''Jail Busters'' is a 1955 film starring the comedy team of

The Bowery Boys The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters, portrayed by a company of New York actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from 1946 through 1 ...

. The film was released on September 18, 1955 by Allied Artists and is the thirty-ninth film in the series.

Plot

Chuck gets a job working for a newspaper. When promoted, he has to go under cover in the state prison to dig up some information on some of the inmates. When one of the inmates beats Chuck up and lands him in the hospital, it's up to Slip, Sach, and Butch to finish Chuck's job. Slip decides that he and the boys should commit a crime so that they can be sent to jail. Another reporter, Cy Bowman, agrees to inform the penitentiary that the boys are working under cover for the newspaper once they get arrested. However, Bowman does not keep his promise. The trio are forced to spend what they think is a short sentence in jail. While there, the boys dig up some information on Percival P. Lannigan and some other inmates who have been living it up in jail, unknown to the warden. Lannigan soon gets word that Slip and his pals are under cover for Chuck (whom Lannigan had beaten up earlier), and intends to have Chuck and Louie killed. The boys eventually expose the inmates scam and turn them over to the warden, who pardons them and arranges for their release.

Cast

The Bowery Boys

Leo Gorcey Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917– June 2, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and, as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey was ...

as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney *

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular " Dead End Kids" movies, including ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later " Bowery ...

as Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones * David Gorcey as Charles 'Chuck' Anderson (Credited as David Condon) *

Bennie Bartlett Floyd B. Bartlett, known professionally as Benny Bartlett or Bennie Bartlett (August 16, 1924 – December 26, 1999), was an American child actor, musician, and later a member of the long-running feature-film series ''The Bowery Boys''. Biog ...

as Butch Williams

Remaining cast

Bernard Gorcey Bernard Gorcey (9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was a Russian-born American actor. He began in Vaudeville, performed on Broadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski i ...

as Louie Dumbrowski *

Barton MacLane Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...

as Captain Jenkins, head guard * Anthony Caruso as Percival P. Lannigan *

Percy Helton Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s. Career A Manhattan native, Helton began acting ...

as Warden B.W. Oswald *

Lyle Talbot Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...

as Cy Bowman *Michael Ross as Big Greenie * Joahn Harmon as Tomcyk *

Murray Alper Murray Alper (January 11, 1904 – November 16, 1984) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, films, and Broadway productions. Biography Born in New York City in 1904, Alper worked on Broadway from 1927 to 1940 in a nu ...

as Gus

Cast notes

After the death of

, just seven days before this film was released,

, who played the warden in this film, was one of the choices for taking the place of Gorcey's character, Louie Dumbrowski. Two years later he would play the character of Mike Clancy, a character similar to Louie, in the film ''

Spook Chasers ''Spook Chasers'' is a 1957 horror/comedy film starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys and Robert Shayne. The film was released on June 2, 1957 by Allied Artists and is the forty-fifth film in the series. Plot Café owner Mike Clancy is told ...

''.

Production

''Jail Busters'' was filmed under the working title of ''Doing Time'' and is the only film in the series with no females in the cast.

Home media

Warner Archives released the film on made-to-order

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in the United States as part of ''"The Bowery Boys, Volume Four"'' on August 26, 2014.

References

External links

* * {{William Beaudine 1955 films 1955 comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy films Bowery Boys films 1950s English-language films Films directed by William Beaudine Allied Artists films 1950s American films