The Time of Their Lives (1946)
The Time of Their Lives is the second and final film to feature Abbott and Costello working as two separate acts as opposed to a duo. Not only is it the superior of these two experimental films, but it’s also one of their best films period.
Costello plays Horatio Prim, a tinker who is engaged to Nora O’Leary (Ann Gillis) in 1780. Nora is a housemaid for Tom Danbury (Jess Barker), who is taking part in Benedict Arnold’s plans to betray the American army. Tom’s fiancée, Melody Allen (Marjorie Reynolds), finds out about the plot and along with Horatio attempts to expose the plot. Unfortunately, they are mistaken for traitors by American troops and shot to death. Their ghosts are cursed to stay on the estate until their innocence can be proved and 166 years later, they might get their chance when they discover a letter of commendation from George Washington to Horatio may still exist. With the help of some residents at the estate, they must find the letter to prove their innocence.
This is the most well thought-out story in an Abbott and Costello film. The backstory is handled perfectly and the ways that the ghosts interact with the modern day residents is also really well handled. Unlike in Little Giant, where Costello’s comedy style felt a bit unbalanced, here his style feels just like it usually does. He does all the double takes and overacting that you’d expect and it still works. There are dramatic moments, but they never feel out of place because the tone is clearly set from the beginning. This isn’t a comedy starring Abbott and Costello. Rather, it’s a serious story that happens to feature comedy from Costello.
Marjorie Reynolds is perfect as Melody. She’s the more sensible of the ghosts and the braver one as well, yet we also see that she’s very lonely. She tries not to show it often, which only makes it more heartbreaking when she does show those signs of loneliness. Even when she tries to flirt with Horatio, you still can’t help feeling bad for her despite the fact that he was engaged and she knew it. She doesn’t mean any harm by it; she wants to find love again after 166 years of loneliness. Costello himself has some of these moments, but mainly focuses on his comedy, as he should.
The rest of the cast does well too. Abbott once again plays a dual role: he’s a butler who attempted to steal Nora from Horatio back in 1780 and a doctor who happens to be a descendant of that butler in the modern age. Like in Little Giant, he’s able to maintain consistent performances both as an antagonist and as a sympathetic doctor who Horatio tortures out of fury towards what the butler had done to him in the past. It’s interesting too to see Horatio’s change in heart when he realizes that the doctor is actually trying to help him.
Again, this is mainly a dramatic film that happens to feature comedy. There aren’t any common Abbott and Costello routines to be found here, which is good since it’s a sign that Universal was actually willing to take a full risk on this movie as opposed to its predecessor. There still are some pretty good comedy scenes though. I love when Horatio accidentally electrocutes himself and the residents of the Danbury estate think that the ghosts are trying to send them some sort of sign as a result. They also take advantage of the ghost concept by having Melody do some seemingly simple tricks that Horatio just can’t seem to get right. There’s not a whole lot of comedy, but everything else is so great that it’s easy to forget that.
The Time of Their Lives is not the kind of film that you’d want to show a first-time fan of the duo; again, they’re not actually a team in this and the comedy, though there, is stronger in some of their other films. However, if you’re already a fan of the duo, then this is definitely worth checking out, as it’s one of their most coherent and interesting films. It’s a shame they didn’t make more films like this. After this, they went back to their usual formula, which sometimes produced a really funny result, but I can’t help but imagine how much better their output as a whole would have been had all their films been given the same kind of treatment as this one.
10 out of 10
This is the most well thought-out story in an Abbott and Costello film. The backstory is handled perfectly and the ways that the ghosts interact with the modern day residents is also really well handled. Unlike in Little Giant, where Costello’s comedy style felt a bit unbalanced, here his style feels just like it usually does. He does all the double takes and overacting that you’d expect and it still works. There are dramatic moments, but they never feel out of place because the tone is clearly set from the beginning. This isn’t a comedy starring Abbott and Costello. Rather, it’s a serious story that happens to feature comedy from Costello.
Marjorie Reynolds is perfect as Melody. She’s the more sensible of the ghosts and the braver one as well, yet we also see that she’s very lonely. She tries not to show it often, which only makes it more heartbreaking when she does show those signs of loneliness. Even when she tries to flirt with Horatio, you still can’t help feeling bad for her despite the fact that he was engaged and she knew it. She doesn’t mean any harm by it; she wants to find love again after 166 years of loneliness. Costello himself has some of these moments, but mainly focuses on his comedy, as he should.
The rest of the cast does well too. Abbott once again plays a dual role: he’s a butler who attempted to steal Nora from Horatio back in 1780 and a doctor who happens to be a descendant of that butler in the modern age. Like in Little Giant, he’s able to maintain consistent performances both as an antagonist and as a sympathetic doctor who Horatio tortures out of fury towards what the butler had done to him in the past. It’s interesting too to see Horatio’s change in heart when he realizes that the doctor is actually trying to help him.
Again, this is mainly a dramatic film that happens to feature comedy. There aren’t any common Abbott and Costello routines to be found here, which is good since it’s a sign that Universal was actually willing to take a full risk on this movie as opposed to its predecessor. There still are some pretty good comedy scenes though. I love when Horatio accidentally electrocutes himself and the residents of the Danbury estate think that the ghosts are trying to send them some sort of sign as a result. They also take advantage of the ghost concept by having Melody do some seemingly simple tricks that Horatio just can’t seem to get right. There’s not a whole lot of comedy, but everything else is so great that it’s easy to forget that.
The Time of Their Lives is not the kind of film that you’d want to show a first-time fan of the duo; again, they’re not actually a team in this and the comedy, though there, is stronger in some of their other films. However, if you’re already a fan of the duo, then this is definitely worth checking out, as it’s one of their most coherent and interesting films. It’s a shame they didn’t make more films like this. After this, they went back to their usual formula, which sometimes produced a really funny result, but I can’t help but imagine how much better their output as a whole would have been had all their films been given the same kind of treatment as this one.
10 out of 10
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