High Society is a 1955 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 directed by William Beaudine

William Beaudine

William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:...

 and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....

. The film was released on April 17, 1955 by Allied Artists and is the thirty-seventh film in the series. It is the only film in the series to receive an Academy Award nomination, albeit through an accident involving another film of the same name.

Synopsis

Sach receives news that he is the heir to the Terwilliger Debussy Jones fortune. Accompanied by his pal Slip, he arrives at the Jones mansion to review the legal papers needed for him to claim his new fortune. However, Sach and Slip discover that the rightful heir, the young Terwilliger III, is being cheated out his inheritance by the miscreant duo of Stuyvesant Jones and Clarissa. Sach and Slip, with the help of their fellow Bowery Boys, save the day and restore the heir’s inheritance.

The Bowery Boys

• Leo Gorcey
  Leo Gorcey
  Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
  
   as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
• Huntz Hall
  Huntz Hall
  Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
  
   as Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones
• David Gorcey
  David Gorcey
  David Gorcey was an American actor and comedian best known as being a member of the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. He was the younger brother of Dead End Kids member Leo Gorcey.-Career:...
  
   as Charles 'Chuck' Anderson (Credited as David Condon)
• Bennie Bartlett as Butch Williams

Additional Cast

• Bernard Gorcey as Louie Dumbrowski
• Amanda Blake
  Amanda Blake
  Amanda Blake was an American actress known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the television western Gunsmoke.-Early life and career:...
  
   as Clarissa Jones
• Dayton Lummis
  Dayton Lummis
  Dayton Lummis. Sr. , was an American actor of film and television who specialized in the genre of anthology and western series, often playing authority figures. From 1959-1960, he appeared as Marshal Andy Morrison in nine episodes of NBC's Law of the Plainsman western, with Michael Ansara and...
  
   as Stuyvesant Jones
• Ronald Keith as Terwilliger Debussy 'Twig' Jones III
• Paul Harvey
  Paul Harvey (actor)
  Paul Harvey was an American actor who appeared in at least 177 films.-Selected filmography:*They Shall Have Music *Behind the News *Moonlight Masquerade *Spellbound...
  
   as Henry Baldwin

Cast notes

Chuck (David Gorcey

David Gorcey

David Gorcey was an American actor and comedian best known as being a member of the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. He was the younger brother of Dead End Kids member Leo Gorcey.-Career:...

) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett) only appear at the beginning and end of this film.

Academy Award gaffe

For the 29th Academy Awards

29th Academy Awards

During the 29th Academy Awards, the regular competitive category of Best Foreign Language Film was introduced, instead of only being recognized as a Special Achievement Award or as a Best Picture nominee . The first winner in this new category was Federico Fellini's La strada with Anthony Quinn and...

, High Society was accidentally included on the ballot in category for the Academy Award for Best Story

Academy Award for Best Story

The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...

. The error took place because of another film with the same title – the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 production of the Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

 musical High Society – was in release. Edward Bernds

Edward Bernds

Edward Bernds was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois.-Career:While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur licenses...

 and Elwood Ullman

Elwood Ullman

Elwood Ullman was an American film comedy writer most famous for his credits on The Three Stooges shorts and many other low-budget comedies.-Career:...

, the screenwriters for The Bowery Boys comedy, acknowledged their nomination was a mistake and successfully requested their removal from the Academy Award ballot.