A Dozen "Abbott & Costello" Films


Reviews #28-39: 12 Abbott & Costello movies

It's been a little over a year since I posted my last review on this blog. That's not to say that I haven't expressed my opinions anywhere in social media. Just not here.

For one thing, keeping a weekly schedule isn't easy. For another, I wasn't watching enough to warrant posting weekly. (Posting "weakly" would be more like it, amirite?) And, to be honest with myself, no one is reading these reviews, except me. Maybe at a future date, someone came back to find out what else I've done, for good or for ill, but that's not happening now.

Several times I thought about it. And, at times, I kept track of some of the things I binged, in case I wanted to include them here. And maybe I will, if I recall the details.

Anyway, a couple months ago, while cleaning in the basement, I found a stack of DVDs that needed to be watched and passed along. "Found" might not be the correct word. They weren't exactly missing. There were sitting right there in a pile on top of a table.

Resting at the peak of movie mountain was a collection of Abbott & Costello films, which had belonged to my father. I don't remember if I'd borrowed them and not returned them, or if I claimed them when we cleaned out his apartment.

Abbott & Costello films were weekly viewing as a kid. They aired every Sunday morning. This did lead to missing the beginning or (more likely) the ending of each one, depending upon which Mass I went to. (And you better believe I was going -- finding out Who was on First is not a reason to skip Church). I looked forward to rewatching these films.

Just for the heck of it, I posted a review of the first one on the subreddit "I Watched an Old Movie", which was created specifically to talk about older films (which could be as little as 10 years old). Discussions about these movies would get lost in the regular movies forums.

It was received well enough that I not only posted reviews of these eight movies, but continued with four more, which were available online for free.

Below are the links the reviews of the first twelve pictures that Abbott & Costello did for Universal. During that time, they did a couple for MGM as well, but those are behind paywalls. I don't have a problem with this, but there's plenty of content I can watch for free. Oddly, it's more than likely that I've never seen the MGM films, as most of the movies I remember where from those Sunday mornings, and that was probably a package deal from Universal.

A couple of quick takes: most of the humor holds up, but the stories are dated, and not just because they take place post-Depression and during the war. The depictions of American Indians (Native Americans) and Pacific Island natives can be painful to watch in the rear-view mirror. All the usual stereotypes from that age of the studio system may be represented in one way or another. Keep that in mind going in.

If anyone is interested, the reviews can be found at the links below. "Upvotes" and comments are appreciated.

  1. I Watched Abbott & Costello "One Night in the Tropics" (1940)
  2. I Watched Abbott & Costello ""Buck Privates" (1941)
  3. I Watched Abbott & Costello "In The Navy" (1941)
  4. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Hold That Ghost" (1941)
  5. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Keep 'Em Flying" (1941)
  6. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Ride 'em Cowboy" (1942)
  7. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Pardon My Sarong" (1942)
  8. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Who Done It?" (1942)
  9. I Watched Abbott & Costello "It Ain't Hay" (1942)
  10. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Hit the Ice" (1943)
  11. I Watched Abbott & Costello "In Society" (1944)
  12. I Watched Abbott & Costello "Here Come the Co-Eds" (1945)

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