Buck Privates Come Home (1947)

Director:

Charles Barton

Writers:

Richard Macaulay (story) &
Bradford Ropes (story) ...

Release Date:

4 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They're Out of the Army!

Plot:

Two ex-soldiers return from overseas--one of them having smuggled into the country a French orphan girl he has become attached to...

Plot Keywords:

Race Car | Sequel | Abbott And Costello | War Orphan | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Bud Abbott	...	Slicker Smith
Lou Costello	...	Herbie Brown
Tom Brown	...	Bill Gregory
Joan Shawlee	...	Sylvia Hunter (as Joan Fulton)
Nat Pendleton	...	Sgt. Michael Collins
Beverly Simmons	...	Yvonne 'Evie' LeBrec
Don Porter	...	Capt. Christie
Donald MacBride	...	Police captain
Don Beddoe	...	Mr. Roberts (State Department)
Charles Trowbridge	...	J.P. Quince (banker)
Russell Hicks	...	William Appleby (president, Appleby Motors)
Joe Kirk	...	Grant Realty salesman
Knox Manning	...	Introductory narrator
Milburn Stone	...	Auto race announcer

Also Known As:

Rookies Come Home (UK)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

His reprise of the role of Sergeant Collins from Buck Privates (1941) became the final film role for Nat Pendleton.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Movie Orgy (1968)

A decent sequel

After two box office disappointments in a row ("Little Giant" and "The Time of Their Lives"), Universal put Abbott and Costello back into familiar territory with a sequel to "Buck Privates." Here, the boys return from France to find familiarity in civilian life by selling ties on a street corner again. Costello has stowed away Evie, the French girl who was the camp mascot, aboard ship, and now must find a way for her to stay in the US.

Through a series of situations and some funny material, A&C make the best of a sometimes weak script. The film has little continuity from the original "Buck Privates", which explains the excerpt from the original film during the first ten minutes. For continuity's sake, the movie does get a big boost by the return of Nat Pendleton as the sergeant. It also helps matters much when we get to see Costello get a couple of shots into Pendleton -- especially after the abuse he receives from him in the two films! Passable entertainment, and A&C fit back into their old characters well. 6 out of 10.