Abbbott and Costello are firemen who fish Tom Ewell out of the water when he tries to kill himself. They are accused of his murder and wind up following him to Alaska where lots of people want to shoot Ewell and there’s gold… it sounds convoluted and it is convoluted. But for all that this isn’t a bad Abbott and Costello and it’s fun to see them running around in the ice, dealing with Eskimos and seals.
There’s a quite enjoyable air of darkness about much of the humour – suicidal Ewell and everyone conniving over getting gold, including our heroes; and the female lead (Mitzi Green) is quite an interesting character – a wise lounge singer, she finds Ewell annoying but doesn’t want him dead. (She also sings a decent number, ‘It’s Hot Time in the Igloo Tonight’ - there's also a dance number with eskimos jumping around.)
Abbott wears a moustache in this one, perhaps to make him seem younger, which is does – it also makes him seem a bit sinister. There are quite a few songs and even a dance number involving Eskimos. I enjoyed the climax, where our duo fight off the baddies with a variety of weapons… including frozen fish! Costello also throws a boomerang – which knocks himself out. The ending, with gold one on side of a crevasse and people on the other, seems to borrow from Road to Utopia.
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