However, there is one real classic moment in THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH even if it does use a few old routines. It involves Bud and Lou sitting at a table just talking. Bud asks Lou about various situations, Lou innocently answers or agrees and Bud turns the innocent answer into Lou being clueless. Example, Bud supposes Lou should board a hole in the wall in a restaurant they are at. Lou agrees to what Bud says hypothetically and Bud berates Lou for agreeing to what he initially suggested. The berating goes on and on brilliantly by Bud and Lou gets frustrated as ever. The genius of this scene is the way it breathlessly builds into one situation after the other - going to a baseball game, not using mustard and putting people out of work, the 40 year old dating the 10 year old and how long it would take to catch up in ages - and yes, we’ve heard most of this stuff before. But the way it’s done in succession and the way Bud is the trouble instigating straight man and Lou is the frustrated patsy is pure genius. Their timing is incredible here and their characters perfectly in synch, the best few minutes of this movie and some of the best few minutes Bud and Lou ever put to film. This is the pure essence of what make Bud and Lou great the same way that last minute of CRASH GOES THE HASH is for The Three Stooges.
I agree that this is the best scene in the picture. This is part of a classic burlesque straight man lecture, "Handful of Nickels."
The boys later reprised it in THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW -- episode titled "Police Rookies."
https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-noose-hangs-high-1948.html
I guess it’s subjective, but I thought many of the comedy routines here were just as good as in the older films. I mention in my review that aspects of this film remind me of THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, and that point still stands. This is basically a feature length version of THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW. There’s sort of a plot, but it takes a backseat to Abbott and Costello doing random skits that don’t really relate that well to the plot, while also dealing with a ridiculously crazy world around them. There’s a lot of energy from the supporting cast that helps them to stand out just as much as Abbott and Costello, as was the case on their TV show. So far, I’m debating between this and TIME OF THEIR LIVES as my favorite Abbott and Costello film.
Great minds think alike, Umbrella Sam. I have long held the opinion that this was a dry run for the ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW.
This is a 10/10 in my mind. It is my favorite A&C film. Their performance of the routines are as good here (and sometimes better) as in any other film or TV appearance. Although I enjoy Leon Errol, my minor quibble here is that I would have preferred Mudder-Fodder to have been done with Bud. Also, like in the A & C SHOW, they walk down the street and run into crazy people etc. Pretty much everything that happens when they walk down the street was also repeated on their TV show.
The dentist scene formed the basis of "The Dentist Office" episode, and even included the scene where Lou ties dog leashes to his teeth.
In another episode, "Las Vegas", Lucien Littlefield takes Leon Erro'ls place as he and Lou reprise the poolroom scene. His character's name is also Julius Caesar. The difference here is that Mudder-Fodder starts with Bud, but later continues with Littlefield. (Littlefield appeared in some Hal Roach silents, including at least one Charley Chase short. He later appeared as the mad scientist in Laurel and Hardy's DIRTY WORK, and as the Veterinarian in SONS OF THE DESERT -- although I don't know what his religion had to do with it!
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Keep in mind that since this was an independent production, A&C probably wanted to include as many of their classic routines as possible, the same as they later did for THE A&C SHOW, which Lou owned. NOOSE was owned by "Abbott and Costello Productions", which had been newly formed before production of this picture. Eagle-Lion not only released the film, but it was filmed at their studios.
Somewhat ironically, the film is now owned (I think) by M-G-M. My VHS copy was issued my M-G-M/UA home video. I did not buy the DVD, which was released by M-G-M. What's confusing is that the Blu-Ray was released in 2017 by a company called ClassicFlix.
Perhaps M-G-M no longer owns the rights to the film.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film6/blu-ray_reviews_77/the_noose_hangs_high_blu-ray.htmThe quote from dvdbeaver: "Because The Noose Hangs High was not part of the package when Abbott and Costello's Universal releases were syndicated for television, it has been little seen in recent years." is wrong. This was part of the WPIX Channel 11(from NYC) A&C package that introduced me to the films, starting circa 1972. They showed every Universal feature (including IT AIN'T HAY, which for years wasn't released on video due to legal problems with the Damon Runyon estate), plus NOOSE, DANCE WITH ME HENRY, and THE WORLD OF ABBOTT & COSTELLO, every Sunday morning from 11:30am to 1pm. This continued until 1990! Unfortunately, due to the 90 minute time-slot with commercials, the films were edited for television, which was acknowledge on screen, superimposed over the picture right after the credits. You guessed it -- they cut out A&C scenes but left in each and every musical number, and sappy love scenes that advanced the plot. I think individual stations made their own cuts and were supplied with the complete film; I say this because occasionally WPIX would show a film in a different time slot -- usually 1 hour and 45 minutes, with no cuts -- but you could actually see where the splices were made! So I saw NOOSE just as often as all the Universal films. The VHS was released in 1993, and the DVD in 2005. So hardly "little seen in recent years."
Within the last 10 years, and before the Blu-Ray release, NOOSE was available for streaming on Netflix. I believe it is now available to stream on at least one other platform, though it is no longer on Netflix.
