Odds bodkins and spotty widgeons! Just as in the Abbott and Costello movie that was released prior to this one, "Little Giant", Bud and Lou do not appear together as a team, and quite coincidentally, Bud shows up as two different characters once again with opposite personalities. One's a mean spirited cad who wants to steal Horatio Prim's (Costello) girl, and later in the modern day setting of the story, someone who's willing to help the ghost of Horatio and Melody Allen (Marjorie Reynolds) clear their names of being accused as traitors to the American Revolutionary cause.
Not following the formula of the very early A&C comedies seems to have worked well for the boys. Personally, I enjoy the stories with the repeated gags and song offerings, but when I plug this title into my list of already viewed Abbott and Costello films (twenty seven to date), and rank them in IMDb rating order, this one comes out Number #1. I don't know if that will remain the case as I try to make my way through all their films, but we'll see.
This picture reminded me a lot of another Forties movie I watched just recently titled "I Married a Witch". Both used a similar ghostly theme spanning the decades from well in the past to a present day era, and both were positioned as comedies. This one begins during America's Revolutionary War period, with treachery afoot when Thomas Danbury (Jess Barker) conspires with Benedict Arnold to hand over West Point to the British. Horatio and Melody Allen find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and are mistaken for associates of Danbury, chased by patriot Major Putnam (Robert Barrat), and shot! Their bodies wind up at the bottom of a well, with a curse that leaves some wiggle room for the pair's ghosts to claim their innocence. What will provide that proof is a personal letter from George Washington that would exonerate Horatio as a loyal patriot.
It's not until the story fast forwards that the hunt begins for the long lost document. Positioned as a ghost story, one expects all the various sight gags and pratfalls that come with a couple of invisible protagonists. On the human side, actress Gale Sondergaard does her best to conjure of the spirits of Horatio and Melody as a psychic medium. With an additional twist, the Washington letter is eventually retrieved, allowing Horatio to reunite with his girlfriend from the past (Ann Gillis) in a finale that's both happy and somewhat bittersweet. Even heaven winds up closed for Washington's Birthday!
The only thing that bothered me about the story is something I'm still thinking about. Wouldn't it have made more sense, if Horatio and Melody had to become ghosts, to have them killed by the Tories loyal to the British instead of soldiers fighting for the patriots? There's any number of ways the writers could have pulled that off using the mistaken identity plot. I wonder why they didn't think of that.
Not following the formula of the very early A&C comedies seems to have worked well for the boys. Personally, I enjoy the stories with the repeated gags and song offerings, but when I plug this title into my list of already viewed Abbott and Costello films (twenty seven to date), and rank them in IMDb rating order, this one comes out Number #1. I don't know if that will remain the case as I try to make my way through all their films, but we'll see.
This picture reminded me a lot of another Forties movie I watched just recently titled "I Married a Witch". Both used a similar ghostly theme spanning the decades from well in the past to a present day era, and both were positioned as comedies. This one begins during America's Revolutionary War period, with treachery afoot when Thomas Danbury (Jess Barker) conspires with Benedict Arnold to hand over West Point to the British. Horatio and Melody Allen find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and are mistaken for associates of Danbury, chased by patriot Major Putnam (Robert Barrat), and shot! Their bodies wind up at the bottom of a well, with a curse that leaves some wiggle room for the pair's ghosts to claim their innocence. What will provide that proof is a personal letter from George Washington that would exonerate Horatio as a loyal patriot.
It's not until the story fast forwards that the hunt begins for the long lost document. Positioned as a ghost story, one expects all the various sight gags and pratfalls that come with a couple of invisible protagonists. On the human side, actress Gale Sondergaard does her best to conjure of the spirits of Horatio and Melody as a psychic medium. With an additional twist, the Washington letter is eventually retrieved, allowing Horatio to reunite with his girlfriend from the past (Ann Gillis) in a finale that's both happy and somewhat bittersweet. Even heaven winds up closed for Washington's Birthday!
The only thing that bothered me about the story is something I'm still thinking about. Wouldn't it have made more sense, if Horatio and Melody had to become ghosts, to have them killed by the Tories loyal to the British instead of soldiers fighting for the patriots? There's any number of ways the writers could have pulled that off using the mistaken identity plot. I wonder why they didn't think of that.