Here we are, it’s THE NAUGHTY NINETIES, the film with the most famous and complete version of “Who’s on First?” Well, let’s get that out of the way and review it to open things up. I think it goes without saying the scene is sublime. No matter how many times I watch it I can’t help but be impressed. When I watch an amazing, drawn out Buster Keaton chase I get a feeling of complete awe. Bud and Lou doing “Who’s on First?” gives me that same feeling. These two worked years together perfecting this thing, getting the timing, vocal inflections and lines down pat. No words of mine can do this justice, and I really don’t need to. You already know this thing. Even if you don’t know Abbott and Costello, you know this thing. Hell, out of the hundreds of films I’ve reviewed, there is no film that has a scene more known than this. The tidbit about this routine being played non stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York? 100% true. I’ve visited The Hall of Fame a few times. There is a room with a television in the corner and a bunch of chairs parked in front of it. On said television, this version of this routine is playing on an endless loop non stop. People do sit on said chairs and watch this routine and from my experience, they laugh. If this routine were the only thing Bud and Lou ever did, they’d still be legends. Fortunately, they left us much more.
As many things as they left us, a run of consistent film comedy in the first half of the forties was not one of them. Sure, Bud and Lou themselves were consistently funny, but the films for the most part were very inconsistent, jumping all over the place from romance, music, plot and comedy without much rhyme and reason. THE NAUGHTY NINETIES is no exception. The romance is barely there, not enough to harm the film. The music is three quick numbers. This film takes place in the 1890’s, in case the title didn’t give it away (this film was made in 1945, surely you didn’t think the cast was wearing flannel), so no swing or jazz numbers here. There’s one number in the beginning, one in the middle and one close to the end. Nothing great here but all the numbers go by fast and they’re spread out pretty far so again, no major damage done. This time the plot is the issue. It involves a steamboat owner whose boat provides family entertainment. He gets bamboozled by a bunch of crooks who take part ownership of the boat. The entertainment now involves gambling and the environment becomes more violent. The problem is the plot is not incorporated into the comedy well outside of the end chase. To give a great example, while we all know “Who’s on First?,” what most don’t know is that it is followed by a straight dramatic scene that involves a man taking a bullet to the arm. Not ideal material for a comedy and especially following “Who’s on First?” Again, Bud and Lou don’t feel fully incorporated in the plot, a problem similar in films like BUCK PRIVATES.
Even though “Who’s on First?” by far get most of the accolades as far as comedy goes, there is other comedy to be had in THE NAUGHTY NINETIES, some of it being familiar to Three Stooges fans. On the somewhat debit end of the spectrum, we get the feather coughing gag. You know, the one where a pin cushion gets caught in the cake and everybody coughs the feathers up. It’s never been a favorite gag of mine and here is no exception. The payoff seems rushed, as the coughing of feathers goes by in a blink of an eye. Basically a few close ups followed by a long shot of an entire room of people coughing feathers. Not much time to give the feather coughing a personal touch. On the credit side, we get poor Lou not eating a piece of meat because me hears meowing cats and kitchen conversation giving the false impression he’s being served cat. Lou does this gag just as well as Shemp, his poor child like disgust making for wonderful comedy. Bud as usual doesn’t hear what Lou hears, in this case the cats, so he yells at Lou like an elder telling him people worked hard to make him that meal. Oh, and speaking of the chef, it’s Sam McDaniel, later appearing as the butler in HEAVENLY DAZE.
In non Stooge related bits, the stage act with the crying babies interrupting is classic Bud and Lou. The scenery falling all over the place, Lou screaming as he tries to calm the babies, Bud messing up his lines as a result - just a great comedy scene. I love the “33” roulette table gag and Lou placing his chips on the spinning wheel instead of the table next to it. The chase at the end is one of the better physical comedy climaxes in the films we discussed so far, perhaps WHO DONE IT? being the only one that’s better. The majority of their chases are too much outdoor like, but this one is more boxed in. As you people who read my reviews know, outdoor chases work in silent films when the stunts and scenery seem more real, most talkies tend to have a fake feel in their chases. Here, the indoor climax, very much like Stooge chases, works. The focus isn’t in the scenery or the crazy gags but in the comedians actually performing the gags. A breath of fresh air. Harold Lloyd fans, check out Lou standing with his head under a hard object, protecting himself from a blow similar to THE KID BROTHER.
So yes, another good film worthy of your Saturday afternoon that really only stands out because of one major routine. Everybody knows “Who’s on First?,” but only the craziest old comedy fans know the movie THE NAUGHTY NINETIES. I don’t think I’m the only one noticing a formula. Next film is done at MGM, but when Bud and Lou return to Universal for their next film at that studio, Lou puts his foot down concerning said formula. So yes, in a couple of weeks, we will start discussing two films that no doubt stand apart from the others. I’m looking forward to it.
