Deux nigauds soldats

My uncle who later served in France during the second World War was one of those whose lives was interrupted by the peace time draft before the USA entered World War II. It was with some touch of irony that he will mention to this day he never saw any camp hostesses like Jane Frazee or the Andrews Sisters.

But Buck Privates is an Abbott and Costello film, not a serious drama about the first peace time draft in American history. Bud and Lou got in the short run of this film several of their classic routines.

When Universal signed Abbott and Costello on the strength of their running appearances on Kate Smith's Radio Show, they were expecting to do a series of B programmers with them. They never dreamed that these two burlesque comedians would become the national icons that they did.

Shot on a shoestring the film made an exponential profit for Universal studios. Without the usual Hollywood ballyhoo that would have accompanied a major Hollywood production, Buck Privates returned many times the cost of production.

And through the serendipitous casting angel, Buck Privates also included the Andrews Sisters who got to sing three of their standards in this, I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time, You're A Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith, and the immortal Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B.

There are in fact so many musical numbers and so many A&C routines in this short film, there's barely room enough for a plot which involves a playboy Lee Bowman, his former chauffeur AlanCurtis, and Jane Frazee the camp hostess they both want to get better acquainted with. But because of that the film doesn't drag for a second.

Buck Privates set the standard for the films that Bud and Lou did for Universal. No doubt about it, their best work was in the early Forties and Buck Privates is the best of all.

BUCK PRIVATES (Universal, 1941), directed by Arthur Lubin, introduces the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into leading roles, following their debut as secondary characters in ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS (1940). With the exception of Lee Bowman's name listed first in the closing casting credits, it's obvious that this military comedy rightfully belongs to Abbott and Costello. A box-office sensation for a "B" movie upon its release, and Universal's biggest money maker at that time, BUCK PRIVATES marked a whole new beginning in a long series of popular comedies featuring the comic dual.

Prior to the opening credits, the film starts off in documentary style of current events with President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Draft Bill on September 14, 1940, with the enlistment of peacetime buck privates. Once the credits finish rolling on the screen, the movie gets underway first with a brief introduction of draftees Randolph Parker II (Lee Bowman), a millionaire Yale man, and Bob Martin (Alan Curtis), his now ex-chauffeur, entering the Army Recruiting Headquarters draft board, followed by a great opening with the main attractions of the evening: Marty "Slicker" Smith and Herbie Brown (Bud and Lou), former vaudevillians now Time Square street merchants selling dollar neckties for a dime. Joe Collins (Nat Pendleton), an officer of the law, goes after them for peddling without a license, a chase that leads them into an army recruiting center where they mistake it for a movie house playing "You're in the Army Now." While inside, Smith and Brown, believing they have signed up for a raffle drawing, unwittingly enlist themselves into the Army as buck privates. Once transferred to Camp Creely for basic training, guess who turns out to be their sergeant? One guess. His last name is Collins. "Ooooh, boy!!!!"

In between comic highlights by the boys, a handful of popular 1940s tunes, by Hughie Prince and Don Raye include: "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith," (sung by The Andrews Sisters); "Gee, I Wish You Were Here" (sung by Jane Frazee); "I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time" (sung by The Andrews Sisters); "When a Private Becomes a Captain" (sung by Lou Costello and recruits); "Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy" (Academy Award nominee as best song) "Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four" and "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith" (sung by The Andrews Sisters).

As much as musical interludes can become intrusions in comedy films, for BUCK PRIVATES, they are delights, especially those introduced by the Andrews Sisters (Laverne, Maxine and Patti). "Apple Blossom Time," slower in tempo, remains memorable, even today. Judy Frazee, a charming screen personality and vocalist, appeared in a great number of "B" musicals throughout the 1940s, all forgotten. Because of her association with this film, it has become the only one featuring her to remain in circulation today. Others in the cast consist of Samuel S. Hinds as Major Emerson; Shemp Howard as the Cook; Mike Frankovitch as himself/radio announcer; and the Boogie-Woogie Dancers of Company B.

Bud and Lou actually participate more on their comic supplements than in the story, such as it is, which goes to Lee Bowman and Alan Curtis. Bowman is the millionaire playboy drafted into the army while his mother (Nella Walker) makes every effort to get him released within a week, however, it is his father (Douglas Wood) who arranges in keeping his pampered girl-chasing son in boot camp for a year in order to make a man out of him. Curtis plays Randy's chauffeur, now enlisted and placed in the same regiment. No longer obligated to his employer, he gives Parker his two week notice with a sock in the jaw. Both men become rivals, especially for the love and affection of Judy Craig (Jane Frazee), Bob's girlfriend, now working as army hostess. A cliché subplot was revamped for Laurel and Hardy's own military comedy, GREAT GUNS (20th-Fox, 1941), but due to the freshness and appeal of Abbott and Costello, BUCK PRIVATES is by far, a better film, thanks to these now famous routines: the dice game; the rifle drill; the boxing match with Costello in the ring with a muscular fighter with their sergeant (Pendleton) as referee; along with several of their other notable skits such as "Go ahead and play," that would be repeated again and again in their future comedies. An almost perfect yet dated comedy, the only dull spot in BUCK PRIVATES is the overlong maneuver sequence near the end where the focus becomes more on Bowman and Curtis than Abbott and Costello.

Because BUCK PRIVATES was such a sensation, it was later reissued in theaters through Realart, and found popularity to a new generation on television and later video cassette by the 1980s. Cable broadcast history consists of American Movie Classics where it premiered New Year's Day 2001 as part of its "Who's on the First" Abbott and Costello marathon, and later on Turner Classic Movies starting in July 2004.

A sequel, BUCK PRIVATES COME HOME (1947) brought forth Bud and Lou, with Nat Pendleton reprising their roles in a highly entertaining comedy that centers upon the characters returning to civilian life, with Pendleton in fine comedic form as their former sergeant returning to his old beat as a cop and after the twosome selling neckties on the street again. So before attempting to watch the sequel, be sure to catch the original, both currently available on DVD. (***)

I have seen only a few of the Abbott and Costello films, and find in most of them that the films themselves are but an excuse for them to do their (hilarious) routines, with some uninteresting story added in for padding. Since they made no bones about this, and it generally worked, because they did not disguise it (unlike Laurel and Hardy). With many of A&C's pictures, their scenes are always great. I find their TV show to be the purest representation of their humor. BUCK PRIVATES must surely rank not only as the best Abbott and Costello movie, but also as one of the best comedy films of all time. On top of this, it is like an 84-minute slice of American history. The romantic sub-plot in this film is very relevant to audiences of the day and is not trivial or silly (like those in the films of the Marx Bros. and Laurel and Hardy). Lou Costello is hilarious as ever here. Abbott is in full form too. The supporting cast is perfect, especially Nat Pendleton, not to mention a brilliant series of music numbers by the great Andrews Sisters. Their main number, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," is truly a historical moment, and it's a great performance to boot. It's easy to see how this was the most popular comedy of it's day. All in all, I was very impressed by this film. I hope it gets shown more often on TV so new audiences can enjoy this rousing and hilarious movie.

BUCK PRIVATES (1941) **** Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in their first starring film (their debut in "One Night in the Tropics" were supporting comic foils) catapulted them into the stratosphere of movie stardom as the premiere comedy team of the 1940s and this film was the lifesaver for their home studio Universal which was precariously close to bankruptcy until the release of this comic masterpiece with the boys in over their heads as unknowing volunteers in the US Army. Uproariously funny particularly their drill instruction scenes with Bud and Lou improvising ("What time is it?" "None of your business!") Look for frequent co-stars the musical singing siblings The Andrews Sisters (who sing the smash "The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy") and also look for Shemp Howard, of The Three Stooges, in the mess sequence with Lou.

This is one of my favourite outings from Bud & Lou, the start of their phenomenally successful career in the service comedies and one of a series of smile-jerkers from them and Universal. This was also the one that made it for them in the movies and turned them into America's no. 1 box office stars during the War.

They're a couple of street tie-selling con artists who unwittingly join the Army (along with playboy Lee Bowman) in trying to escape the clutches of the Law in the shape of cherubic Nat Pendleton. It's not so easy to escape ones duty however, and so follows a series of unconnected inconsequential adventures learning to be soldiers or lovers all with that special lighthearted wartime Universal treatment. A&C went through their routines with impeccable timing and a professionalism that belied all the slapstick. Favourite bits: playing unintelligible (to me) clubhouse dice; Abbott inoculated and Costello's reaction; the mathematics of borrowing USD 50; the historic performance of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters and then the sudden end to the boogie-woogie boxing match; the unusual deadpan arrangement to Jane Frazee's I Wish You Were Here. The Voice Of Hellzapoppin returns! No kidding but what chance did the Japanese and Germans really have - sorry for identifying who the enemies were in these socially inclusive times, because they weren't in the film - to pit themselves against all this? The American War Machine was awakening, with the might of Hollywood behind it and A&C playing their part with their entertaining flagwavers the same as George Formby did on a smaller scale for the British War effort.

The box office success - and critical praise too - of this took Universal by surprise and they didn't make nearly as much money as they could have, a mistake they never made again with A&C. Recommended, an antidote to now and to me always a joy to behold and hear.