Another Thin Man (1939)

Note: This post was originally posted on my Movies With Michael blog on 1/19/2020. Since this film features Shemp in a supporting role, I am posing it to this blog as well. 

The third entry in The Thin Man series is an excellent comedy-mystery. While it may not live up to the first movie (not that that is an insult in the slightest), it is very entertaining in its own right. I was lucky enough to see this movie at The Old Town Music Hall last night and seeing this with an audience proved to me how delightful this film truly is, as everybody was enjoying it just as much as I was.

This film's production was plagued by health problems for star William Powell. Filming was meant to start in early 1938, but before any filming could be done, Powell was too obviously having health problems. These health problems were later revealed to be cancer. This was a tough time for Powell in general. As if having cancer weren't bad enough, he had also recently lost his wife, actress Jean Harlow a year earlier and hadn't quite emotionally recovered yet. Powell would have operations in March 1938 and January 1939, and with the success of these he would be able to return to work in fall of 1939. Meanwhile he had to turn down some great movie roles including that of Maxim De Winter in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940). When Powell arrived for the first day of filming, he received a standing ovation from the cast and crew, which embarrassed him quite a bit. Director Woody Van Dyke (who had also directed the previous two Thin Man movies) broke up this scene by stating "what are we wasting time for? Let's get to work." Van Dyke was known for making movies extremely quickly, but he did make allowances for Powell's health with this film. Filming would only last six hours a day and crews would be doubled to compensate. Still in typical W.S. Van Dyke fashion the film was finished rather quickly and was released in November of 1939.

Another Thin Man marked the last Thin Man movie to be written by husband-and-wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (this is a rare Thin Man sequel to be based off an actual story by Dashiell Hammett (who wrote the original novel) (this was a short story entitled The Farewell Murder). Myrna Loy would later give the reason for this in her autobiography Being and Becoming stating "Do you know I never saw them at Metro? It's terrible, really, but unless they sent for the writers to get us out of a hole, we seldom saw them on the set.... I didn't meet the Hacketts until I moved to New York in the fifties. We became friends, I'm happy to say, and Albert facetiously explained one day why they didn't write the last three Thin Man pictures: 'Finally I just threw up on my typewriter. I couldn't do it again; I couldn't write another one.' Perhaps we all should have concurred; those last three never really touched the previous ones." Truth be told when you compare these first three movies to the last three, there is no doubt the ones written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett are well above the later entries. While I enjoy the later films, they lack the clever and laugh out loud funny banter between Nick and Nora that these first three have. While maybe not as memorable or quotable as the first movie, the dialogue in Another Thin Man is still full of the charm and wit that one could want from a Thin Man movie. This film is just as funny today as it was in 1939. Adding to the delightful of this banter is that William Powell and Myrna Loy have lost none of their amazing chemistry. They still play off each other perfectly and a scene in a club is a sheer delight to behold.

As did many of these sequels this movie features more slapstick involving the dog Asta (who gets the largest billing in the opening credits) than the first entry. This is hardly a problem when the slapstick is as funny as it is here. There are plenty of times when Asta steals the show, which considering the cast of this movie is no easy feat. This movie also introduced a new character, Nick and Nora's son Nick Jr. (William A. Paulson). Nick Jr. has somewhat of a baring on this movie's story but rarely provides any comedy himself, letting his adult and canine costars run the whole show. This is probably for the best. One watches The Thin Man movies for the banter between Nick and Nora Charles, not for antics from a baby, and such antics could have hurt a thing that was already working.

When released this film became one of the highest grossing movies of its year and it should come as no surprise that more sequels would be in the future.

While none of these sequels quite reach the level of the first movie, Another Thin Man stands as my second favorite in the series and never fails to delight me.

Also Stooges fans should look for Shemp in a brief uncredited role.

A hit movie never failed to send MGM to be tooting their own horn as can be seen by the advertisement from The Film Daily below or the advertisement from The Motion Picture Herald below that.

  



I love the way movie theatres advertised films back in the day and some excellent examples of that (including one for After The Thin Man) can be seen in the below two pages from The Motion Picture Herald. If you having trouble reading just click on the picture and use your touch screen to zoom in.





-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1747/Another-Thin-Man/articles.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031047/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt

Africa Screams (1949)

 

Fans of both Abbott and Costello and The Three Stooges know that two Stooges sometimes appeared with the comedy team. Shemp Howard had appeared in some of Abbott and Costello's earliest movies. Joe Besser had would be a regular on the first season of the duo's TV series. There was however one Abbott and Costello movie where these two Stooges crossed paths and that was Africa Screams. 

In this film, Abbott and Costello play two men working in a bookstore. Stanley (Lou Costello's character) has read a book that has a map that leads to a diamond mine. When treasure hunters cannot find this book, they enlist the help of the two book salesmen. 

This is an often intermittently funny comedy. There are moments here that are truly hilarious but then often long gaps between real laughs with a lot falling flat in-between. Highlights include Lou Costello impersonating Joe Besser, every scene with Shemp (he plays a gunman who can barely see his hand in front of his face) is very funny (he even at times steals the show from Abbott and Costello) and the perfect ending. However, it is hard to make a feature length comedy because it is hard to remain funny for that long of a time. Because of this there are scenes where it feels like the gag men are trying too hard to fit a gag into every scene. This leads to a lot of comedic moments that feel forced and tend to fall flat. The scene with Lou Costello locked in a cage with a loin should have been a surefire comedy set piece but somehow falls flat. This movie also benefits from a great supporting cast. As mentioned before Shemp is the scene stealer and is very funny here. Joe Besser also gets some good chances to shine. I love the gag where he is putting out the fire.

Hillary Brooke (who would later become a regular on the Abbott and Costello TV show) is one of Abbott and Costello's best female leads and she works very well with the comedy duo. She later recalled how nervous she was to work with the popular comedy team. "I can't do it, Ed [producer Edward Nassour]. I can't keep up with them. I'm a nervous wreck. I never get a cue! Ed said, 'Stay with it, Hillary, you're going to have a wonderful time.' And of course he was absolutely right. I loved working with Abbott and Costello. Lou and I had a very unusual, wonderful friendship.... He taught me more about comedy than anyone I ever worked with. I was not a comedienne by any means, but he taught me timing and how to handle a joke...And I must say that Bud was one of the greatest straight men that ever existed, and he never got the credit for it" 

This film’s cast would also feature a pair of real-life big game hunters, Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck. The two were already very familiar to movie goers as they had starred in their own series of short films that would showcase their hunting exploits (personally I can’t understand how someone killing innocent animals could be considered entertainment to anyone). Still, they were not actors and are easily the weak links of the cast. Frank Buck’s acting ability is especially lacking. 

Unlike most of Abbott and Costello's films that were made for big name studios like Universal (where they made the majority (and the best of) their movies), Warner Brothers and MGM, this movie was made for the low budget Nassour Studios run by brothers Edward and William Nassour. This would in fact be the Nassour Brothers' first commercial feature. However the studio had produced a short film called 10,000 Kids and a Cop (1947), which would feature Lou Costello and be used to promote the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center. It was shot in sixteen days on a budget of less than $500,000. One usual expense for Bud and Lou was objected to by the brothers Nassour. They understandably objected to spending $3,500 on pies that would be thrown in between filming. Bud and Lou often did this to relieve tension and keep the comedic momentum going. Writer Martin Ragaway remembered, "There seemed to be a friendly feud between the Abbotts and the Costellos. Different people on the set had been enlisted on different sides. Somebody would blow a whistle and suddenly, on this jungle set, people began throwing pies at one another. There was a pie war!...I remember saying to myself, well, this is how pictures are made. Apparently, they had to have something to relieve the tension, and this was it." Cinematographer Charles Van Enger remembered, "Eddie Nassour had the studio painted and charged it to our production. Lou refused to pay it. They had a hell of a fight. Eddie came down to the set with a gun, looking to kill Lou. Really! I took the gun away from him." Bud and Lou would file suit against the Nassour brothers for supposed production costs. This case would be settled to no one's satisfaction. 

This film's director would be Charles Barton, one of the duo's best directors (who directed their most popular film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)). He would direct Abbott and Costello in a total of nine films. Barton would go on to direct two live-action feature films for the Disney studio, The Shaggy Dog (1959) and Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960). Fans of TV series of the 1950's and 60's will be familiar with his work. He directed episodes of The Amos 'n Andy Show (for which he directed all 78 episodes), The Great Gildersleeve, Disney's Zorro, Dennis the Menace (for which he directed a total of 90 episodes), McHale's Navy, Hazel, Petticoat Junction and Family Affair (for which he directed 106 episodes). 

Filming of this movie was briefly paused because Shemp got seasick floating in a raft in a studio tank, which was only a few feet deep. Bud Abbott's nephew Norman Abbott was the dialogue coach on this film.   

   

Resources Used

The Abbott and Costello Story: Sixty Years of Who's on First by Stephen Cox and John Lofflin

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/19050/africa-screams#articles-reviews?articleId=92545

Private Buckaroo (1942)

 

After their success in the Abbott and Costello movies Buck Privates (1941), In the Navy (1941) and Hold That Ghost (1941), Universal decided to star The Andrew Sisters in their own series of B musicals. Naturally one of these films was a military themed musical comedy in the vein of Buck Privates. Even the title would be similar to that Abbott and Costello classic. The Andrew Sisters would not be the only returning in Private Buckaroo. Shemp Howard (of Three Stooges fame) also returned for this movie. While in Buck Privates, Shemp had a smaller role, in Private Buckaroo Shemp has a much larger role providing much if the comedy in this musical comedy. 

Like Buck Privates, the storyline is basically an excuse for music and comedy. The storyline that is here involves an entertainer named Lon Prentice (Dick Foran), who after getting into the army tells his commanding officer (Richard Davies) that he thinks most military training is useless. His commanding officer orders that he does not have to do any of this training, which causes his fellow recruits to turn against him. He soon learns his lesson. 

Though this movie is strictly a programmer and will never be confused for one of the best Hollywood musicals it is a lot of fun for what it is. The musical numbers are truly excellent. The Andrew Sisters are at the top of their game here and the songs they perform here are all delightfully. However, the other musical performers here are excellent as well. Dick Foran, Joe E. Lewis and especially legendary jazz trumpeter Harry James provide some great music. There is not a weak song number or weak performer in the whole film. The soundtrack simply provides one great song after another. Shemp is at the top of his game as well. Though the humor can be a bit hit and miss (the scenes with the little girl are not especially funny), Shemp gives it his all. His scenes with Mary Wickes are the comedic highlights of the movie and often made me laugh out loud. The storyline may not be much to write home about but great music, an excellent cast and a few really funny moments make this a delight for fans of B musicals. 

Though this was advertised as an Andrew Sisters movie and the sisters receive top credit, the real star of the film was Dick Foran (born June 18, 1910, died August 10, 1979). Dick Foran is best remembered by fans of B Westerns. After the success of Gene Autry's singing cowboy movies, in the mid-1930's Warner Brothers cast Foran as the lead in a series of singing cowboy picture meant to compete with Autry's. When in the 1940's Foran moved to Universal he was often cast in comedies and horror films. Some of the comedies he appeared in were appropriately western themed including the W.C. Feilds and Mae West vehicle My Little Chickadee (1940) and the Abbott and Costello flick Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942). He appeared in two of the Universal monster movies featuring the mummy, The Mummy's Hand (1940) and The Mummy's Tomb (1942). Returning to his B-Western roots, he also starred in two western serials for Universal Winners of the West (1940) and Riders of Death Valley (1941). He would spend the latter part of his career working in television appearing in episodes of such Science Fiction Theatre, Sheriff of Cochise, Father Knows Best, Maverick, Wanted Dead or Alive and the Swamp Fox episodes of Disney's anthology show. 

The movie's director was Edward F. Cline (born November 4, 1891, died May 22, 1961) was one of the best comedy directors of his day. He began his film career at Keystone studios in 1914. He briefly worked as a Keystone Cop before being promoted to an assistant director. By 1916 he had become one of the studio's most prolific directors. He would direct nearly sixty comedies for the studio and has been credited with the formation of the Mack Sennet Bathing Beauties. Silent comedy fans might know him best for his work with Buster Keaton, where he was credited as a co-director (along with Keaton) on some of the great comedian's silent shorts as well as the feature film Three Ages (1923). He continued to direct wonderful comedies well into the sound era. Some of his best work is his work with W.C. Feilds. He directed Feilds in such classic movies as Million Dollar Legs (1932), You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), My Little Chickadee, The Bank Dick (1940, also featuring Shemp) and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). He would also work with his old partner Buster Keaton again during the talkie era. He directed Buster in The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940) and the ill-fated TV shows The Buster Keaton Show and Life with Buster Keaton. 

Though Harry James is seen in the army in this film, he was unable to join the military in real life due to a back injury. Also seen here is a teenage Donald O'Connor along with his then screen partner Peggy Ryan. Universal hoped that these two could compete with MGM's Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.

Film Bulletin, 1942

The movie mostly received poor reviews from critics. Bosley Crowther stated, “For consistent ineptness, for frantic dullness, for the sheer impertinent waste of film at a time when Hollywood is supposedly seeking ways of saving raw stock.” A review in The Film Daily stated, "'Private Buckaroo' is just a lot of song strung into a feature length picture with interludes of slapstick here and there. There is no story to speak of and no originality in the presentation of the material. The action takes place in a night club and an army camp. It's all too exaggerated to merit belief. The film's musical content - mostly of the popular sort - should give the production a break with young folks. Older people will find little in 'Private Buckaroo to appeal to them."

   

Motion Picture Daily, 1942

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

A-Z of Silent Film Comedy by Glenn Mitchell

Chase! A Tribute to the Keystone Cops edited by Lon and Debra Davis. 

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87194/private-buckaroo#articles-reviews?articleId=1533967

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

https://cometoverhollywood.com/2020/11/02/musical-monday-private-buckaroo-1942/

Hold That Ghost (1941)

Note: This post has previously appeared on my Movies with Michael blog but because the movie features Shemp in a supporting role, I am including it here as well.  

 Hold That Ghost was Abbott and Costello's fourth appearance in a feature film and the third one in which they were the stars. It was supposed to be their third film overall and was the third completed. However, after Buck Privates (1941) became such a smash hit, it was decided to make the next movie another service comedy. So, the release of this film was delayed as the boy's made In The Navy (1941). This plan worked out well as In the Navy was the highest earning film of 1941. Hold That Ghost was originally going to be titled, Oh, Charlie! after a scene where Lou is looking to find a man (who has been killed) named Charlie. Lou as he looks around keeps saying "Oh Charlie." Hold That Ghost was again another giant hit for the boys and is my personal favorite Abbott and Costello film.

This movie was the first Abbott and Costello movie written by Robert Lees and Fredric I. Rinaldo. This writing team would prove to be perfect for the boys' scare comedies as they would also write Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). In my opinion these are the three best of the boys' scare comedies. This is one of the five Abbott and Costello pictures directed by Arthur Lubin. His other four being Buck Privates, In the Navy, Keep 'Em Flying (1941) and Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942).

Like many of Abbott and Costello's early pictures, this movie features musical numbers as well as comedy. The film originally was not going to have any musical numbers. However, when shown an early version of the movie, a preview audience asked where The Andrew Sisters were (they had been in the Bud and Lou's previous two films). Additional scenes were then added with The Andrews Sisters performing two song numbers, Sleepy Serenade and Aurora. As an Andrews Sisters fan, I am very happy for these additions, especially since both of them are such great songs. Aurora is especially one of my favorite Andrew Sisters songs. Sleepy Serenade was written by Lou Singer and Mort Greene and The Andrew Sisters released it on record shortly before its use in this film with the words on the record stating "From New Universal Picture 'Oh Charlie!" Aurora was written by Mario Lago and Roberto Roberti, with new English lyrics by Harold Adamson. The Andrews Sisters would later again record this song for their 1957 album, The Andrew Sisters in Hi-Fi for Capitol Records. Also performing a couple songs in this movie is Ted Lewis and his orchestra. One of these songs was When My Baby Smiles at Me. This song was written by Bill Murno, Andrew B. Sterling and Lewis himself. Lewis had originally recorded and released the song in 1920, and it became one of his biggest hits. He also performed in this movie Me and My Shadow, written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer. This song had been an important part of Lewis' live performances since it was written in 1927. Both of these are again excellent songs, but unfortunately, we only hear parts of them unlike The Andrews Sisters songs which get a full treatment here. Still, what we hear of these two songs is completely delightful. Maybe it is because I am a fan of music from this era, but I actually find the song numbers in these early Abbott and Costello movies to add to my enjoyment instead of detracting like it does for so many others today. Whatever the reason I love the musical numbers in these movies and this movie is no exception. 

Production was set back because of the scenes where Bud and Lou work at a gas station. The studio had a hard time finding an appropriate gas station. Eventually the studio up making a gas station set themselves. This set would be reused for the Abbott and Costello movie Pardon My Sarong (1942).     

One joke in the script did not make it past the censors. When working at the gas station Bud would explain why Ethel costs more stating "You can go further with Ethel." Not surprisingly this was cut out of the film. However, a shockingly risqué joke would actually be in the finished movie. Lou accidently breaks his bed, and Camille (Joan Davis) says they will have to share a bed. Lou then does his trademark whistle.

Some gag sequences would be reused in later Abbott and Costello films. One of them would be a comic ballet between Lou Costello and Joan Davis. Lou would later do a similar (though not as funny) bit with Dorothy Ford in Jack in the Beanstalk. A sequence of a moving candle would be reworked into Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. That moving candle routine was actually where the idea to make Hold That Ghost came from. They had performed this routine on burlesque and also for their original audition for Universal. One joke written for this movie, but that didn't make it into the film was actually used in the later Abbott and Costello film, Ride 'Em Cowboy. In this joke Bud mentions a herd of cows to which Lou responds, "Of course I've heard of cows."

Because Lou's scared act went over so well with audiences, a scene with Lou scared would be put into the next Abbott and Costello movie, Keep 'Em Flying.

Shemp has a small role as a soda jerk in this film. While he may not have much to do here, he does truly leave an impression and gets the most out of this small role as he possibly could.  

There is so much to recommend about this movie. It has some of the funniest scenes the team ever did. These include the amazing comic ballet, the changing rooms and Lou's failed attempt at being a waiter. Many individual jokes here are also very funny. I love when Lou states that he is scared to go into the dark with no one to talk to. Bud asks him why he doesn't just talk to himself. Lou responds, "I get too many stupid answers." Also adding to the comedy here is an amazing comedic performance by Joan Davis. Her comedic chemistry with the boys is perfect and she adds so many great laughs to this movie. Watching her and Lou do the comic ballet is a wonder to behold. The musical numbers are again great here. Filled with energy and excitement these songs are just a joy. As many of you know at this time, Universal excelled at making horror films, and the same care and attention seems to be on this movie. The look of this movie, from the lighting to the cinematography is incredible. It gives an amazing sense of atmosphere that is absent from most slapstick comedies. Due to this the movie gives much of the same amazement that is seen in the best of those Universal horror films and the images as well as the jokes and the songs stay in one's mind after the movie is over. Beyond all this though the movie is just tremendously entertaining. There is not one dull spot and the whole film just puts a smile on my face each time I watch it. No wonder this is my favorite Abbott and Costello movie. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used


The Abbott and Costello Story by Stephen Cox and John Lofflin

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78178/hold-that-ghost#overview

DVD Audio Commentary by Film Historian Jeff Miller. 

Buck Privates (1941)

 

Note: This post was originally on my Movies With Michael blog but because it features Shemp in a supporting role, I am including it on this blog as well. 

Everyone who like me is an old movie addict, has a movie that started their addiction. For me that film was Buck Privates. As a kid I quickly fell in love with this movie. I thought Abbott and Costello were the funniest thing I had ever seen and the songs by The Andrew Sisters' song numbers were so much fun. Since I was a kid, I wasn't too critical about the romantic subplot either. This was pure entertainment of a type I was unfamiliar with before and it didn't take long for me to fall in love with classic films.

Buck Privates marked the first starring feature film for Abbott and Costello. Though they had both appeared in One Night in the Tropics before, that movie had them strictly as part of the supporting cast. Anyone who has seen One Night in the Tropics would completely understand why Abbott and Costello quickly became movie stars. That film featured Abbott and Costello at the top of their game performing some of their best skits and clearly stealing the show from the people who were meant to be the stars. Still even though Buck Privates featured Abbott and Costello as the stars, the two hardly move the plot forward. Their entire arc in the film involves the boys being drafted into the army and having to put up with having a sergeant that already has a grudge against the two. The real story of involves a spoiled rich man (Lee Bowman) who as soon as he gets drafted into the army has only one thought, how to get out. However there is one thing he likes about the army and that is a beautiful hostess played by Jane Frazee. However his former valet (Alan Curtis) has a crush on her as well leading to a love triangle.

Even this plot is somewhat slight though as the main appeal of the movie is meant to be Abbott and Costello's comedy skits. Sure enough Bud and Lou are given some of their best material in this film. This material was provided heavily by John Grant. Grant had already worked with Abbott and Costello on burlesque and radio before the duo ever entered movies. A former burlesque comedian himself, John Grant had a near perfect knowledge of all the old vaudeville and burlesque routines, which proved to be perfect for Bud and Lou. Grant would continue to work with the duo until the end of their screen career. Here like in many other films he received the credit "Special material for Abbott and Costello Provided by..." Bud and Lou here are also at the top of their game full of youthful energy and pure comedic expertise. Though the boys would perform some of these skits in later films they rarely did it as well as they did here. In fact multiple takes needed to be made of the marching scene because director Arthur Lubin (the main director of Abbott and Costello's early movies and their second best director behind Charles Barton) kept cracking up. Bud and Lou had been performing these skits on stage for years and with this movie the skits reached comedic perfection.




It was common place in this era for musical numbers to be inserted into the feature films of comedy teams. Though this practice has gotten a lot of flack from old movie fans, when the music is as good as it is in Buck Privates who am I to complain. Just like Bud and Lou, The Andrew Sisters are at the top of their game. This movie quickly made me a fan of their music and why not. These songs (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four, I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time) are all fantastic. This certainly left an impression on audiences of the time, and The Andrew Sisters would appear in the next two Abbott and Costello movies (In the Navy (1941), Hold That Ghost (1941)). Even Jane Frazee receives a delightful song number (I Wish You Were Here). The music would lead this film to receiving its only two Academy Award nominations, for best musical score (Charles Previn) and best song (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B).

For this film former writer Alex Gottlieb (tell me that name doesn't make any of my fellow movie fans automatically think of A Night at the Opera (1935)) was promoted to a producer. He was not the first chosen to produce this film. In fact Universal executive Milton Field told him he was "the twenty-seventh writer I've talked to. Everyone else turned it down. They all want to be producers, too. But they all said that these are a couple of cheap burlesque comics who will never get anywhere." The reason Gottlieb agreed was that he had seen Bud and Lou preform in person and was very impressed by the effect the had on audiences. Gottlieb would tell Field, "I will be the star producer on your lot, I will make Universal rich, and I will make stars out of Abbott and Costello."

The film was a huge hit out grossing very prestigious movies of the same year such as Citizen Kane, How Green is My Valley, Sargent York and Here Comes Mr. Jordon. Just as Alex Gottlieb predicted Abbott and Costello were now movie stars of the highest order. Many films would copy Buck Privates trying to repeat the success, but none were able to. One of these movies would even star the legendary comedy duo Laurel and Hardy (Great Guns (1941)).

This also marked the first Abbott and Costello film to feature Shemp Howard (of Three Stooges fame) in a supporting role. He also appeared in the Abbott and Costello movies, Hold That Ghost (1941), In the Navy (1941) and Africa Screams (1949). 

The following is from an issue of Screenland Magazine, "It's another one of those cases of long standing years of admiration which finally lead to a happy and unbelievable climax. You're seeing the once idolized Jack Mulhall in 'Buck Privates' today because he once was a movie hero to a stage struck high school boy back in Patterson, New Jersey. Jack Mulhall hailed from near Passiac and young Lou Costello felt that that made a particularly logical tie between them, and Lou got the movie bug very, very badly although he had never met Mulhall. In all the years of his struggle to gain recognition as an entertainer he never met the actor he admired above all others. It wasn't until a very few days before 'Buck Privates' was to go into production that he was introduced to Mulhall amid the bustle and rush of an executive's office at his studio. Lou let his bosses know that it had always been a boyhood dream to appear in a picture with Jack. That is the reason you're seeing this one time idol as the doctor in 'Buck Privates.'"  

This following page from The Exhibitor has a very special story about what happened during one showing of this movie. If you have any trouble reading click on the page and use your touch screen to zoom in.

     

Again I love the way theaters advertised movies back in the day and you can see a fine example of that on the following page from The Motion Picture Herald.











-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69830/Buck-Privates/articles.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033436/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt