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One Night in the Tropics (1940) - Abbott and Costello

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Offline metaldams



     All the Abbott and Costello starring vehicles have been reviewed, yet for a while now, their very first film, ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS I have not discussed - until now.  My reasoning is this is not an Abbott and Costello film but instead, a film with Abbott and Costello in it.  There is a difference.  An 83 minute film where they don’t show up until about the 18 minute mark.  At this point, Bud and Lou were really big radio stars and Universal took a chance on them in movies, a chance that paid off big time.  I guess in the official sense, they were stars in ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS as they received above the title billing.  They received the billing with three other actors and were the third listed of the four.  In the actuality of how the film played out?  Bud and Lou were comic relief, plain and simple.

      The actual main characters of the film were played by two male leads and two female leads - Allan Jones, Robert Cummings, Nancy Kelly and a should have been billed much higher Peggy Moran.  They tangle back and forth with who is in love with who, but the bottom line is Allan Jones takes out a love insurance policy on Cummings and Kelly, falls in love with Kelly, even though doing so is financially not in his interest.  If the name Allan Jones is familiar, he is the same male lead in The Marx Brothers A NIGHT AT THE OPERA.  Like in that movie, Jones sings a couple of musical numbers and does a good job.  Still, being a casual Jones fan myself, I don’t hold my cigarette lighter in the air until he busts out the hits “Alone” and “Cosi Cosa” which only appear in the Marx vehicle.  Look, I’m the wrong guy to review straight romantic comedies without some type of crazy subtext to it.  As far as this type of thing goes, it moves at a steady pace and the leads all present themselves well.  They have nice voices, look nice, and it’s all pleasant.  That being said, not the kind of thing I would have in my collection if Bud and Lou weren’t in it.

      As for Bud and Lou, quite interesting in one respect.  The majority of their WWII era films I mention how the romantic couples and songs tend to interrupt Bud and Lou.  Here, it’s the complete opposite with the comedy stylings of Bud and Lou interrupting the young lovers.  Bud and Lou have a very small role in the plot but are most welcome doing their comedy routines, routines which feel like they belong in another world.  We get the mustard routine, two tens for a five, Jonah the Whale, 365 Dollars of pay into 1 dollar and of course, Who’s on First.  All classic routines that no doubt the public ate up at the time and are the only reason most of us, to this day, still watch this movie.  Who’s on First is abbreviated compared to THE NAUGHTY NINETIES but still brilliantly done.  Bud turning Lou’s $365 of pay into $1, shaving it down bit by bit is another verbal masterclass. 

      So yes, ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS is historically an important film as it introduced the film world to Bud and Lou.  Artistically it started this idea of trying to fit these otherworldly comedians into an ordinary world.  Opinions vary, but if you ask me, they fit best either working with monsters or in their TV show, where they created a world of their very own. 
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline HomokHarcos

I really liked Peggy Moran in this movie, she almost stole the film for me, and was much more interesting than the other parts of the romantic quartet. I also liked one of her scenes in a Mummy movie where she is threatening the other characters with a gun! It actually surprised me that she was older than Nancy Kelly, who played the much more mature (but less entertaining character). Then there is also William Frawley, known to I Love Lucy fans as Fred Mertz. He's entertaining in this movie, and is Abbott and Costello's boss.

As for Abbott and Costello, it's funny because in other movies they get interrupted by romantic couples, but this time it's them interrupting the main story. This movie is a good showcase for them. I liked the scene where Bud scams Lou out of all of his money, as far as I'm aware that wasn't done later in their movies or TV series. This also has my favorite performance of their mustard routine, as it seems the be a much more natural time to be talking about mustard than their later performance.


Offline HomokHarcos

Now that I think of it, Peggy Moran was also a great comic foil for Abbott and Costello. I wish they would have paired her with them again, judging from the scene they shared with her.


Offline metaldams

I really liked Peggy Moran in this movie, she almost stole the film for me, and was much more interesting than the other parts of the romantic quartet. I also liked one of her scenes in a Mummy movie where she is threatening the other characters with a gun! It actually surprised me that she was older than Nancy Kelly, who played the much more mature (but less entertaining character). Then there is also William Frawley, known to I Love Lucy fans as Fred Mertz. He's entertaining in this movie, and is Abbott and Costello's boss.

As for Abbott and Costello, it's funny because in other movies they get interrupted by romantic couples, but this time it's them interrupting the main story. This movie is a good showcase for them. I liked the scene where Bud scams Lou out of all of his money, as far as I'm aware that wasn't done later in their movies or TV series. This also has my favorite performance of their mustard routine, as it seems the be a much more natural time to be talking about mustard than their later performance.

I didn’t want to mention it because I’m not 100% sure, but I think you’re right about Bud scamming Lou out of his salary only appearing here.  All the other routines are very familiar.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Shemp_Diesel

Not too much to add here. It seems like all the good points have been covered. Certainly, if Bud and Lou were not in this movie, I doubt I would give it a look at all, but their presence certainly enhances what would otherwise be light romantic fluff.

I'm surprised the "Paid in Full" gag didn't pop up more often....

7/10...
Talbot's body is the perfect home for the Monster's brain, which I will add to and subtract from in my experiments.


Offline Tony Bensley

I don't really have much to add, in terms of reviewing the content. What little I will add is a bit of technical nitpicking.

Despite several chances to rectify the reissued opening credits and recreated End title card, the VHS version of this film remains its only Home Video release reported to include all of the original opening and closing titles and credits.

Otherwise, this feature is a decent passer timer, and it is fascinating to see Abbott & Costello at a time when they were still solely widely known to the public at large as Radio performers! Of course, it would only be many decades later after both Bud and Lou had passed before anyone would know about Lou Costello's brief but undeniable presence in the opening scene of Laurel & Hardy's 1927 silent comedy classic, THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY, which can now finally be seen in its near complete form (Ironically still missing the initial insurance signing scene!) on Home Video!

CHEERS!  [pie]


Offline Shemp_Diesel

I think I was a bit remiss in my first post for not mentioning the wonderful Peggy Moran. Great comedic actress as well as being quite the looker. I'm not sure about all her credits at the moment--the only other movie I know she appeared in was The Mummy's Hand....


Talbot's body is the perfect home for the Monster's brain, which I will add to and subtract from in my experiments.


Offline Tony Bensley

I think I was a bit remiss in my first post for not mentioning the wonderful Peggy Moran. Great comedic actress as well as being quite the looker. I'm not sure about all her credits at the moment--the only other movie I know she appeared in was The Mummy's Hand....
Peggy Moran appeared in 35 films, according to her IMDB page. She left the movies after the birth of her first son, and died in a car accident one day after her 84th birthday. Peggy appeared to have a pretty good life otherwise, though!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0602955/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

CHEERS!  [pie]