"Who Done It?" (1942)

Next up for the team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello is the Universal release "Who Done It?" from 1942.

This film marks a first for the boys, as it does not contain any musical numbers at all! Modern audiences seem to appreciate this aspect, but I actually like the musical numbers from the earlier films in general. But, as i always say, don't go by me!

Without music numbers, the movie is pretty short, perhaps A & C's shortest ever, which makes me wonder if there had originally been a plan to include a musical number or two. The radio station setting would seemingly allow for that!

In any event, what we do have is, as advertised in the title, a murder mystery with Bud and Lou caught in the middle. They portray soda jerks (with an emphasis on the latter) who aspire to be radio writers and become suspects in a murder at a radio station.

The boys are in typically good form here, with many clever routines. They even get in a meta dig at their own famous "Who's on First" routine!

The supporting cast is pretty solid, with a lot of Universal regulars, including romantics lead Patric Knowles and Louise Albritton, who make an appealing couple.

(l-r) Gargan, Costello, Abbot, Bendix

Most intriguing is an early movie appearance by William Bendix, who is the "Costello" half of a sub-Abbott and Costello duo of police detectives along with William Gargan. Bendix's character is actually dumber than the "real" Costello!

My favorite, though, is Walter Tetley, who has perhaps his most substantial movie role as a snappy elevator operator who's constantly putting one over on Lou. Walter is of course best-known as a radio/voice actor, but he fits that kind of man-child vibe that elevator operators or bellboys or telegram messengers seemed to have in 1940s movies!

So, good fun all around! And I really love the radio station setting!

Note: As for the reissue lobby card below, I totally understand Bill Bendix getting featured billing, but what's with the curvaceous cutie as the seeming perp?

"Pardon My Sarong" (1942)

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were back at their home studio of Universal for their next movie, "Pardon My Sarong" from 1942!

This movie puts the boys front and center, making it more like "Hold That Ghost" than the service comedies or "Ride 'Em Cowboy" or "Rio Rita."

A couple of things, though, strike me as you consider these films chronologically.

The first is that Lou really takes over as the dominant comedy force in this one. He still interacts with Bud a lot, but he gets a ton of solo bits and actually drives the plot. It's rare for Bud to get to do anything without Lou.

The other thing is that this is the first time that Abbott seems really nasty to Costello. Up to now, they've been buddies with Bud always taking advantage of Lou, but it was still friendly.

Interestingly, female lead Virginia Bruce calls out Abbott a couple of times, which is rare for an A & C film, so I guess it was all intentional on the part of the filmmakers.

Virginia Bruce is quite lovely and talented and leading man Robert Paige is also very good, but their roles here are pretty perfunctory. They argue a lot, but even Costello knows they'll get married, so no spoiler there!

The movie is quite episodic, but moves along pretty well.

The boys get a few scenes with William Demarest at the beginning and he's extremely funny with them. Despite what I just said, Abbott even gets a bit with him without Costello and he's quite good!

The villain of the piece is Lionel Atwill, who's always a blast in this type of role. He's kind of in on the joke with us or something.

As for the songs, there are a couple of faux tropical ones from Don Raye and Gene DePaul, "Lovely Luana" and "Vingo Jingo," which are well-staged in the film.

The gorgeous Nan Wynn, former band singer with Hal Kemp, does very well.

I'm kind of surprised that none of the record labels at the time had a recording of either song, as movie songs were always being pushed by the music publishers.

And there must be sheet music for the songs, as they had to have been published, but I can't find an example.

The beginning of the film has a long sequence set in a night club which features the (Four) Ink Spots singing a couple of songs, but those were already in their repertoire and seemingly shoehorned into the movie.

But, they're good, so let's hear them with "Do I Worry?" on Decca:

So typical of their hits, following the "If I Didn't Care" formula, but it works.

They display some versatility with "Shout, Brother, Shout":

In the movie, "Shout, Brother, Shout" also features a dynamite dance routine by Tip, Tap & Toe!

I will say that the presentation of the musical acts here is stereotypical, but the talent shines through and it's good to have theses acts preserved.

And since we're listening to old Decca records and we don't have any strictly from "Pardon My Sarong," let's take this opportunity to hear Benny Carter and his Orchestra with "Serenade to a Sarong":

Sounds good!

Next: No music!

"Ride 'Em Cowboy" (1942)

As we continue with the films of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, we hit "Ride 'Em Cowboy," their first release of 1942 for Universal Pictures!

This movie was apparently in production before "Keep 'Em Flying" but the latter movie was rush-released due to a tie-in with the War Department's "Keep 'Em Flying Week."

Whatever the case, this is their second film in a row to feature Dick Foran as the romantic lead as well as with "'Em" as part of the title!

Dick Foran plays a more sympathetic role than usual, as he's not just a brash fellow steamrolling everybody in sight! This is actually a bit of a throwback to the singing cowboy series of  westerns he had made for Warner Brothers in the 1930s.

His love interest is the lovely Universal starlet Ann Gwynne, who is the grandmother of modern-day movie star Chris Pine (Chris's dad, TV actor Robert Pine, is married to Ann's daughter Gwynne Gilford)!

Since this film has a western-ish setting, someone had the great idea to include the studio's resident cowboy star, Johnny Mack Brown. Johnny's character is called "Alabam'" and as we know, Johnny had been an All-American at Alabama prior to his film career!

I think "Ride 'Em Cowboy" is a fun movie, but it's pretty formulaic, with Bud and Lou basically providing the comedy relief again rather than carrying the story. But, oh, they are funny!

Don Raye and Gene DePaul are back to provide the songs and the hit from the movie is a real gem - "I'll Remember April" (co-written with Pat Johnston), probably the best song to be introduced in an A & C movie!

Dick Foran sings the song in the movie, but since it's in a standalone scene, it often got cut a lot during TV broadcasts, just like "Pig Foot Pete" from "Keep 'Em Flying" did.

I don't know if Dick Foran made any records at all, but "I'll Remember April" has been recorded many times over the years.

But from back in the day, we have this nice version on Bluebird by Charlie Barnet featuring vocalist Bob Carroll:

Bob Carroll was a really good singer and this shows the swinging Barnet band could play a ballad! 

Another swinging bandleader, Woody Herman, sang it with his band on Decca:

And Martha Tilton sang it on an early release from the new Capitol Records with Gordon Jenkins:

Let's sneak in one more (reasonably contemporary) version from a couple of years later, with alto man Johnny Bothwell and this instrumental version from 1945 on Signature Records:

Such a great song!

There are a bunch of other songs in the movie, with The Merry Macs and (for some reason) Ella Fitzgerald(!) 

I don't think any of the songs were commercially recorded at the time, although there was a promo disc of two songs by The Merry Macs (I don't have access to the audio):

I kind of surprised that The Merry Macs didn't record "Wake Up, Jacob" and "Beside the Rio Tonto" for Decca!

For some reason, Louis Jordan recorded "Wake Up, Jacob" for Decca in 1954:

Don't know what's up with that, but I always enjoy Louis and his Tympany Five!

Since Ella Fitzgerald was in the movie incongruously anyway, I guess they figured they'd have her sing her dynamite specialty, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," which she had first recorded with Chick Webb's band in 1938!

Let's hear that Decca record:

Again, always glad to hear it!

Next up: an interloping studio!

"Keep 'Em Flying" (1941)

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello return with their fourth release of 1941 (and their third service comedy), "Keep 'Em Flying" from Universal Pictures!

This one follows the "Buck Privates" blueprint, but ratchets up the propaganda even more, as by November of 1941 it probably seemed inevitable that the U.S. would enter WWII, but who would have expected that the Pearl Harbor bombing would happen with a week or two?

In any event, Dick Foran, who had appeared in a supporting role in "In the Navy," plays the male lead. He's the cocky recruit who wants to do things his own way. But will he see the error of his ways and redeem himself by the end? If you've seen any other movie ever made, you'll know the answer!

The female lead is Carol Bruce, who made a couple of movies for Universal at the time. She was mainly a stage performer, but she later reemerged as a character actress. I remember her from the TV series "WKRP in Cincinnati," which was on during the same time period I was watching A & C movies every weekend, and she was still striking!

As in "Hold that Ghost," the boys get a strong comedic female co-star, this time Martha Raye. And Martha plays twins, one for Bud and one for Lou!

The two Marthae(?) are basically a substitute for The Andrews Sisters but Martha has way better acting and comic chops than the Andrews ever did!

She has great chemistry with the boys, as did Joan Davis, but after this movie, however, they didn't get a "name" comedy co-star (male or female) again until Marjorie Main in 1947!

For the songs, Don Raye and Gene DePaul were back!

The big ballad is "The Boy with the Wistful Eyes," which is sung by Carol and the two Marthas as part of a charming production number in the tunnel of love.

Carol Bruce recorded it for Columbia:

Very nice!

Another version of the song was recorded for Bluebird by the great Earl Hines and his Orchestra with vocalists Madeline Greene and The Three Varieties:

That's the sort of record I just love! An underrated movie song performed by a great band!

And I really like Madeline Greene's singing!

The most noteworthy song from "Keep 'Em Flying" is "Pig Foot Pete," which was nominated for an Academy Award as best song, but it's officially listed as being from the movie "Hellzapoppin'" for some reason! The latter was from a Universal movie from 1941 co-starring Martha Raye with a wacky comedy team, but that was Olsen & Johnson and it's a different movie anyway!

Whatever the case, Martha (apparently as "Gloria," the brash twin teamed with Costello) sings "Pig Foot Pete" in "Keep 'Em Flying" in a dynamite performance, but it was often cut during TV broadcasts as it's in a standalone scene and stations were often shoe-horning the A & C movies into 90-minute slots.

Martha did record the song for Decca:

Martha Raye was known for her big mouth and wacky antics, but she was a talented singer and dancer. She's great performing "Pig Foot Pete" in the movie!

Here's a clip:

What's cool is that the pianist in the movie is Freddie Slack, the brilliant boogie woogie specialist who had been featured on Will Bradley and Ray McKinley's hit record of "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar," which was another Don Raye number, to which "Pig Foot Pete" is almost a sequel!

To make things even cooler, Freddie Slack cut "Pig Foot Pete" for Decca with Don Raye himself on the vocal:

The cool meter goes up even higher as that's Spike Jones on drums!

Adding to the song confusion is that Carol Bruce had recorded another song for "Keep 'Em Flying" that was cut from the final release!

This was "You Don't Know What Love Is," which made it onto some sheet music and was recorded by Carol as the flip of her Columbia record of "The Boy with the Wistful Eyes":

The would-be soundtrack recording also wound up on this promo item from Universal:

And the flipside of that was the song "Together," which was apparently sung by the Twin Martha Rayes:

Odd that Universal would promote the two songs cut from the film!

Carol Bruce did get to sing "You Don't Know What Love Is" in her next picture, which was "Behind the Eight Ball" starring the Ritz Brothers. Was it going from Abbott & Costello to the Ritz Brothers that made her leave Hollywood and go back to the stage?

Carol did sing one more song in "Keep 'Em Flying," but it was an oldie, "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You," the famous Tommy Dorsey theme song.

She didn't record it commercially, but we got a nice piece of sheet music anyway!

Let's listen to the Dorsey Brothers with their first version of "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You," recorded for Brunswick in 1932 with vocalist Jean Bowes:

That's the stuff!

There was also a title song for "Keep 'Em Flying" written by Don Raye and Gene DePaul, which was sung in the film by Dick Foran and reprised by Carol Bruce, but I don't think it was commercially recorded.

And to me it sounds just like "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith" from "Buck Privates," but I guess that was the point!

"Hold That Ghost" (1941)

Continuing to review the movies of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, we hit "Hold That Ghost" from Universal in 1941!

As I mentioned last time, this movie (with the working title of "Oh, Charlie") was put on, well, hold in order to let "In the Navy" released as quickly as possible.

Despite their ample screen time in "In the Navy" and "Buck Privates," this is really the first film that lets the boys carry the main plot. It's kind of like instead of them being the comedy relief, there's now romance relief in support of the comedy!

(left to right) Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, Richard Carlson

The romance is supplied by Richard Carlson, who like Bob Cummings from "One Night in the Tropics," looks about the same here as he did in the mid-1950s and the lovely Evelyn Ankers, who was in a ton of movies for Universal, including "The Wolf Man," also from 1941!

Bud and Lou also get a solid comedy partner in Joan Davis, who has great chemistry with them, but apparently Lou thought she was a little too funny and was threatening to steal the picture!

But "Hold That Ghost" is a really fun movie and there are plenty of laughs to go around!

Joan Davis is definitely in this deleted scene from the original ending!

There's some controversy as to whether Joan Davis appears in the newly filmed ending. You see what would appear to be her character, but only from behind and she doesn't speak, so you'd think it was a stand-in, but some sources say it was her, but she was facing the wrong way. I know Universal was cheap and didn't like retakes, but wouldn't director Arthur Lubin had yelled, "Hey, Joan! Turn around!" or something?

Apparently Universal thought they should add some music to the movie while they were retooling it, so they filmed some bookends with the Andrews Sisters, since they had gone over well in the two service comedies.

Also featured in the musical portions is the very shticky Ted Lewis, a veteran bandleader who even by 1941 standards must have seemed dated. 

Ted does a couple of his old songs, including the so-non-PC-you-can't-believe-it-was-acceptable "Me and My Shadow" routine. Times were different, to be sure.

Anyway, the Andrews Sisters sing the main (only?) new song from the film, "Sleepy Serenade." which they naturally recorded for Decca:

Something of a contrast from the boisterous Don Raye songs from the earlier films!

And note how it says the song is from the New Universal Picture "Oh, Charlie" on the label!

Here's a version by Vaughn Monroe on Bluebird:

I've said before that it's interesting how Vaughn's early, pre-recording ban records are much more like "regular" band records than his later records which were more like vocal records, in keeping with changing musical trends.

"Sleepy Serenade" was also recorded as an instrumental by Claude Thornhill for the Okeh label:

A typically gorgeous arrangement from the Thornhill band. So underrated!

The Andrews Sisters also sing "Aurora" in the movie, although I think they had recorded the song earlier and it was shoehorned into the movie.

Here's their recording on Decca:

Interestingly, Decca had three other versions of the song (none of which mention the movie on the label), so let's hear them too!

Jimmy Dorsey recorded a lot of Latin-tinged songs, usually featuring Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell, but only Helen appears on this:

Interesting. I have to say that I really don't care for Helen O'Connell's vocals on the whole. She was popular, though!

The Latin flavor continues with Pancho and his Orchestra:

A "Samba March," eh? Love it!

Then there's this off-beat polka version by "Happy" Harry Harden's Musette Orchestra:

That's awesome! I just love the muted trumpet!

Interesting that Pancho and Harry only use limited group vocals!

All in all, a really fun flick with reasonably entertaining tacked-on musical numbers!

"In the Navy" (1941)

Our next movie starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello is 1941's "In the Navy" from Universal Pictures!

This film followed hot on the heels of "Buck Privates" as Universal wanted another service comedy with the boys as soon as possible. As I understand it, "Hold That Ghost" was put in hold and "In the Navy" was filmed and released quickly.

The unusual opening credits make the connection quite clear!

Bud and Lou are in top form with many very funny routines, so this is a fun movie, although I feel it doesn't zip along as well as "Buck Privates," but few do!

This movie is unusual for A & C as it's really the only one to co-star them with a real actual movie star, in the person of Dick Powell, who's billed above the title with them!

I talk about Dick Powell all the time and about his transition from romantic crooner to hard-boiled tough guy and "In the Navy" is late in the crooner period. Is it a coincidence that Powell's character is a populaur crooner who's tired of being a crooner? Hmmm...

This was probably not the type of role that Dick was looking for in 1941, but he was a pro and does a good job as always.

Claire Dodd plays the love interest and she does a good job with an oddly written part.

It's interesting to see Dick Foran in a similar supporting role as he had in the earlier "Shipmates Forever from Warner Brothers in 1935, a movie that also starred Dick Powell. 

Dick Foran was later the male lead in a couple of A & C movies.

The Condos Brothers dance duo show some fancy steps, but the obnoxious Universal kid comedy team of Butch & Buddy also show up, not helping the proceedings!

The Andrews Sisters return to sing some numbers and they're good while singing, but can't act at all, although Patti has an expanded role as Lou's love interest.

Onto the  songs, which were again supplied by Don Raye, but with Gene DePaul this time.

Dick Powell sings the ballad "Starlight, Starbright" in the movie, but wasn't making records at that time, so we'll hear Dick Jurgens and his Orchestra with vocalist Harry Cool on Okeh records:

I always enjoy the Dick Jurgens band and although I miss star vocalist Eddy Howard, Harry Cool is pretty good too!

The Andrews Sisters get another snappy number, the not-overly-PC "Gimme Some Skin, My Friend," which they recorded for Decca:

That's the sort of song that I don't think was meant to be offensive, and I don't think it really is, but times were different then.

The Decca Band with The King's Men return with the (more or less) title song:

So, some good stuff!

"Buck Privates" (1941)

As we continue to review the films of the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, we hit pay dirt with Universal's "Buck Privates" from 1941!

This is the movie that established the team as a box office sensation, leading to a long line of movies.

I love everything about this movie and it's just a blast!

Bud and Lou are the comedy relief, but they get a bigger storyline than they did in the previous year's "One Night in the Tropics" and they make the most of it.

(Left to right) Lee Bowman, Jane Frazee, Alan Curtis

I like the straight romantic plot too, as I think Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis and Jane Frazee are perfectly cast. Along with Nat Pendleton as the tough sergeant, this is probably the strongest cast of any A & C movie.

I like how the movie is filled with familiar character actors from Shemp Howard down to Tom Tyler (in a bit as the boxing referee).

And the music is great! I know a lot of modern viewers don't like the musical numbers, but I'm a fan of 1940s  music anyway and I like how this movie offers up a total entertainment package and can understand why 1941 audiences went crazy for it!

The top song is the Oscar nominated "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by songwriters Don Raye and Hughie Prince (who appear in the movie as fellow recruits) and sung by the Andrews Sisters!

It's probably the most famous song from an Abbott & Costello picture and is also one of the Andrews Sisters' best remembered numbers.

So here are the girls on Decca Records:

So much fun!

Don Raye and Hughie Prince had previously collaborated with drummer/vocalist Ray McKinley on the hit song "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" and "Buck Privates" included a follow-up, "Bounce Me Brother with a Solid Four," which the Andrews Sisters also performed in the film.

But let's hear Ray sing it with Will Bradley on Columbia:

The Bradley/McKinley band was great band while it lasted!

Another song from "Buck Privates" was "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith," which the Andrews Sisters sang as part of a production number.

Let's listen to the Decca recording by the Decca Band with The King's Men (of "Fibber McGee & Molly" fame):

Fun to hear it as a march! 

The Andrews Sisters also performed their version of the then-oldie "I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time," which they also recorded for Decca:

A couple of other Raye/Prince songs, Jane Frazee's "I Wish You Were Here" and Lou Costello's specialty "When Private Brown Becomes a Captain" don't seem to have been recorded, but are effective in the movie.

Lots of fun!

"One Night in the Tropics" (1940)

Now that we're in the new year, I'm changing direction a tiny bit!

I've been enjoying matching up the movie sheet music with contemporary recordings and I'll still do that, but I'm going to focus on the films of Bud Abbott & Lou Costello!

Fans know that their early films featured a lot of musical numbers, which some modern viewers don't like. I do, though!

I'll also be talking about their non-musical movies as they come up.

So, let's begin with "One Night in the Tropics" from Universal in 1940, the team's movie debut!

The boys are supporting players in this one, proving the comedy relief and they are awesome!

The rest of the movie when they're not onscreen is a little clunky, but entertaining enough.

Allan Jones with Nancy Kelly

As a musical, its strongest point is Allan Jones, who had moved over from MGM to Universal.

He does most of the singing, but the non-singing female leads, Nancy Kelly and Peggy Moran, lip-synch to some dubbed vocals.

The songs are by no less than esteemed composer Jerome Kern with lyrics by the talented Dorothy Fields, but non of hem really went anywhere.

But we do have some records!

First up is Sammy Kaye with Tommy Ryan singing "You and Your Kiss" on Victor Records:

I say it all the time, but that's so Sammy Kaye!

Also on Victor is Leo Reisman's version of "Remind Me" with vocalist George Griffin:

Nice rumba (rhumba?) beat there!

Guy Lombardo is always popping up and he cut "Your Dream (Is the Same as My Dream)" with Mert Curtis on Decca:

As I mentioned, "One Night in the Tropics" is pleasant but not overly memorable unless Bud and Lou are on-screen.

Rounding out the attractive cast is Robert Cummings as the other male lead who looks about the same as he did years later on his 1950s sitcom.

Also on board is William Frawley, who looks like he did on "I Love Lucy" years later.

The difference is that Bob looks young and Bill already looks old!

So, we're off to a good start!

"More Power to You" (1937)

Next up is another of those not-quite-all-star hodgepodges, “Merry-Go-Round of 1938,” which was actually released by Universal in 1937!

Among the songs is “More Power to You,” which was recorded by veteran bandleader Jimmie Grier and vocalist Dick Webster for Decca:

I do dig Jimmie’s “The Musical Host of the Coast” tagline!

"You're As Pretty As a Picture" (1938)

While hanging around 1938, we run into this lovely sheet muisc for a movie starring another teenage singing star – Deanna Durbin in “That Certain Age” from Universal.

It’s interesting that Deanna was a bigger star right out of the gate than Judy Garland after they had both appeared in a short for MGM but the studio let Deanna slip away to Universal.

In any event, here’s the song “You’re As Pretty As a Picture” as recorded by Gene Krupa and his band with Irene Daye on the vocal:

This was an early recording date for Gene and his new band after he had left Benny Goodman’s band, but they already sound great!

1936: Movies

While we're still hanging around 1936, I thought I would share a list of some of my favorite movies from that year, non-holiday-related!

Here are ten that I like a lot, not saying they're the best, in alphabetical order:

You can't beat a mid-1930s Warner Brothers gangster picture! Give me anything with Eddie G!

Fred and Ginger also had "Swing Time" in 1936, so a good year! I like this one a little more because it's a little different from their usual formula. Plus we get Harriet Hilliard and Randolph Scott are a nice secondary couple!

MGM could sure roll out the all-star casts!

This is a certified classic from Frank Capra. Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur also starred in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Plainsman" (as Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane) in 1936, showing their versatility.

I think Wheeler & Woolsey are totally underrated and this particular film is even underrated by their fans! (Similarly, "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" from 1955 is also underrated!)

A screwball classic. William Powell and Carole Lombard had been married but were divorced by the time this movie was made.

This was Sonja Henie's first feature. I think she's delightfully amateurish here, but she never got better. And I dig the Ritz Brothers!

Stan and Ollie are always great and this has them in dual roles!

I always enjoy college movies from the 1930s and this has a fun cast. Judy Garland makes her feature debut here on loan to Fox from MGM, so she seems a little different, as Fox was not grooming her for stardom.

 

This one's a lot of fun. The "I'm an Old Cowhand" number features not only Bing and Bob Burns, but also Martha Raye, Louis Prima and the Sons of the Pioneers (with Len Slye/Roy Rogers)!

Here's a clip:

Pretty fun!

I think William Powell had the best year of any movie star in 1936. He was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for "My Man Godfrey" and starred in the Best Picture winner "The Great Ziegfeld."

In addition at "Libeled Lady," he also starred in "After the Thin Man," the second of that popular series with Myrna Loy (also in "Libeled Lady" and "The Great Ziegfeld") at home studio MGM and the Thin Man-esqe "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford" with Jean Arthur over at RKO.

For the record, Ronald Colman had only one picture that year, but it was a good one:

And in the non-feature department, this serial is perhaps my favorite release of 1936:

Also of note (to me anyway!) is that the Three Mesquiteers series of B-Westerns from Republic Pictures got started in 1936:

A good time at the movies that year!