GAS HOUSE KIDS GO WEST

Those Wild and Crazy Gas House Kids!

GAS HOUSE KIDS GO WEST (1947). Director: William Beaudine.

The Gas House kids are invited to spend some time at a California ranch by its owner, Mrs. Crowley (Lela Bliss). The boys arrange to drive a used car cross country with friendly police sergeant Casey (Emory Parnell of Safari Drums) in tow, but they are all unaware that the auto is hot. In a coincidence that can only happen in the movies, or in old Hardy Boys books, the stolen car gang is operating in the very town where Mrs. Crowley's ranch is located. The head of the gang is Jim Kinsgley (William Wright), who is engaged to Mrs. Crowley's daughter, Nan (Chili Williams), who has strange taste in men, With the help of Casey, who is in love with Mrs. Crowley, the boys cook up a scheme to trap the gang. Gas House Kids Go West is another entry in this short-lived imitation of the Eastside Kids/Bowery Boys, and it is amiable but dull. The boys are Alfie (Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer); Chimp (Tommy Bond); Orvie (Benny Bartlett); Scat (Rudy Wissler); and Roy Dolciame as Corky. Switzer gets to sing an off-key version of "West of the Pacos" and accidentally kisses Tommy Bond instead of Nan at the climax. Wissler, who actually had a fine voice, is not given a number. Vince Barnett [Drums of Africa] is notable and amusing as Steve, the man out west who receives the stolen car and hides it in the Crowley barn. Followed by The Gas House Kids in Hollywood, the third and final film in the series. Chili Williams was a pin-up queen and competent actress who managed to amass twenty credits,

Verdict: Take some pepto bismol and don't call me in the morning. **.

DRUMS OF AFRICA

Flash Gordon and Ming: Buster Crabbe and Charles Middleton

DRUMS OF AFRICA (aka Jungle Man/1941). Director: Harry Fraser.

William Graham (Paul Scott) comes to Africa with his daughter, Betty (Sheila Darcy of Irish Luck). William hopes to find the ruins of a lost city, while Betty is intrigued by Robert Hammond (Buster Crabbe), a doctor whom the natives call "Junga" (he does not, however, run around in a loincloth like Tarzan or Thun'da). Betty also has a fiance named Bruce (Weldon Hayburn), who is accompanying her father on his search for the "City of the Dead." Hammond is hoping to develop and mass produce a serum that can counteract a fever that threatens to break out and kill many people. Hammond is a friend of Betty's uncle, the "reverend" Jim Graham (Charles Middleton), who has a pet tiger he calls "Satan." The chief fun of Drums of Africa is in seeing "Flash Gordon" and his hated adversary "Ming the Merciless" cast as good friends [see photo]. The lost city is interesting-looking, and there's lots of shots of assorted wild life. The picture is basically a mish mosh, thrown together with lots of stock footage, but somehow it holds the attention and it's always great to see Middleton, even if his talents are greatly under-utilized in this. Vince Barnett makes an impression as the ill-fated guide, "Buckthorne." From Pictorial Films.

Verdict: Back lot jungle adventure is cheap but entertaining. **1/2.