Arthur Lubin is rarely mentioned in discussions of great directors but he had a long prosperous commercial career, and could always be counted on to do a professional job. He played a crucial role in three legendary “franchises” for Universal – Francis, Maria Montez and Abbott and Costello. He saw Abbott and Costello through their first five starring vehicles together and his “no frills” approach suited them down to the ground – just hold up the camera, and shoot it. That sounds easy, but directing is never easy, especially not with two stars, and I think Lubin’s never gotten the credit he deserved.
This was originally intended to be the third Abbott and Costello starring vehicle – Universal clearly planned to follow a service comedy and haunted house comedy with a fish out of water comedy (our heroes on the range); it was pushed back due to a desire for more service comedies. This is a bright, jazzy comedy with a perfectly serviceable plot – pretend cowboy Dick Foran goes out west to learn how to be a real cowboy, and Abbott and Costello wind up there as well (unlike Keep ‘Em Flying, their involvement in the action is parallel with the “straight” plot rather than integrated). Since this is a modern era cowboy film, some convenient gangsters turn up to be villains – just like a late 30s Cinesound movie.
A highlight of the film is the music, including tunes from Ella Fitzgerald and a lot of singing cowboys. There are also some very funny slap stick scenes (Costello on a bronco, Costello on a diving board, Costello and the inevitable cow milking) and it’s cute that the Indians want Costello to marry one of their women. Johnny Mack Brown, a B cowboy actor (with some “A” credits at the beginning of his career) is a sort of second straight male lead – he’s not very charismatic, you expect him to turn evil or something but he’s just there, wasted in a nothing role. Anne Gwynne is engaging as the ingénue.
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