures in the battle against Rommel's forces: Duke and Sach and their Bowery companions, Chuck, Myron and Blinky, are all serving in the same unit and, when their sergeant is asked to supply two soldiers for what may be a suicide mission, he is only too happy to nominate Duke and Sach. Their mission is to impersonate German soldiers to infiltrate enemy territory and deliver a message to a supposedly friendly sultan whose country is occupied by the Germans. Posing as Hauptman Otto von Schnabel and his orderly Schultz, Sach and Duke are also ordered to contact an undercover agent known only as "The Hawk" and are given one half of a ring as identification and told that The Hawk will identify himself by presenting the other half. Sach and Duke reach the palace of Sultan Sidi-Omar and seek an audience with him. The sultan and his aide, Hassan, quickly realize that Sach and Duke are Americans and Sach hands over the letter stating that the U.S. Army intends to liberate the country, but needs information about German troop placements. Unknown to Sach and Duke, the sultan is a double agent in league with the Nazis and turns the message over to German officer Wolff. The sultan invites Sach and Duke to stay and relax, and while they are being entertained by several dancing girls, one of the dancers, Shareen, recognizes Sach's ring and slips him a message to meet her that night. The sultan gives Sach a letter to take back to the American high command, which is, in fact, a trick to lure the army into a trap. When Sach meets Shareen, she shows him the other half of the ring, tells him that she is The Hawk and arranges to provide him with a substitute message for the U.S. forces. Later, when Shareen takes Sach and Duke to meet resistance leader Col. Ahmed Tabari, Wolff follows them. After Shareen leaves to gather more details about the location of a panzer division, Sach and Duke are about to use Ahmed's secret radio to send a message regarding the sultan's defection and trap, when they are arrested by Wolff. While Sach, Duke and Ahmed are interrogated about their activities, the Germans transmit a false message in the boys' name to the U.S. base. After Hassan announces that Shareen has also been arrested, Sach and Duke learn that they are to be executed. A few hours before their execution, however, they are rescued by Chuck, Myron and Blinky, who are posing as German officers and are the advance guard of the invading U.S. force. They then manage to free Ahmed and Shareen, who leave to warn the U.S. troops of the potential ambush. Sach and the others overpower the sultan and the German officers in the palace and, thanks in part to their efforts, Rommel is defeated eventually. By the time Duke finishes his account, Bradfield is exhausted and still has not found out what happened to the pot. Duke is about to continue with the saga, but Bradfield and the boys have had enough. Sach offers to pay Bradfield the $4.38 Duke owes for the pot and he gratefully accepts. When Sach attempts to take the cash from the register, however, he triggers several booby traps including one involving the missing pot, which has been used in the café as a plant holder and it falls on Bradfield's head, knocking him out.
Director
Austen Jewell
Director
Cast
Huntz Hall
Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones/Hauptman Otto von Schnabel
Stanley Clements
Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie/Schultz
Lili Kardell
Shareen/The Hawk
David Gorcey
Chuck
Jimmy Murphy
Myron
Eddie Leroy
Blinky
Peter Mamakos
Hassan
Richard Avonde
Col. Ahmed Tabari
Michael Granger
Sultan Sidi-Omar
George Khoury
Mustapha
Henry Rowland
Sgt. Wetzel
Otto Reichow
Wolff
John Harmon
Lester Bradfield
Dick Elliott
Mike Clancy
Paul Bryar
Maj. Harper
Harry Strang
Watson
Joan Bradshaw
Zarida
Jane Burgess
Sari
Michael Vallon
Waiter
Crew
William Austin
Film Editor
Edward Bernds
Based on a Story by
Richard Bremerkamp
Assistant Director
Neil Brunnenkant
Music Editor
Ralph Butler
Recording Engineer
Irene Caine
Wardrobe
Paul Cameron
Assistant Director
Sam Gordon
Props
Del Harris
Sound Editing
Bert Henrikson
Wardrobe
Mollie Kent
Set Construction
Joseph Kish
Set Decoration
Emile Lavigne
Makeup Artist
Bert Lawrence
Dialogue Director
Ken Lobben
Stills
David Milton
Art Director
Alice Monte
Hairdresser
Harry Neumann
Director of Photography
Ben Remington
Recording
Ben Schwalb
Producer
Roger Sherman
Camera Operator
Marlin Skiles
Music
Elwood Ullman
Screenwriter
Elwood Ullman
Based on a Story by
James West
Const Supervisor
Allen K. Wood
Production Manager
Photo Collections
1 Photo
Looking for Danger - Lobby Card
Here is a Lobby Card from the Bowery Boys movie Looking for Danger (1957), starring Huntz Hall. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct
6,
1957
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Looking for Danger
Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall functioned so well as a team, that the exit of Gorcey from the Bowery Boys series in 1956 required an entire re-think of the franchise. Actor Stanley Clements filled in as best he could, but the wisecracking chemistry between his Stanislaus 'Duke' Coveleskie and Hall's Sach Jones wasn't as sharp. For two of the last series entries, Monogram veterans Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds co-wrote stories that would take them entirely away from the streets of New York. While rigging a theft alarm on the cash register in the café of Mike Clancy (Dick Elliott), the boys are interrupted by a war department emissary (John Harmon). He asks Duke to account for a cooking pot that was checked out to him when he and the boys were soldiers in the African campaign. To explain what happened to the pot, Duke then proceeds to tell a wild tale about his and Sach's secret wartime mission to contact an Arab Sultan in preparation for the Allied liberation. The Sultan is in cahoots with the Germans, so Sach contacts special agent 'The Hawk,' posing as harem dancer Shareen (Lili Kardell). Faced with execution, the pair is saved when their future Bowery cohorts Chuck, Myron and Blinky (David Gorcey, Jimmy Murphy & Eddie LeRoy) rescue them as part of the Army's advance force. When the story finishes, Duke still hasn't explained what happened to the missing pot. The film's advertising tag line sounds desperate: 'They Crash the Sultan's Harem To Teach Those Dolls With The Veils How to Rock 'n' Roll' but the movie actually works up some excitement and even a little action at the climax. With the series phasing out some personnel changes were made. As Mike Clancy, familiar character actor Dick Elliott, replaces Percy Helton. Assistant director Austen Jewell was given a boost to the directing chair to helm two of the final entries; he later became a respected production manager. Edward Bernds had just moved up to writing and directing more prestigious Allied Artists productions, such as the color and CinemaScope science fiction thriller World Without End (1956). Huntz Hall's days as a starring performer would finish with the series, but he showed up in films and TV shows into the early 1990s.
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
Looking for Danger
Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall functioned so well as a team, that the exit of Gorcey from the Bowery Boys series in 1956 required an entire re-think of the franchise. Actor Stanley Clements filled in as best he could, but the wisecracking chemistry between his Stanislaus 'Duke' Coveleskie and Hall's Sach Jones wasn't as sharp. For two of the last series entries, Monogram veterans Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds co-wrote stories that would take them entirely away from the streets of New York. While rigging a theft alarm on the cash register in the café of Mike Clancy (Dick Elliott), the boys are interrupted by a war department emissary (John Harmon). He asks Duke to account for a cooking pot that was checked out to him when he and the boys were soldiers in the African campaign. To explain what happened to the pot, Duke then proceeds to tell a wild tale about his and Sach's secret wartime mission to contact an Arab Sultan in preparation for the Allied liberation. The Sultan is in cahoots with the Germans, so Sach contacts special agent 'The Hawk,' posing as harem dancer Shareen (Lili Kardell). Faced with execution, the pair is saved when their future Bowery cohorts Chuck, Myron and Blinky (David Gorcey, Jimmy Murphy & Eddie LeRoy) rescue them as part of the Army's advance force. When the story finishes, Duke still hasn't explained what happened to the missing pot. The film's advertising tag line sounds desperate: 'They Crash the Sultan's Harem To Teach Those Dolls With The Veils How to Rock 'n' Roll' but the movie actually works up some excitement and even a little action at the climax. With the series phasing out some personnel changes were made. As Mike Clancy, familiar character actor Dick Elliott, replaces Percy Helton. Assistant director Austen Jewell was given a boost to the directing chair to helm two of the final entries; he later became a respected production manager. Edward Bernds had just moved up to writing and directing more prestigious Allied Artists productions, such as the color and CinemaScope science fiction thriller World Without End (1956). Huntz Hall's days as a starring performer would finish with the series, but he showed up in films and TV shows into the early 1990s.
By Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The main title cards read: "Allied Artists Pictures Corporation presents Huntz Hall and the Bowery Boys in Looking for Danger." A studio production sheet indicates that Percy Helton was cast as "Mike Clancy," the role he played in the previous Bowery Boys film, Spook Chasers (see below), but the role was taken over by Dick Elliott. Elliott continued as Mike in the final two films in the series. For more information about "The Bowery Boys" series, please consult the Series Index and the entry for Live Wires in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50.
