I guess it depends on your fondness for Abbot & Costello as a team but for me this is without question the best film the team ever made with Buck Privates a close second.
The pair share hardly any screen time together due to the demands of the script and also apparently because of behind the scenes tensions between the team. It all works to the film's advantage since it gives a freshness to their material. It also helps that both are paired with compatible partners, Abbot more than one.
Marjorie Reynolds' kindly patience with the sweet but dithering Lou adds a great deal of charm to their scenes, and makes him less buffoonish, as wronged ghosts frustrated by their inability to prove their innocence. In the modern section Bud has a fine bunch of co-stars with two standouts: Gale Sondergaard doing a fun riff on Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca and the delightful Binnie Barnes cracking wise at every opportunity.
The cast is great but they are fortunate to have a decent script with a nice set up to work with. The gentle humor of the tale is a pleasant change from the usual silliness of most A&C films which while initially amusing can wear thin pretty quickly.
The pair share hardly any screen time together due to the demands of the script and also apparently because of behind the scenes tensions between the team. It all works to the film's advantage since it gives a freshness to their material. It also helps that both are paired with compatible partners, Abbot more than one.
Marjorie Reynolds' kindly patience with the sweet but dithering Lou adds a great deal of charm to their scenes, and makes him less buffoonish, as wronged ghosts frustrated by their inability to prove their innocence. In the modern section Bud has a fine bunch of co-stars with two standouts: Gale Sondergaard doing a fun riff on Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca and the delightful Binnie Barnes cracking wise at every opportunity.
The cast is great but they are fortunate to have a decent script with a nice set up to work with. The gentle humor of the tale is a pleasant change from the usual silliness of most A&C films which while initially amusing can wear thin pretty quickly.