Reclutas en Birmania

I just recently saw this for the first time......61 minutes I'll never get back! ZOMBIES ON Broadway and GENIUS AT WORK are much better, due in no small part to the participation of Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. Brown & Carney make Abbott & Costello look like Lunt and Fontanne! The racist angle probably kept this title off of commercial television. The anti-Jap sentiment must have been appreciated in 1943. Hard to believe this was directed by the same guy (Leslie Goodwins) who made THE MUMMY'S CURSE at Universal the following year. Incidentally, Joan Barclay plays Janie and Claire Carleton plays Connie. The IMDb is incorrect.

Carney and Brown were two minor supporting comedians whom RKO teamed, hoping for the same chemistry -- and profits! -- that Universal was getting out of Abbott and Costello. But whereas A&C were two guys who had spent twelve years honing their act and timing, this pair had to move on their acting ability, which was decent, and their chemistry -- which, alas, was non-existent.

Strangely enough, this, their cheapest feature -- no supporting acts, no songs -- is, I think, their best. I credit Leslie Goodwins, the director, who usually spent his time in the shorts department directing Leon Erroll and Edgar Kennedy shorts. There are some very funny gags scattered about.

A surprising amount of comic energy is supplied by Erford Gage, who plays their sergeant in this and ADVENTURES OF A ROOKIE. He also gets to pull the best gag in the movie, something you'd expect to see in a Merrie Melody.

So this movie is not a waste of time. But it does make you appreciate Abbott and Costello all the more.