THE GAS HOUSE KIDS IN HOLLYWOOD - Albert Glasser - Carl Switzer (1947)

So just how many freakin' ghost story - haunted house - crime movies did they make in the 30's, 40's and 50's anyhow? Beats the living Hell out of me, but one thing I do know is that tonight's Dungeon feature is one of them!!

I don't know about today, but it used to be that everybody knew who the "Little Rascals," or "Our Gang," or "The Eastside Kids," or "The Bowery Boys" were, so I can only suppose that nobody knows who the much lesser known "Gas House Kids" were!

The "Gas House Kids" are four young men from New York headed to Hollywood to see their hero on the television, Lance Carter! In the front seat is Benny (Butch in the Bowery Boys) Bartlett as Orvie, and Rudy (Gas House Kids Go West) Wissler as Scat! In The Back is Tommy (Butch in Our Gang) Bond as Chimp, and Carl (Alfalfa) Switzer as Alfalfa! Two Butch's from two different gangs, how weird is that?

Yep, same Alfalfa from "The Little Rascals!" Carl was about 20 when this film was made, and No, he kept two of his trademark characteristics, the name Alfalfa, and the fact that he still can't sing! Dungeon stalwart Albert (Monster From Green Hell, Beginning Of The End, The Cyclops, The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs The Spider) Glasser, what a gasser, was the composer of most of the music in this film, but here's just a little of Alfalfa's singing instead!

Warning: Make sure and there are no dogs in the room and that all the crystal is tucked away safely before listening to this clip!

Nice Woody, but instead of a surfboard, it's got a coffin in the back!

The boys give the kindly old man and his box a ride to his Hollywood home after the Woody busts an axle! The old man turns out to be a Professor Gately Crawford, a very complex person!

How fortunate for the boys that the Professor has a beautiful daughter with a bunch of beautiful friends! The Professor's daughter Hazel is the drop dead gorgeous Jan (The Frozen Ghost) Bryant!

The Professor also has the dead body of his dear old friend that he is using to find some kind of time portal! Pretty cool mad lab!

The kids and the girls are getting along famously, and having a grand time out by the pool!

Even in a comedy, the concept of a dead body in a swimming pool is pretty gross!

The boys go to the movie studio and bust in to see if they can enlist the help of their hero Lance Carter to solve this murder mystery!

Michael (Missile To The Moon) Whalen is Lance Carter! He welcomes the boys into his dressing room, and accepts their invitation to help them with this case! Lance is a two-faced liar! He is one of the guys responsible for all the weird happenings at the Professor's home!

The police are spending 100% of their time investigating these murders!

Back in the days of "Our Gang," Butch and Alfalfa weren't such tight buddies!

This gag was also used in a "Three Stooges" episode, except instead of a skeleton it was a ghost!

The candle is moving by itself, in the dark, they couldn't see that they had put it on top of a tortoise!

Movies just wouldn't be the same without guys like Milton Parsons as Professor Crawford! Here's just a handful of his 164 credits, HOLD THAT GHOST, CRY OF THE WEREWOLF, DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL, DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME, & THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD! Milton was also in three "Twilight Zone" episodes, "The New Exhibit," "I Dream Of Genie," and "Once Upon A Time!"

It's difficult for kids to grow up and remain cute and innocent, so sure, The Gas House Kids are an awkward bunch, but considering that Carl Switzer got shot and killed over a $50.00 dispute, I think it all makes sense! I found "The Gas House Kids In Hollywood" streaming on Amazon Prime, and you probably can too, if you want to!