First up it's a cross-country race of the Lemon Grove Kids led by Slug
(Mike Kannon) against Killer Krump's gang, but since some mobsters have
a hand in betting on that race, The Saboteur (Ed McWatters, dressed in
pink with red hat & French accent - brr) is hired to make sure the
Lemon Grove Kids come in second. The Saboteur messes up each & every
of his own traps, though, & so the Lemon Grove Kids - respectively
their clean shaven ace-runner Larry - cross the finish line first ...
all but Lemon Grove-doofus Gopher (Ray Dennis Steckler acting again as
Cash Flagg), who thought he knew a short cut & is suddenly hunted by
a fierce gorilla, living mummies & meets up with Rat Pfink (from Rat
Pfink a Boo Boo), before realizing he's on a movie set. Int he
second story the Lemon Grove Kids are hired to clean up some porches
& do the lawn for a grumpy old man, only for a great many of them to
be abducted by some monsters & some vampire lady (Carolyn Brandt)
appearing from an UFO, obviously wanting ot take over the Earth or at
least Lemon Grove. Things look grim for our not so young youngsters,
until the vampire lady bites Gopher - who bites her back, breaking her
spell over all her earthly minions & having her escape beaten. In
the third story, the Lemon Grove Kids (without Slug though) are hired to
fix up the house of a has-been moviestar (Carolyn Brandt repeating her
Ceebee Beaumont- role from Rat Pfink a Boo Boo), an actress 2
bumbling gangsters have chosen to kidnap for ransom. & if that
wasn't enough for one day, Gopher also invites his fortune teller Swami
Marvyn (Keith A.Wester) to come over. Anyway, somehow, the kidnappers
manage to abduct Ceebee against all odds anyways, but her producer
is more than a little reluctant to pay the ransom money, actually rather
pleased to have gotten rid of her the easy way. IT's up to the Kids to
save the girl - & the whole affair proves to be one million worth of
publicity.
Originally, this was filmed as 3 independent shorts, but was soon
edited together to be released at the kiddie-matinee-circuit. The Lemon
Grove Kids themselves are a rather obvious rip-off of the Bowery Boys
(former East Side Kids, former Dead End Kids), with Ray
Dennis Steckler & Mike Kannon doing rather fine impressions of Huntz
Hall & Leo Gorcey, respectively, the movie is extremely
colourful, full of warped & childish humour, &
charmingly done on the cheap. It should be highly enjoyable under the
influence of mild hallucinogenic drugs.
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