Fighting Fools

The Bowery Boys, led by the notorious Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), 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” (Robert Walcott) and the reigning champion Joey Prince (Bill Cartledge). 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 (Dorothy Vaughan (actress)), she is devastated. The boys decide to help her out, by finding another one of her boys, Johnny (Frankie Darro), 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 (Evelyn Eaton (1924-1964)). 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 (Gabriel Dell), the boys start promoting a series of fights in benefit for the Higgins family. When Jimmy’s manager, Blinky Harris (Lyle Talbot), 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 (Bernard Gorcey) 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