“No Holds Barred” (1952) starring The Bowery Boys / Z-View
No Holds Barred (1952)
Director: William Beaudine
Writer: Tim Ryan, Bert Lawrence, Jack Crutcher
Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Marjorie Reynolds, Bernard Gorcey, Henry Kulky, David Gorcey, Benny Bartlett, Sandra Gould, Tim Ryan, Murray Alper and Ray Walker
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
When Slip (Gorcey) discovers that Sach (Hall) has different body parts that feel no pain and give him super-strength, he turns Sach into a professional wrestler. Although the super-strength body part changes from time to time, they are able to take advantage of this. Sach is winning all his matches and this draws the attention of a crooked manager and the former champ. Soon Sach will have to face manager’s wrestler in the ring… what could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
No Holds Barred is a fun Bowery Boys outing. The outfit Sach wears in his final match is actually Klaatu’s (Michael Rennie) spacesuit from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
Each time the power would move to a different body part (head, elbow, toes, etc.) Slip would change Sach’s wrestling moniker. When the power moved to the last body part Slip started to give Sach a new wrestling name, but Sach breaks the fourth wall and says, “You say it and we’re out of pictures!”
No Holds Barred earns 3 of 5 stars.
