Pardon My Sarong (1942)

A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their arrest, they tag along with a playboy on a boat trip that finds them on a tropical island, where a jewel thief has sinister plans for them.

Director:

Erle C. Kenton

Writers:

True Boardman (screenplay), Nat Perrin (screenplay),

Stars:

Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Virginia Bruce

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bud Abbott	...	Algernon 'Algy' Shaw
Lou Costello	...	Wellington Pflug, aka Moola
Virginia Bruce	...	Joan Marshall
Robert Paige	...	Tommy Layton
Lionel Atwill	...	Dr. Varnoff
Leif Erickson	...	Whaba (as Leif Erikson)
Nan Wynn	...	Luana
William Demarest	...	Det. Kendall
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Chief Kolua
Marie McDonald	...	Ferna
Janet Warren	...	Amo (as Elaine Morey)
The Ink Spots	...	Themselves (as The Four Ink Spots)
Tip Tap & Toe	...	Themselves (as Tip Tap and Toe)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Teddy Infuhr	...	Nemo (scenes deleted)
Maria Montez	...	(scenes deleted)

Storyline

A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their arrest, they tag along with a playboy on a boat trip that finds them on a tropical island, where a jewel thief has sinister plans for them.

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Plot Keywords:

bus | playboy | bus driver | tribal chief | fistfight | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Adventure

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Road to Montezuma

Filming Locations:

Salton Sea, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mayfair Productions Inc., Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Universal had smash hits with Bud Abbott's and Lou Costello's service comedies. With this film they tried to duplicate the box-office success that Paramount was having with the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope "Road" pictures. The experiment worked and this film exceeded the box-office grosses of their service comedies to become Abbott and Costello's biggest hit to date.

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Goofs

During the drink switching scene between Lou Costello and the native guy Lou Costello tricks the native guy into thinking that he switched the glasses when in fact he didn't. The two take a drink and put their glasses down but in the very next shot, the glasses are back in their hands.

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Quotes

Wellington Pflug, aka Moola: [after being told he has to go into the temple on top of a volcano, from which no one has ever returned] I'll go up there into that temple. I'll face danger.
Algernon 'Algy' Shaw: I knew you would.
Wellington Pflug, aka Moola: I don't care if the boogeyman's in there.
Algernon 'Algy' Shaw: Thatta boy.
Wellington Pflug, aka Moola: There's only one thing I want you to do.
Algernon 'Algy' Shaw: What's that?
Wellington Pflug, aka Moola: Talk me out of it.

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Soundtracks

"Deep in the Heart of Texas"
(1942) (uncredited)
from Heart of the Rio Grande
Music by Don Swander
Lyrics by June Hershey
One line sung a cappella by Lou Costello

User Reviews

Spotty

Probably not one of Abbott and Costello's shining moments. It's funny in spots ("Go ahead, back up"), but it lacks comic momentum. 5 musical numbers are simply too many for an 80-minute comedy. The numbers are interesting in their own right, but not well-integrated into the story, and not as catchy as some of those in another A & C film of the same period, "In The Navy". And although I have absolutely nothing against Black & White films, the tropical island setting of this one might have benefited from being shot in luscious Technicolor. On the plus side, the special effects are very impressive for their age, and as Luana, the island tribe chief's daughter, Nan Wynn is a dazzling exotic beauty

• without exaggeration, one of the most beautiful women I have EVER

seen. (**1/2)