Utterly silly trifle which is remembered today solely for introducing Abbott and Costello to cinema audiences but actually remains terrific fun. Well, terrific if you don’t mind comedies where the central conceit is love insurance – Alan Jones sells a one million dollar love insurance policy to his friend Bob Cummings and has to ensure he gets married. A night club owner underwrites the policy so to make sure things so smoothly he sends two enforces – our two boys. They prove themselves a natural to the camera – the whole idea of them as gangster enforcers is hilarious and could have been re-used in their later films.
This was a good vehicle to introduce Abbott and Costello on the big screen (note how we hear their voices before seeing them – they were familiar to audiences due to radio work), as the action isn’t dependent on them but enables them to still do some schtick, including the classic “Who’s on First”. (Hal Wallis introduced Martin and Lewis in a similar way in My Friend Irma.) I quite enjoyed the non-A&C stuff too – Robert Cummings was a deft light comedian made for this sort of roles, and Peggy Moran really shines as the singer desperate to marry Cummings even if it means breaking his legs; the other two leads are less inspired, but Alan Jones tries gamely, and there are some spectacular dance numbers and plenty of tunes – it’s got a little bit of a everything-and-the-kitchen-sink feel (gangsters, millionaires, chorus girls, bullfighters, Caribbean setting, songs, routines, comedy, dances), and watching it you imagine a lot of Broadway musicals pre-Oklahoma were just like this.
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