Lost in Alaska

Known pretty much everywhere outside the US as ABBOTT AND COSTELLO LOST IN ALASKA this just never gels. Sub-standard, both from a comedic viewpoint and in production values. The boys never look comfortable.

Flimsy tale of a couple of New York firemen in the late 1890's who inadvertently "rescue" a suicidal prospector and through circumstance, find themselves heading back to Alaska with him, when they have a more pressing need to get back to San Francisco, to allay suspicions that they have actually murdered him.

For the most part, it just AIN'T funny. No more so than the strained and diabolically stupid ending. Really, for non-thinking A & C diehards!

Bud&Lou were up to their foreheads in work in 1952,with their television show and making color films JACK AND T He BEANNTALK and ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD under separate contract with Warner Brothers. Home studio Universal got the short end of the stick. If the film looks like it was dashed off in a hurry,it probably was. You can mildly understand why t he NY TIMES TV PAGE once reviewed it with "Lost is right".

But the freespirited attitude is al ittle catching---you can imagine thAt larGE portioNS of it were ad-libbed--especially the finale' where the boys throw every random object they can find at the bad guys. Also some fun with harridan landlady Minerva Urecal(the poor man's Margaret Hamilton). She threatens to get the cops and have them evicted. Abbott says-"Oh,it's much too cold for you to be flying around on a broom!" Luckily for Bud,she misses the joke.

Abbott and Costello play two volunteer firemen who save the life of suicidal prospector Nugget Joe (Tom Ewell), only to find themselves accused of his murder. Joe heads back to Alaska for his girlfriend and the boys tag along. They soon find everybody wants Nugget Joe dead and they have to keep him alive so they can prove their innocence. Tom Ewell is great as Nugget Joe. His constant suicide attempts are the funniest bits in the movie. This is a rare case of a supporting actor outshining Bud and Lou. Bruce Cabot plays the villain. Mitzi Green is a forgettable leading lady. Most of the funny stuff is early in the movie. Once they get to Alaska, it's not as good.

Abbott: "Miss McGillicuddy, you look charming today. Did you do something to your hair?"

Costello: "Yeah, she put it on her head"!

"Lost in Alaska" does have some inspired moments, and most of them are in the first half, like the "sleeping in 2-hour shifts" routine, or Costello's response to a sign that says "Use the axe only in case of fire" ("Got a match?"). But when A&C actually do get Lost in Alaska, the comedy gets largely reduced to elementary, childish slapstick (Costello falling down on the snow a lot, etc). I did laugh a couple of times, but overall the film is pretty tiresome, despite its short running time. (**)

Abbott and Costello, who are firemen in the 1890s save life of Alaskan suicidal millionaire 'nugget' Joe from drowning himself.( An idea from Chaplin's City lights perhaps?). His girl has told him she wants out. (How he ended up in San Fransisco from Alaska though is a mystery). They take him back to their place for him to stay the night. The morning after (after a lenthy routine which sees Abbott con Costello out of his night's sleep)Joe receives a letter from his love, Rosette stating she wants him back. In gratitude, he gives A+C the gold he has on him.

At the bank, 2 men tell them that a gold prospector was found murdered last night and the police suspect 2 volunteer firemen. They find Joe on his boat and tell him that the police think they murderd him. Naturally this cheers Joe up and sends him into hysterics.(!) They ask him to come down the station to set the record straight but he can't hear them properly as the whistles from the boat are to loud. It's to late anyhow as the boat has set sail taking them all to Alaska! When they arrive it turns out that a lot of people want Joe dead(including himself again when he finds out that Rosette didn't write the note) and it's A+C's job to keep him alive as they want to take him home to prove he's still alive. It turns out that Joe has wrote a will which leaves his £2 million fortune to his 'buddies' when he dies and they are all trying to bump him off. It turns out Mr Stillman, who owns the saloon, wrote the letter and asks Lucette to marry Joe so she becomes his only heir then he'll bump him off and then they split the gold...

Bad Abbott and Costello vehicle makes no use of their talents. Strange scenes including one which has the boys trying to cheer up Nugget Joe and do the routine they did 'at the fireman's ball'. 3 terrible 'jokes' occur and you don't know whether they are supposed to be funny or not. Nugget Joe doesn't laugh and who can blame him? The 2 songs are actually quite good and the actors aren't bad either. The script and budget lets the film down. The peculiar finale isn't funny at all and when the film finishes the viewer can't help but feel there's something missing.

If you want to see Abbott and Costello as they were in the 50s, watch one of their hilarious TV shows instead.