A Payne and a Morgan get together for this extremely short B comedy action filler that is sure to please in spite of its clichéd premise. When pharmacist George Reeves reacts to gangsters on the lam by pulling a gun while grabbing Band-Aids, he becomes a n instant hero. Wannabe cop brother Dennis Morgan sings in a nightclub, gaining a slap from tough Irish gal Gloria Dickson who slowly falls for his own brand of blarney when he wins over her family with a series of Irish lullaby's, with the exception of her tough cop suitor (John Payne) who makes his training a living hell. Between the two rivals, there's little room for gangsters to make a racket, although elements of a full plot are few and far between. The big story involves Morgan's determination to get away from the squad glee club and do something to impress Dickson and show Payne up.Harry Shannon and Mary Gordon add heart to the role of Dickson's Irish immigrant parents, emotional over the singing of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", a corny moment for sure, but you may find your eyes smiling along. A good bulk of this finds Morgan singing which without, this would clock in at a little more than half an hour. It takes more than 3/4 of the film to return to the plot set-up concerning Reeves, making me wonder how this managed to get past the approval of the Warner executives. So as entertaining as it seems to be, it's untimely pretty sloppy and a weak entry even on the B level. Even so, the film moves at a brisk pace, never slowing down for a second. So while there is music in this mess, it's rather flat in spite of Morgan's glorious voice.

Nightclub crooner Dennis Morgan joins the police academy to impress pretty blonde policeman's daughter Gloria Dickson. Cop John Payne is also sweet on Gloria and, as movie luck would have it, he winds up as Morgan's trainer at the academy. Nice little B movie with a misleading title. There's no tear gas squad, although tear gas does play a part in the final minutes of the picture.Morgan's somewhat miscast but does get to sing some songs, which is primarily what they paid him for. Poor John Payne has to play O'Brien to Morgan's Cagney. Nice supporting cast includes many future TV stars: Edgar Buchanan (Petticoat Junction), William Hopper (Perry Mason), Herbert Anderson (Dennis the Menace), George Reeves and John Hamilton (Adventures of Superman). Director Terry O. Morse would go on to direct the American footage for the first Godzilla. Not a bad movie of its type and a decent way to kill an hour.

I love this one-- it's the little film that could. It is easily my most favorite B-film. It has some great Irish music, some fast-paced action scenes (especially at the end), and appealing lead performers (like Dennis Morgan, John Payne & Gloria Dickson) to sustain our interest. But what impresses me most is the way this story deftly combines several different genres-- it's a musical, police procedural, romance, mystery and gangster drama all rolled into one. It tries to be all things to all viewers, and since the cast is so versatile, it succeeds. And to think they packed it all into a film that doesn't even run a full hour! Great entertainment.

A bit of history is called for in explaining the misleading title.Often in B-film productions, the studios would assign the producer only a "power title" with a hoped-for marquee value. From just that pre-assigned title with which to work, the film's storyline would then evolve.Well, the film attached to the title "Tear Gas Squad" turns out to be a terrific little musical-comedy programmer with a great cast and original songs and music by Jack Scholl and M. K. Jerome (whose biggest fame would come from "Casablanca" two years later).The great Irish tenor of Dennis Morgan shines. All else is a pleasurable hour of concise entertainment. Recommended!