Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

S. Sylvan Simon

Writers:

Nat Perrin (story) and
Martin A. Gosch (story)

Release Date:

5 October 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Your favorite SCREEN TEAM is on the SCREAM BEAM!

Plot:

When two bumbling barbers act as agents for a talented but unknown singer, they stage a phony murder in order to get him a plum role.

Plot Keywords:

Agent | Singer | Barber | Earplug | Insomnia

Cast

Bud Abbott	...	Buzz Kurtis
Lou Costello	...	Abercrombie
Frances Rafferty	...	Claire Warren
Bob Stanton	...	Jeff Parker (as Robert Stanton)
Jean Porter	...	Ruthie
Warner Anderson	...	Norman Royce
Rags Ragland	...	Himself (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Mike Mazurki	...	Klondike Pete
Carleton G. Young	...	Gregory LeMaise
Donald MacBride	...	Dennis Kavanaugh
Edgar Dearing	...	First Studio Cop
Marion Martin	...	Miss Milbane
Arthur Space	...	Director
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Kavanaugh's Assistant (as Wm. 'Bill' Phillips)

Also Known As:

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

83 min | Argentina:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Finland:S | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

After the disappointing performance of this film at the box office, MGM dropped its option to produce more Bud Abbott & Lou Costello films.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During Costello's shaving scene, members of the crew can be heard laughing off-camera.

Quotes:

Abercrombie: I gotta break the date.
Ruthie: What date?
Abercrombie: Don't you remember? June 22nd?
Ruthie: June 22nd? I don't remwember anything about a date.
Abercrombie: Oh, yes. Don't you remember? I said I was gonna take you to the Palladium a long time ago, and you said, 'See me next year.' Well, tonight the year is up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Cocabola Tree

Disappointingly weak romp for Bud & Lou

I grew up with Abbott & Costello's movies and show (and even their cartoon) back on WPIX in the 1970s. In my eyes, they were the best comedy team ever, easily besting Laurel & Hardy, Martin & Lewis and Hope & Crosby. Having recently begun re-watching A&C movies, I was reminded of just how funny they were. That is, until I got to "A&C in Hollywood." I didn't remember having seen it before, likely because WPIX only played A&C's Universal classics.

The problem here is that more than most other A&C movies, this was a bunch of gags loosely strung together with a weak story. Many of the gags weren't very funny and several of them just went on far too long, among them Costello hiding out as a stunt dummy on the set of a western and Costello having insomnia. The latter was especially tiresome. It went on for what seemed like 10-15 minutes and didn't advance the plot at all. How many times do we need to see A&C stuffing cotton in their ears, plucking it out, then repeating the process?

Even more disturbing was their plan to eliminate their client's rival. Framing the man for a fake murder? That's definitely not A&C's style. They had always had harmless if sometimes negligent fun, but this crossed the line into outright crime.

For a better take on the basic premise of this movie (two nobodies try to break into show business, with Costello being chased by an angry villain in the climax), try "Who Done It?" That film about two soda jerks trying to become radio mystery writers, made three years before this one, was a much better effort for both of them.