This is my fourth comment of a series of them in which I attempt to connect two legendary comedy teams-Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello-with films of theirs that have something in common. For this one, there are three links. First, as A & C are making their very first movie in 1940 for what would be their home studio, Universal, L & H have released their final one for their about-to-be-former home studio of Hal Roach that same year. Second, the director is A. Edward Sutherland who the year before helmed L & H in The Flying Deuces. Third, and I wasn't aware of this until I looked up the cast list on IMDb, longtime L & H regular Charlie Hall-who made his last appearance with them in Saps at Sea, their final Hal Roach picture-made his first, of only a few, A & C appearance here as Second S. S. Atlantica Steward. I think he's the one who tells Mary Boland, "Your nuts, madam?" (He's asking if she wants them.) Boland exclaims, "I certainly am!" Okay, the plot concerns a quadrangle of Allan Jones, Nancy Kelly, Robert Cummings, and Peggy Moran. It involves love insurance and marriage. Bud and Lou play henchmen of William Frawley who are supposed to make sure a certain wedding takes place. Occasionally, the plot stops for some A & C routines, most of which you've seen or heard on various other of their movies, TV, or radio shows. One that's only in this movie is called "Paid in Full" where Abbott deducts much of Costello's salary after briefly firing him to just...well, watch the movie. Others include "Money Changing", "Jonah and the Whale", "Mustard", and an abridged version of "Who's on First?" which, according to Lou's brother Pat, was the first scene Lou and Bud ever shot. Before any of this was filmed, however, according to the picture's producer Leonard Spigelgass, Costello came to him and said, "What are we supposed to do? I don't know how to work without an audience." Spigelgass told him there was an audience-his crew. And sure enough, they laughed, so much so that either the producer or director had to yell "Cut!" and tell them to stop laughing! And it's largely because of Bud and Lou that this movie is still in circulation today. And they steal the show every time they're on screen. The rest of the cast are pretty funny by themselves and the songs by Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, and, for one romantic number involving the four leads, Oscar Hammerstein II are pretty entertaining. But if you're an A & C fan, you'll be disappointed at the few scenes-compared to the others-they have here. And the picture didn't do well enough at the box office for the Universal brass to exhibit confidence in them yet. But when executive Matty Fox asked them what their plans were, Lou bluffed about a Paramount meeting for an Army picture and he and Bud then performed some routines that impressed Fox so much, he gave them a two-picture contract with options and had them cast in what would become Universal's biggest blockbuster at the time: Buck Privates. So while Laurel & Hardy moved to 20th Century-Fox and saw their creative control decline, Abbott & Costello would get expanded screen time at Universal and become one of the top box office stars during this time. P. S. I first watched this as a kid on late night Saturday on a local station at midnight in a 69 minute version that cut the first 13 minutes. So when I found out the complete 83 minute version was on VHS in the early '90s, I snapped it up!
