Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

JohnHowardReid Associate producer: Alex Gottlieb. Copyright 26 October 1942 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 2 December 1942. U.S. release: 6 November 1942. Australian release: 13 July 1944 (sic). 8 reels. 6,934 feet. 77 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A couple of dumb soda-jerks try their hand at being detectives.NOTES: Universal's top-grossing domestic release of 1942, pipping another Abbott & Costello feature also produced by Gottlieb and directed by Kenton, Pardon My Sarong.COMMENT: Having kidded the Gothic mystery genre in Hold That Ghost (1941), it was inevitable that Abbott and Costello should turn to the straight detective thriller for further inspiration. After some clever opening titles where they are seen in silhouette, Abbott and Costello do not re-appear for ten minutes or so while the script lays the groundwork for what appears to be an elaborate plot. But when our heroes do come on, they stay on! The plot is virtually forgotten and no further attempt is made to whet our appetites as to the identity of the killer - beyond a rapid series of close-ups before the broadcast - whose motives, when he is revealed, remain somewhat obscure. Nonetheless, despite the directors' failure to generate much atmosphere and his generally lead-footed approach, A&C are in good form and run through just about every one of their standard routines. And there is a stand-out climax which despite its obvious studio construction, is a real seat-gripper. A good support cast help Abbott and Costello with the laughs, particularly William Bendix as an even dumber detective than Lou. We also enjoyed Walter Tetley's chiselling elevator boy. He makes a great stooge for Lou and it's a shame he's not used after his two opening scenes. John Grant has supplied the boys with some classic vaudeville routines, including the disappearing water-jet and the famous "Alexander 2222" in which a wonderful collection of goofy oddballs manage to place crazy, long-distance calls whilst the dumbfounded Lou can't even get connected to the broadcasting studio across the street. A pity the direction is so flat, Lou is forced to extract all the humor virtually unaided. Fortunately an appropriate who-done-it atmosphere is occasionally created by Charles Van Enger's moodily noirish lighting. Skinner's music helps too, especially in the satirically observed broadcast scenes. A good effort, but it could have been richer and funnier with less flat-footed direction.

bellquest08 Abbott and Costello amaze me. Where are the comedians today that even resemble these two in their dictum and style? They're profound comedians in every sense of the world.Pheonmenally funny when finding the killers or chasing ghosts!Who Done It is by far one of the duo's best films. Unlike the service comedies, it doesn't date easily, but rather highlights what it was like to be around during the Forties. A strong supporting cast, led by the able characters keep the laughs coming almost non-stop. Their chemistry with Lou Costello does not go unnoticed, either, by the sharp-eyed film fan. All in all, if I am showing only one A & C comedy to a group of students who have never viewed their work, this is the one I'd show.

lugonian WHO DONE IT? (Universal, 1942), directed by Erle C. Kenton, is a perfect example of how good a comedy can and should be, a fast-paced story with murder mystery combined. The result: 77 minutes of non-stop fun. Starring the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, this is prime Abbott and Costello, and the first to actually showcase them to best advantage, having the movie all to themselves, much to the delight of their fans.Plot summary: Chick Larkin (Bud Abbott) and Marvin Q. Milgrim (Lou Costello) are a couple of soda jerks (no pun intended) at the Radio Center drug store where they hope to interest somebody in using their "Muck and Myer" script to land them jobs as mystery writers for GBS radio. Jimmy Turner (Patric Knowles), a former English college professor, is hired as a new staff writer for the "Murder at Midnight" program, thanks to Jane Little (Louise Allbritton), his former sweetheart and the show's producer. This does not fare well with its Marco Heller (Jerome Cowan), who fears of losing his job as top writer. While Chick and Marvin attend the broadcast of "Murder at Midnight," Colonel J.R. Andrews (Thomas Gomez), executive director and producer, about to make an important announcement, suddenly dies. His physician, Dr. Merek (Ludwig Stossell) diagnoses it as his failing heart but Jimmy discovers the victim was electrocuted and calls it murder. Chick and Marvin take the opportunity to act as detectives to solve the mystery themselves, even when Moran (William Gargan) and Brannigan (William Bendix), take over as investigators and wanting to place the two phoneys under arrest. Later, Marek is found murdered and a mysterious figure is seen roaming about the building. Juliet Collins (Mary Wickes), the script girl and executive secretary to the late Colonel Andrews, assists Chick and Mervin, in spite the fact that Mervin, who she has become interested, is using her to break into the radio business. Juliet even keeps the two from the clutches of the detectives. While doing a little detecting of his own, Jimmy finds a secret panel in Andrews' office consisting of coded messages, learning that a spy had been using the network to relay information over the air. Feeling he has discovered a motive, Jimmy, with the help of Jane, decides to re-enact the "Murder at Midnight" broadcast in order to trap the real killer. Easier said than done with Chick and Marvin around.With plenty of gags, inside humor and classic A&C routines expertly worked into the plot, WHO DONE IT? has everything going for it, highlighted by atmospheric scenery, a wild roof top chase resembling that of a silent Harold Lloyd comedy (with Costello hanging onto a extended flag pole way above the city streets), and a well-kept secret to the killer's identity, which is enough to categorize this as a top-notch mystery-comedy. Aside from the question of "Who done it?," memorable stunts include Lou's involvement with an obnoxious elevator boy who tricks him into giving him five drinks of lemonade for the price of one; getting duped out of tickets to a broadcast; and by getting short-changed ("give me two dimes for a nickel"). For the record, the obnoxious elevator boy is wonderfully played by Walter Tetley, not by Bud Abbott Jr.Other key A&C scenes include: "Limberger cheese" (where Lou serves the ultra smelling item to a customer while wearing a gas mask); Lou's facial expressions in fright; the Bud and Lou exchanges of "Votes and Volts," reminiscent to their classic "baseball" routine that's also worked into the plot without them enacting it. See how that's done. The big topper of them all is Lou meeting his match, tricking a dopey detective (William Bendix) into getting himself handcuffed. (This handcuff routine was reworked with Costello and Charles Laughton in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD (1952)). Let's not forget Costello's finest solo routine set in a drug store phone booth across the street from the radio station as he attempts to get through to "Alexander 2222" to claim his $10,000 prize from the "Wheel of Fortune" contest. Never able to get through becomes nerve racking, especially when everyone else is able to make their calls successfully. Character actress Gladys Blake takes part of this priceless bit as the perky operator with the nasal reply of either "The line is busy," or "Number, please?" Although musical interludes could have easily been worked into the script, being set at a radio station and all, and having the popular Andrews Sisters supplying a song or two as part of the radio hour, it wasn't for the benefit not slowing down the pace. With a fine assortment of character actors, Mary Wickes, in a Joan Davis-type performance, is an excellent foil for Costello. Sadly, their second and final collaboration, DANCE WITH ME, HENRY (1956), was far from being the best effort for both.While not as notable today as ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948), WHO DONE IT is highly recommended viewing. Aside from availability on video cassette and DVD, it's cable TV history consisted of the Comedy Channel during the late 1980s, and American Movie Classics circa 2001. (***1/2)

Bill Slocum There are better films featuring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, but "Who Done It" is as good a way as any to discover why the comedy pair was one of the 1940s' most consistent box office draws. It's a marvelously elongated piece of slapstick comedy that showcases Bud and Lou in peak form.Chick (Bud) and Mervin (Lou) are soda jerks at the Radio Center Drug Store, located in the same building where GBS broadcasts radio shows across the country. The pair want to write a mystery, so when the network director is mysteriously murdered on the air, they jump at the chance to solve the case and prove their smarts. Needless to say, this impromptu sleuthing annoys the real police, and Chick and Mervin are soon on the run.Just about a year into their 16-year run, "Who Done It" finds Abbott and Costello bursting with energy, utilizing the confines of a radio station as background for their trademark pratfalls and patter. Even when the dialogue is less than stellar, it works at sustaining the energy and proving there was nothing too illogical for Abbott and Costello."Why wasn't this murder reported yesterday," Mervin demands as he shows up seconds after the murder, playing a cop.Because it didn't happen yet, is the answer."Why wait until the last minute...You're going to get the electric chair, and two years besides!"Before you can register enough to groan about that one, Chick is educating Mervin on watts and volts. "What's volts?" "Exactly, watts are volts." "That's what I'm trying to find out...Next thing you'll tell me watts is on second!"Then you get one of the best bits Abbott and Costello ever did on film, the Alexander 2222 routine, where Mervin tries to call the radio station from a drug store across the street and can't get through, even as a bevy of bizarre characters step into the same phone booth to call places like Nome, Alaska and Moscow. "Long distance, get me Brazil. Hello, Brazil. Is this Joe? Hi Joe! How's the coffee business?" There's lots of great silliness here, my favorite being when Lou for no reason bursts into opera.As theowinthrop notes in his review, this is an interesting Abbott & Costello film for its focus on radio, which broke them as a national phenomenon and where they continued to work throughout their film career. There's a nice bit where Chick and Mervin, behind the counter of their drug store, act out their radio script with ice-cream scoopers ("'The Midget Gets The Chair,' or 'Small Fry'") and clever use of the tools of radio, like recordings that are activated at the wrong moment, and a prop door Mervin mistakes for the real thing. Walk through one door, and you are in a dark office where a murderer lurks, walk through another and you are in the middle of an acrobatic act.Why is there an acrobatic act being performed at a radio station? Why are Chick and Mervin entrusted with the one piece of evidence by someone who knows they aren't cops? How does Mervin manage to climb up the side of a building after taking a flagpole in the crotch? Watching an Abbott and Costello movie, you have to ignore stuff like that.But what you get in "Who Done It" is worth the sacrifice. You get a first-rate supporting cast including the memorable Mary Wilkes, Patric Knowles from "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Edmund MacDonald from "Flying Tigers," and most effectively, William Bendix as a dopey detective who actually manages to get himself tricked by Lou. There's also a great finale on the roof of a building that combines laughs and suspense as effectively as anything in the more-heralded "Meets Frankenstein."Later on, the films got weaker as Lou pushed Bud to the side and showcased himself more as cuddly man-child. But here the pair was still hungry for laughs and experienced enough to understand what worked. They gave the public what they wanted with "Who Done It," and its a tribute to their lasting genius such a light endeavor still holds up today.