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ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS (Universal, 1940), directed by A. Edward Sutherland, which began production under the title of "Caribbean Holiday," is a lively, but at times silly musical comedy starring Allan Jones as Jim "Lucky" Moore, an insurance salesman who comes up with the idea of selling his friend, Steve (Robert Cummings) a love insurance policy, because if his fiancée, Cynthia (Nancy Kelly) won't marry Steve, he stands to collect. Jim has Roscoe (William Frawley), a night club owner, finance the policy. However, complications occur when Lucky finds himself falling in love with Cynthia. Not wanting to pay off the policy, Roscoe hires his stooges, Abbott and Costello, to make sure Steve does marry Cynthia. Complications soon follow after boarding an ocean liner to San Marcos, South America.

In spite the fact that the story is centered mostly on Jones and Cummings, with Kelly and Peggy Moran as the girls in the picture, ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS is remembered, if at all, as the feature debut of comedy team Bud Abbott and Lou ("I'm a baaad boy!") Costello, in a rare case in which they act in the story using their own names. Bud and Lou introduce to the screen some of their most famous vaudeville routines, including the abbreviated version of "Who's on First." While Abbott and Costello are known for repeating many of their routines in other films and later TV shows, one in particular, the "Dollar a Day" routine, is presented here for the only time, and it's really funny. It focuses on the fired Costello demanding from Abbott his dollar a day pay of 365 days work, and Abbott making his deductions one at a time, thus, giving his partner the amount pay he's entitled to, which turns out to be only a buck. Aside from the merry mix-up plot and Abbott and Costello, there are songs composed by Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields and Oscar Hammerstein including "Remind Me," "Simple Philosophy," "Only You and Your Kiss," "I'm Crawling Back in My Shell," "Your Dream" and "The Parandola."

For years, ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS was presented on local TV which eliminated some 20 minutes worth of footage. In the shorter print, it would begin with its opening credits, then cutting immediately into a hotel room in which Robert Cummings is dictating a letter of apology. Apology for what I never knew. Now in the restored copy, available on video cassette (and DVD with slightly different opening and closing titles used from reissue prints), finds Cummings getting into an elevator and innocently encountering trouble with a woman (Mary Boland) who turns out to be the aunt of his fiancée. After meeting again, aunt insists niece not marry this man. Also in the missing footage was Jones' encounter with a man on the street followed by a fight and facing Judge McCracken (played by the uncredited Kathleen Howard) in hight court. With these scenes now restored, the story now makes sense.

Labeled a "B" musical, ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS resembles that of a 20th Century-Fox musical, minus Technicolor and Carmen Miranda. On and all, it's entertaining musically and comically. It made its American Movie Classics debut January 1, 2001, as part of the "WHO'S ON THE FIRST" Abbott and Costello New Year's Day marathon. For Abbott and Costello fans, this is worth viewing because they not only bring life to the story, but this is where the legend of Abbott and Costello began. A final bit of trivia. ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS is taken from the story, "Love Insurance," by Earl Derr Biggers, creator of the "Charlie Chan" mysteries. (***)

My first viewing of this movie left me surprised. Why? For years I'd read that the only plus was the first screen appearance of Lou and Bud. Instead I found the story fun and the cast fine, especially Bob Cummings as a kind of good-looking Woody Allen-type character. Bob in fact takes the limelight whenever he's on the screen.

When the boys did appear, it was if they'd walked in off the lot next door with no idea of what was going on. Their routines were pure music hall. There seemed to be no effort to work them into the story. Perhaps the point that neither were sympathetic characters didn't help. So anyone with expectations of this movie should be prepared for something different.

Allan Jones is an insurance salesman with a streak of the riverboat gambler in him. Not surprising since he played Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat earlier for Universal. He sells Bob Cummings a policy that guarantees him marriage. Of course father Richard Carle hits the roof and sends Jones off to a tropical paradise with Cummings and intended bride Nancy Kelly to see the nuptials go off smoothly. Around to potentially gum up the works is Peggy Moran, Cummings former girl friend.

Of course in One Night in the Tropics in the Caribbean island of San Marcos all kinds of romantic complications ensue in a plot that's totally ripped off from A Midsummer Night's Dream. If you are familiar with that work of Shakespeare you know how the story comes out. The film is taken from Earl Derr Bigger's novel Love Insurance, but there's no doubt where it all comes from originally.

One Night in the Tropics marks the film debut of Abbott and Costello and it is the only time they were ever not billed first. Allan Jones and Nancy Kelly were above them. They got OK notices here and Universal decided to star them in one of their low budget musicals called Buck Privates. That had a success no one predicted and they were above the title forever after that.

Allan Jones and Peggy Moran as our resident musical performers got to sing some Jerome Kern songs. Even mediocre Kern is better than most and one I particularly liked was Your Dream is the Same as My Dream sung first by Moran and reprised by Jones. The song served as a plot device to make sure all the couples were matched up properly.

Allan Jones has always been a personal favorite of mine. He had wonderfully pleasant tenor voice, shown to good advantage here. His musicals with Universal got gradually lower in quality after this one though. They are rarely seen, this one is because of Abbott and Costello's presence.

And a good thing too.

Let me explain. This is the first film in which (what I consider to be) the greatest comedy team of all time appear. They are not the leads, but steal the show with every scene that they're in. The plot of the movie is interesting enough to hold one's attention. An insurance salesman sells his friend "Love Insurance" which insures his marriage to his fiancée. When Lucky (the salesman) falls in love with Steve's (his friend) fiancée, things get complicated. Throw in Steve's second love interest, a crooked nightclub owner and his two thugs (Bud and Lou), and a larger than life Aunt and you have yourself a twisted (but funny!) little feature. Each time Bud and Lou show up they give off a radiance and freshness that is truly a joy to watch. The gags include two tens for a five, mustard, Jonah and the Whale, an abbreviated "Who's on First?", and Lou's cut in pay. The last bit I mentioned is extremely funny and I'm not sure if it appears in any of their other films so watch for it! The rest of the cast is pretty decent and the music doesn't really help or hurt the film. It's a great way to introduce someone to the team. Recommended for A&C fans, fans of classic comedy and films, or simply someone who wants to smile a little! Just warning you though, this film will leave you craving more Bud and Lou, so have another of their films at hand. Enjoy!!

Abbott & Costello made their film debut in this otherwise forgettable and lightweight comedy as two "enforcers" for a nightclub owner(played by William Frawley) who has underwritten a "love insurance" policy to ensure that an engaged man(played by Robert Cummings) will marry his fiancée(played by Nancy Kelly) though his old girlfriend(played by Peggy Moran) tries to break it up, as does a disapproving aunt. Will true love prevail? Not that funny, though it is obvious why the team of Abbott & Costello took off; they provide the film's only bright spots, going on to star in many comedies for Universal Studios during the 1940's through the mid 1950's.