Movies

The Abbott and Costello project has slowed because of the sudden appearance of more interesting movies, but here is what I have up to this point: I skipped Hit the Ice (1943) and In Society (1944), remembering them quite well, but of course watched the Bagel Street/Susquehanna Hat routine in In Society, which I consider one of the best vaudeville routines in history - surreal, atrocious and pointlessly destructive, pure hilarity. Likewise I passed on Lost in a Harem, (1944), Here Come the Co-eds and The Naughty Nineties (1945), the latter containing their best-known rendition of Who's On First, which I want never to see again. 1945's In Hollywood is a backlot chaser with surprisingly few guest cameos, considering it was just a wander through various imaginary films-in-progress. It was harmless and unmemorable. Little Giant (1946) I likewise passed up, having seen it quite a few times - I consider it their best work, with a coherent plot that makes good use of their personality traits and keeps them as the stars of the film for once. The Time of Their Lives (1946) is an odd story, with Costello and ingenue Marjorie Reynolds as ghosts from the Revolutionary War cursed to haunt their resting place until proof is found they were not traitors. Abbott is a neurotic pill-popping psychiatrist and the boys do no interacting beyond Lou kicking Bud in the rear once or twice, him being invisible and all. Not too bad a film, but unusual. For 1947, Buck Privates Come Home I passed over, in favor of The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap, with the boys as traveling salesmen in the old west. Their visit to a lawless town puts Lou in charge of a widow whose husband he supposedly killed, said widow being Marjorie Main who can raise a movie from the dead. Not too remarkable other than that. At this point they seem to have used up all their old routines and are going on personality alone, maybe not such a good idea. When Lou gets going, Bud vanishes from the screen. More to come, eventually.