I admire and enjoy Costello's manic energy. He may do a lot of the same things again and again but certain humorous ideas never get old. He must execute 30 double-takes throughout the movie but they're all amusing. He's like a child with constant ups and downs of excitement and confusion. He often becomes flustered and then grabs his hat, needs to be held back, bumps his head into something or falls over. It's very silly but the way he does it is inherently funny.
The story here isn't of much consequence. You really have to suspend disbelief because the plot has huge gaps and the characters put up with all kinds of ridiculous things. Abbott and Costello movies seem to function by taking a standard movie format and sticking them in the middle, free to roam and tinker, create any skits or jokes they might imagine.
Here they're thrown into a murder mystery, a whodunnit. They work in an ice cream parlour as a way to be close to a radio station. They like writing murder mysteries and want to get a chance to be on the air. A man is murdered during one of the night shows (about murder) and then they pretend to be detectives investigating the crime. They run into the murderer a number of times as well as many suspects. But even more often they have hijinks with the actual detectives working the case.
Many of their movies feature a famous movie monster like Frankenstein or The Mummy. We still get the aspect of horror in this movie via the murderer. Abbott and Costello remind me of Scooby Doo cartoons, the way Shaggy and Scooby are constantly running into ghosts or monsters and scaring themselves silly. The format seems very similar with a lot of the same gags. Costello often becomes speechless and starts to stutter and then either faints or sprints away.
Highlights would include Costello leaving silhouette outlines after bursting through doors and then getting stuck in a wall, the water bubbler bit, the accidental or intentional playback of radio recordings which someone then thinks is really happening, tricking a police officer into cuffing himself, jumping around on stage during a show as part of a chase sequence. There's also a funny bit about Watts and Volts which is reminiscent of their famous skit about baseball positions. In fact, they overhear their baseball skit on a radio at one point and Costello remarks that he doesn't like it much, that the short fat guy isn't any good.
This isn't a brilliant satire or even a parody of whodunnits, it's purely a lowbrow comedy. But it's got a lot of energy and funny ideas. As long as you're willing to be patient with its silliness and not worry about the story or characters making sense, you should have a very enjoyable time. I found myself laughing at many points without knowing or caring exactly why.
The story here isn't of much consequence. You really have to suspend disbelief because the plot has huge gaps and the characters put up with all kinds of ridiculous things. Abbott and Costello movies seem to function by taking a standard movie format and sticking them in the middle, free to roam and tinker, create any skits or jokes they might imagine.
Here they're thrown into a murder mystery, a whodunnit. They work in an ice cream parlour as a way to be close to a radio station. They like writing murder mysteries and want to get a chance to be on the air. A man is murdered during one of the night shows (about murder) and then they pretend to be detectives investigating the crime. They run into the murderer a number of times as well as many suspects. But even more often they have hijinks with the actual detectives working the case.
Many of their movies feature a famous movie monster like Frankenstein or The Mummy. We still get the aspect of horror in this movie via the murderer. Abbott and Costello remind me of Scooby Doo cartoons, the way Shaggy and Scooby are constantly running into ghosts or monsters and scaring themselves silly. The format seems very similar with a lot of the same gags. Costello often becomes speechless and starts to stutter and then either faints or sprints away.
Highlights would include Costello leaving silhouette outlines after bursting through doors and then getting stuck in a wall, the water bubbler bit, the accidental or intentional playback of radio recordings which someone then thinks is really happening, tricking a police officer into cuffing himself, jumping around on stage during a show as part of a chase sequence. There's also a funny bit about Watts and Volts which is reminiscent of their famous skit about baseball positions. In fact, they overhear their baseball skit on a radio at one point and Costello remarks that he doesn't like it much, that the short fat guy isn't any good.
This isn't a brilliant satire or even a parody of whodunnits, it's purely a lowbrow comedy. But it's got a lot of energy and funny ideas. As long as you're willing to be patient with its silliness and not worry about the story or characters making sense, you should have a very enjoyable time. I found myself laughing at many points without knowing or caring exactly why.