Movie # 23 Buck Privates 1941

Its snowing hard here and so my Netflix dvd is of course delayed into the winter oblivion. So I turned to TCM for a possible new (vintage) movie to watch. Before Seth Rogen and Jess Franco became a comedy duo Abbott and Costello blazed a trail, starting out on stage and radio on the vaudeville scene and burst onto the film scene. The one and only movie of the duo i`ve seen was the monster fest A+C meet Frankenstein which is best known for Belas second and only time he reprized the role of the Count along with Lon Chaney Jr and even a voice cameo by Vincent Price.

Movie # 23 Buck Privates 1941

Abbott and Costello are certainly a brand of humor either you enjoy or you dont. Neither party is wrong in my opinion but I will say even though I wasn't totally in love with this film I do get why the duo were and still are considered geniuses of comedy. The perfect timing and rhythm they had cant be denied and as I mentioned above they blazed a trail that many comedy teams owe a huge dept to.For me though the jokes work and others just dont. Its basically vaudeville acts smashed into a film with a subplot totally separate from Bud and Lou. Again I mean no disrespect and I thought some bits were really very funny. Even if the entire film felt like one big propaganda for the U.S Army. One sour moment is in the beginning with the vastly racist stereotypical African American, but thankfully its short.

Its interesting to think that films like "Pineapple Express" and "The Interview" will seem dated long after they were made.