AaronCapenBanner
Abbott & Costello play two soda jerks(old-fashioned term) named Chick Larkin & Mervin Milgrim who have a great idea for a radio mystery show they are big fans of. Patrick Knowles and Louise Albritten play bickering love interests who can't come to an agreement over his employment, leaving a big opportunity for the guys. Unfortunately, the station manager is murdered in a live radio broadcast, and Chick & Mervin are prime suspects, so they decide to investigate the murder themselves, and unmask the real culprit. Very funny comedy is briskly paced, with no musical numbers for a (welcome) change; the focus is on the comedy, with many memorable and clever scenes, like "Volts & Watts", and the madcap chase finale.
Jay Raskin
There are some slow spots here and there in this film, but for the most part it is racing through comic bits and lines at a terrific pace. It is one of half a dozen cinematic masterpieces from Abbott and Costello.The material here is almost always good and sometimes it is great. This is blasphemy, but I would rate their "Alexander 2222" routine in this movie as their best ever, even above "Who's on First?" Besides the excellent writing, there is also some excellent cinematography and the sets are first rate.My only fault with the movie is that they did not utilize William Bendix and Mary Wickes as much as they should have. Both of them were on screen for less than ten minutes, but were terrific. They both should have had two or three more scenes. Lou Costello's performance here is frenetic and surreal. He is at his comic best here. I would say that he deserved an Academy Award or at least a nomination for his performance in this movie.
dougdoepke
Frenetic A&C, where the gags fly faster than speeding bullets, some of which hit their mark. The boys impersonate detectives so they can investigate murder in a radio studio. For me, that's the best part, seeing an old studio in operation. The action itself seldom leaves the indoors, making this an easier production for Universal to mount.Maybe the money they saved on sets went into a better than usual supporting cast, including the lovely Allbritton and the delicious Mary Wickes. Also, catch the Costello-like Bill Bendix as a cop who may even be dumber than Mervin (Costello). I wish he and Mervin had more scenes together—that would be a real departure for Costello's usual brand of humor. However, that might also look like a dumb-guy rivalry—never a worry with straight man Abbott.Then too, catch the great noirish lighting used to heighten the mystery aspects that slip in now and again. However, the comedy uses more throw-away gags than extended routines, except for the patented A&C play on double meanings. Here, the play is on "watt" which Mervin insists means "what" leading to the usual humorous confusion. And what about that dizzying city lights finale. It's almost nightmarish and very well done by the special effects departmentAnyway, to me, the results are not top-notch A&C since too many gags are not that funny. Still, the boys are energetic, the supporting cast excellent, and the pacing never dull. And, oh yes, there're still a number of laughs along the way.
DKosty123
After viewing the recent Universal set of DVD's & looking at this one, I was surprised how much I liked it. I highly recommend the DVD sets from Univerisal because all the films on DVD appear to be pristine prints somehow found in the vaults to be put on them. This film is part of volume 1 & each volume contains 8 films from "the boys". This film is very focused on the comedy & doe not have as much music interrupting it as some of their other films. I especially like the section of self-effacing comedy by Costello when he & Bud are listening to a car radio & they hear themselves doing their "Whose on First?" routine & Costello shuts off the radio & says "I'm sick & tired of listening to those guys." For some reason, this film holds the pace & timing of the comedy better than many of the teams other films. While there are other films of theirs I like, I enjoyed this one more than I expected too.
AD
