Talk About Cinema

This blog is not dedicated specifically to Abbott and Costello, so for this next review I chose The Phantom Tollbooth , one of only two feature films directed by the legendary animator, Chuck Jones (the other, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie was a compilation film featuring new bridging sequences). For those of you who don’t know who Chuck Jones is, he was an animation director on many of the classic Warner Brothers cartoons, directing some of the most highly regarded cartoons ever, including Duck Amuck , One Froggy Evening , and What’s Opera, Doc? In the early 1960s, Jones was fired from Warner Bros. when they discovered that he had breached his contract by co-writing the UPA feature film, Gay Purr-ee . Jones then started his own production company, Sib Tower 12 Productions. At first, he was contracted to work mainly on new theatrical Tom and Jerry cartoons for MGM. However, Jones soon found himself adapting already famous properties into animation: he adapted two Dr. Seuss book...

The re-issue trailer for In the Navy : In the Navy follows Buck Privates in the release order, though initially Hold That Ghost was supposed to fill this spot, as it went into production after Buck Privates . However, after the huge success of Buck Privates , Universal decided to shelve Hold That Ghost and instead make another service comedy with Abbott and Costello, only this time dealing with the Navy instead of the Army. Knowing that this is basically capitalizing off of the success of Buck Privates (to the point that they even make a joke with the title ) , I find it ironic that I consider this to be a much better put together film. Tommy Halstead (Dick Powell) is a popular singer under the name of Russ Raymond. One day he decides to join the Navy and his disappearance becomes a huge scandal. Dorothy Roberts (Claire Dodd) is a reporter who tracks him down and attempts to get photographic evidence of where he is. Meanwhile, the Navy also has to deal with the antics o...

The trailer for Buck Privates : Buck Privates is the first film to actually star Abbott and Costello and unlike One Night in the Tropics it was successful enough to cement Abbott and Costello as top-draw box office power. The question is, does this film hold up as well as its reputation back then? Well...let’s see. Slicker Smith (Abbott) and Herbie Brown (Costello) are running from an officer when they accidentally enlist themselves in the Army, thinking they’re about to go see a movie. Joining them are the spoiled playboy Randolph Parker III (Lee Bowman) and his former valet Bob Martin (Alan Curtis) as well as the officer who was chasing them earlier (Nat Pendleton). Smith and Brown must learn the ways of the army while Smith and Brown both find themselves attracted to the same girl, Judy Gray (Jane Frazee), all the while Parker learns the value of hard work...yeah, it’s that kind of story. So the obvious big improvement over One Night in the Tropics is that Abbott ...

So let’s start talking about Abbott and Costello. Most general audiences should know at least their most famous routine: Who’s On First?, and, hey, that’s not a bad thing for them to be remembered for. It is a perfect example of just how perfectly the two worked off of each other. This, as well as many of their other famous routines, was not specifically written for them, having originated in burlesque. It was the way they worked off of each other, though, that really made it their own. Their speed was remarkably fast in these routines, yet you never get the feeling it’s being rushed, because their timing was that perfect. Not that they were necessarily the best comedy team in terms of character, though; often you do get the feeling that the two would be better off without each other, due to Costello’s incompetence and Abbott’s tendency to con his friend. Compare this to Laurel and Hardy, who you often feel they depend on each other and often drop hints that they truly do care for each...

Welcome to this blog. As you can tell by my username, I am a huge fan of classic movies, particularly comedies and animation and very much enjoy talking about them. Basically this blog will serve as a place for me to review whatever I feel like reviewing at the moment. I do enjoy modern movies as well and may talk about that every now and then, though for now I will focus mostly on films of the past. Currently, I’m planning on starting to review the Abbott and Costello film series as my first reviews on this blog, so hopefully I can do at least one of those as soon as possible. Keep in mind that I am not particularly great at keeping a regular schedule, so I’m not going to keep any promises on how much content at a time you can expect. Also, if you agree or disagree with any of my opinions on these movies, feel free to talk about your thoughts in the comments. I enjoy hearing different perspectives and would enjoy having some discussion on these in the comments whenever I get a chanc...