Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)
Here Come the Co-Eds is Abbott and Costello’s contribution to the college movie sub-genre, which had been especially popular with Golden Age comedians, and while the film is no Horse Feathers or The Freshman, they still managed to create an enjoyable film that maintains a fairly good pace throughout.
Slats (Abbott) puts together a publicity stunt for his sister Molly (Martha O’Driscoll) in which she pretends to be interested in Bixby College. She is eventually accepted to the school on a scholarship, while Slats and his friend Oliver Quackenbush (Costello) are hired as caretakers. Chairman Kirkland (Charles Dingle), who holds the mortgage for the college, is not happy with her being offered the scholarship and threatens to close down the school unless she is expelled, so the school must raise the money for the mortgage in order to both keep the school open as well as allowing an expansion in their athletics program.
The music is a bit hit-and-miss here. Some of the music is actually really good, particularly the performances by Phil Spitalny’s All-Girl Orchestra, who, like Jimmy Dorsey’s orchestra in Lost in a Harem, do tie into the main storyline by helping to raise money for the school. There’s also a cute number called “Let’s Play House” that’s performed by Costello and Peggy Ryan. Ryan later performs a number called “Jumping On A Saturday Night.” The song itself is kind of boring, though Ryan’s impressive tap dance during this makes up for it. Unfortunately, there still are a few other tedious musical numbers in this film, though the fact that there are any good songs at all already makes this an improvement over the previous two Universal Abbott and Costello films. Keeping in touch with the more recent films in Abbott and Costello’s Universal series, the romance stays out of the way for most of the film.
Abbott and Costello have good material to work with throughout most of the film. There’s a really good scene towards the beginning where Costello has a couple run-ins with a nearsighted man (Richard Lane) who thinks all of Costello’s dancing partners are his wife, and the man beats up Costello for it. Peggy Ryan and Lon Chaney, Jr. also give entertaining performances and contribute to some of the comedy routines, including a bed routine in which Costello has to keep Chaney from spotting Ryan under his bed (it’s not as bad as it sounds!) as well as a wrestling bit. If I had to pick my favorite scene, it would probably be the part where Costello swallows a pair of dice and Abbott and Chaney shake him up and play a dice game by X-Raying the results.
Unfortunately, not every routine is a hit. The performance of Jonah and the Whale in this film is ruined by the constant laughing of the class that serves as their audience (predating the use of laugh tracks in the future that told audiences where specifically to laugh, as opposed to a natural live audience). I’m also not fond of Costello’s attempt at doing the Three Stooges’ clam chowder routine from Dutiful But Dumb, though I will say that he does it better than Moe does in Shivering Sherlocks. Still, his performance does pale in comparison to Curly’s. I should also mention that, like In Society, the main plot is kind of reminiscent of a Three Stooges plot, in this case Violent is the Word for Curly. However, besides the chowder routine, the material this time actually does feel suited to Abbott and Costello and there still are some noticeable differences between the two plots, such as the fact that the Stooges are mistaken for professors.
Here Come the Co-Eds has enough charm to it that I‘d say it’s worth a look. It does have a few tedious moments, though they’re not as prominent as in some of their other films and the story is pretty interesting throughout. Basically, if you don’t like the concept of Abbott and Costello going to college, then you probably won’t find much enjoyment out of it, but if you do like the concept, then this film should deliver.
8 out of 10
Slats (Abbott) puts together a publicity stunt for his sister Molly (Martha O’Driscoll) in which she pretends to be interested in Bixby College. She is eventually accepted to the school on a scholarship, while Slats and his friend Oliver Quackenbush (Costello) are hired as caretakers. Chairman Kirkland (Charles Dingle), who holds the mortgage for the college, is not happy with her being offered the scholarship and threatens to close down the school unless she is expelled, so the school must raise the money for the mortgage in order to both keep the school open as well as allowing an expansion in their athletics program.
The music is a bit hit-and-miss here. Some of the music is actually really good, particularly the performances by Phil Spitalny’s All-Girl Orchestra, who, like Jimmy Dorsey’s orchestra in Lost in a Harem, do tie into the main storyline by helping to raise money for the school. There’s also a cute number called “Let’s Play House” that’s performed by Costello and Peggy Ryan. Ryan later performs a number called “Jumping On A Saturday Night.” The song itself is kind of boring, though Ryan’s impressive tap dance during this makes up for it. Unfortunately, there still are a few other tedious musical numbers in this film, though the fact that there are any good songs at all already makes this an improvement over the previous two Universal Abbott and Costello films. Keeping in touch with the more recent films in Abbott and Costello’s Universal series, the romance stays out of the way for most of the film.
Abbott and Costello have good material to work with throughout most of the film. There’s a really good scene towards the beginning where Costello has a couple run-ins with a nearsighted man (Richard Lane) who thinks all of Costello’s dancing partners are his wife, and the man beats up Costello for it. Peggy Ryan and Lon Chaney, Jr. also give entertaining performances and contribute to some of the comedy routines, including a bed routine in which Costello has to keep Chaney from spotting Ryan under his bed (it’s not as bad as it sounds!) as well as a wrestling bit. If I had to pick my favorite scene, it would probably be the part where Costello swallows a pair of dice and Abbott and Chaney shake him up and play a dice game by X-Raying the results.
Unfortunately, not every routine is a hit. The performance of Jonah and the Whale in this film is ruined by the constant laughing of the class that serves as their audience (predating the use of laugh tracks in the future that told audiences where specifically to laugh, as opposed to a natural live audience). I’m also not fond of Costello’s attempt at doing the Three Stooges’ clam chowder routine from Dutiful But Dumb, though I will say that he does it better than Moe does in Shivering Sherlocks. Still, his performance does pale in comparison to Curly’s. I should also mention that, like In Society, the main plot is kind of reminiscent of a Three Stooges plot, in this case Violent is the Word for Curly. However, besides the chowder routine, the material this time actually does feel suited to Abbott and Costello and there still are some noticeable differences between the two plots, such as the fact that the Stooges are mistaken for professors.
Here Come the Co-Eds has enough charm to it that I‘d say it’s worth a look. It does have a few tedious moments, though they’re not as prominent as in some of their other films and the story is pretty interesting throughout. Basically, if you don’t like the concept of Abbott and Costello going to college, then you probably won’t find much enjoyment out of it, but if you do like the concept, then this film should deliver.
8 out of 10
Comments
Post a Comment