Hit the Ice (1943)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Charles Lamont

Writers:

True Boardman (story)
Robert Lees (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 June 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The Laughs Fall Thick as Snowflakes, as Abbott and Costello Go From Chasing Girls to Chasing Gangsters at a Gay Winter Resort!

Plot:

Two newspaper photographers get mixed up with gangsters at a ski resort.

Plot Keywords:

Resort | Photographer | Gangster | Singer | Bank Robbery

Cast

Bud Abbott	...	Flash Fulton
Lou Costello	...	Weejie 'Tubby' McCoy
Ginny Simms	...	Marcia Manning
Patric Knowles	...	Dr. Bill Elliot (Credits) / Dr. William 'Bill' Burns (in Film)
Elyse Knox	...	Nurse Peggy Osborne
Joe Sawyer	...	Buster - Silky's Henchman (as Joseph Sawyer)
Marc Lawrence	...	Phil - Silky's Henchman
Sheldon Leonard	...	Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby
Johnny Long and His Orchestra	...	Themselves
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nick Thompson	...	Husband (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Oh Doctor

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #9184) | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The film was started by director Erle C. Kenton. However, he and Lou Costello clashed on several occasions, and Kenton was fired and replaced by Charles Lamont.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tubby is packing his suitcase to get out of town, a drawer falls out of the dresser, onto the floor. In the next shot, the drawer is back in the dresser.

Quotes:

Weejie 'Tubby' McCoy: [trying to ice skate] Left foot, right foot, left foot, everybody's doing it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld (1994) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I'm Like a Fish Out of Water

Too slapstick-orientated

Bud and Lou walk into an apparently empty bank:

B: "Teller!"

L: "I'll tell her, where is she?"

B: "Where is who? I said teller"

L: "Tell her what?"

B: "Tell her nothing. I want a teller"

L: "Go ahead and tell her, I don't care!"

B: "No, teller in the bank"

L: "Tell her in the bank, tell her on the street, tell her anywhere you want, I won't listen"

"Hit the Ice" has some very funny verbal exchanges (the aforementioned "teller" routine had me in tears, followed by the "pack the grip" - "unpack the grip" one), and also some absurdist moments (check out the way they enter the mountain cabin). Less successful are Lou's pratfalls in the skating ring (seeing him fall flat on his face is not so funny after the 10th time it happens), and the climactic ski chase suffers from the obviousness of the rear projection. Kids will probably enjoy the slapstick parts more, but I imagine that most adults will prefer the verbal humor.

Ginny Simms' songs are forgettable and time-wasting, but at least we get to look at her - she was a remarkably beautiful woman. (**1/2)