The Abbott and Costello films are a mixed bag with routine plots, oft repeated jokes and mean spirited gags not always resulting in a completely satisfying comical experience. The early Universal films scored with musical sequences while later ones got better by mixing the men with the monsters. A new contract in 1948 resulted in one film every so often at another studio (not counting the three they did earlier at MGM), and a visit to poverty row results in a much better film, overloaded with hysterics and Costello on equal terms with Abbott, not as abused by him as before.
This was interestingly enough a remake of a B Universal comedy "For Love or Money" (1939), a mediocre film I got to see a few years ago. My review indicates I didn't care for it, so I was surprised to discover that the remake was obviously better. Going from window washers to messengers (with a stop at the dentist's along the way), Abbott and Costello deal with the mob when they accidentally loose a big envelope of their money, accidentally mailed to wealthy Isabel Randolph. Her secretary, Catherine Downs, ends up with it, but unfortunately, most of it's been spent.
With Leon Errol tossed in as a gambler trying to fleece them and Joseph Calleia and Mike Mazurki as the mobsters, there's lots of comic buffoonery going on. Fritz Feld as a nervous psychiatrist and Murray Leonard as a daffy dentist also adds to the fun, with Bess Flowers as Feld's sophisticated patient. Errol steals every scene with his rubber legged, rubber faced comic timing, equally as amusing as his dual roles in the "Mexican Spitfire" series. They say no noose is good noose, but in this case, they're wrong.
This was interestingly enough a remake of a B Universal comedy "For Love or Money" (1939), a mediocre film I got to see a few years ago. My review indicates I didn't care for it, so I was surprised to discover that the remake was obviously better. Going from window washers to messengers (with a stop at the dentist's along the way), Abbott and Costello deal with the mob when they accidentally loose a big envelope of their money, accidentally mailed to wealthy Isabel Randolph. Her secretary, Catherine Downs, ends up with it, but unfortunately, most of it's been spent.
With Leon Errol tossed in as a gambler trying to fleece them and Joseph Calleia and Mike Mazurki as the mobsters, there's lots of comic buffoonery going on. Fritz Feld as a nervous psychiatrist and Murray Leonard as a daffy dentist also adds to the fun, with Bess Flowers as Feld's sophisticated patient. Errol steals every scene with his rubber legged, rubber faced comic timing, equally as amusing as his dual roles in the "Mexican Spitfire" series. They say no noose is good noose, but in this case, they're wrong.