Buck Privates
Writers: Arthur T. Horman, John Grant
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lee Bowman, Nat Pendleton, Jane Frazee, Alan Curtis
On the podcast I do with Pop Heist Editor-In-Chief Brett White, Must Have Seen TV, we did a recap and review of the first episode of The Abbott and Costello Show from 1952. I’ve always had an interest in Bud and Lou since I got Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein on VHS when I was a kid. They’re just funny guys. Their schtick isn’t dated. It’s energetic and fun and clever all in one. So I grabbed the boxed set of their films from Shout! Factory and cued up their first headlining appearance, Buck Privates from 1941.
Two things should stand out to you there. The first is that while Buck Privates was their first headlining feature, they had made their first appearances in 1940’s One Night In the Tropics, a gangland romance that starred Allan Jones, Bob Cummings, and William Frawley. Their scenes as bumbling enforcers elevated the film, and they got their big shot in Buck Privates.
The second is that this army film was made in 1941, prior to America joining the war against the Axis powers. Prior to Pearl Harbor, Hollywood could make fun films about GIs in basic training without the specter of death overseas that would lead to the patriotic propaganda films of the war years. Buck Privates has enough scenes of lazing around, dances and milkshakes at the USO, and sporting events that you could mistake it for a college picture, albeit with a little more physical activity than normal.
As two conmen on the run from the cops, Bud and Lou wind up enlisting at a local theater, assuming they’re putting their names down for some sort of contest. That’s about all the plot you get from the two of them. They lead the picture, but mostly in very funny yet disconnected scenes of Lou in a boxing match, the duo attempting to perform drills, and many scenes involving gambling. The rest of the film centers around rich playboy Lee Bowman attempting to get discharged while battling Alan Curtis for the attention of clever camp hostess Jane Frazee. But you know what? That plot is pretty engaging, even if it steals screen time from Abbot and Costello. I guess the studio didn’t have 100% confidence the duo could carry a picture.
Oh! And who’s providing the music? The Andrews Sisters! This is a musical through and through, the musical that gave us "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" during one of the many dances at the USO hall. Lou also had a song with once-and-future Stooge Shemp Howard as a grumpy chef. It’s the cinematic stewpot that mixes Abbott and Costello with the Andrews Sisters and the Three Stooges. And it’s funny! The jokes are still clever, even if most of us can’t relate to the threat of wartime enlistment.
I haven’t seen enough of Abbott and Costello’s films to say that they’re a sure bet, but Buck Privates certainly does make me want to crack open some more of their old films.
RATINGS:
Antics: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Abbott and Costello time vs. romantic plot time: 3/5
