Good solid comedy from Abbott and Costello, one of their better early films. Here they play two drugstore soda jerks who really want to be mystery writers for a radio show called "Murder at Midnight". They find themselves in the studio at the time an on-air murder is committed, and then they turn into amateur detectives while helping the police solve the crime.
This leads to some funny material: Lou attempts to get a drink from an uncooperative water fountain; Bud tries to answer Lou's question on "Watt's Volts?"; Lou has to serve a customer a rancid sandwich made of Limburger cheese. One of the greatest bits here is the "Alexander 2222" routine, where Lou has just five minutes to get to a pay telephone to call a nearby radio station to claim some prize money, but can't get through the line while several other patrons call Alaska, Russia, and Brazil with no trouble! Other funny sequences surround Lou and William Bendix, who plays a dopey policeman who gets himself handcuffed and then tormented by Lou; and a scheming elevator boy who continually makes a chump out of a clueless Costello by constantly playing practical jokes on him.
The film is interestingly photographed, with occasional weird angles and shadowy, noirish lighting. Best of all, here's a rare installment for the comedy duo which is totally free of any intrusive musical numbers. *** out of ****
This leads to some funny material: Lou attempts to get a drink from an uncooperative water fountain; Bud tries to answer Lou's question on "Watt's Volts?"; Lou has to serve a customer a rancid sandwich made of Limburger cheese. One of the greatest bits here is the "Alexander 2222" routine, where Lou has just five minutes to get to a pay telephone to call a nearby radio station to claim some prize money, but can't get through the line while several other patrons call Alaska, Russia, and Brazil with no trouble! Other funny sequences surround Lou and William Bendix, who plays a dopey policeman who gets himself handcuffed and then tormented by Lou; and a scheming elevator boy who continually makes a chump out of a clueless Costello by constantly playing practical jokes on him.
The film is interestingly photographed, with occasional weird angles and shadowy, noirish lighting. Best of all, here's a rare installment for the comedy duo which is totally free of any intrusive musical numbers. *** out of ****