Little Giant (1946)

Lou Costello plays a country bumpkin vacuum-cleaner salesman, working for the company run by the crooked Bud Abbott. To try to keep him under his thumb, Abbott convinces Costello that he's ... See full summary »

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

Richard Collins (story), Walter DeLeon (screenplay) (as Walter De Leon)

Stars:

Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Brenda Joyce

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bud Abbott	...	Eddie L. Morrison / T.S. Chandler
Lou Costello	...	Benny Miller
Brenda Joyce	...	Miss Ruby Burke
Jacqueline deWit	...	Hazel Temple Morrison (as Jacqueline de Wit)
George Cleveland	...	Clarence Goodring
Elena Verdugo	...	Martha Hill
Mary Gordon	...	Ma Miller
Pierre Watkin	...	P.S. Van Loon
Donald MacBride	...	The conductor
Victor Kilian	...	Gus Anderson (salesman)
George Chandler	...	O'Brien (salesman)
Joe Kirk	...	Salesman
Harry Brown	...	Larry, Salesman
Beatrice Gray	...	Miss King
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Hendrickson

Storyline

Lou Costello plays a country bumpkin vacuum-cleaner salesman, working for the company run by the crooked Bud Abbott. To try to keep him under his thumb, Abbott convinces Costello that he's a crackerjack salesman. This comedy is somewhat like "The Time of Their Lives," in that Abbott and Costello don't have much screen time together and there are very few vaudeville bits woven into the plot.

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Plot Keywords:

salesman | vacuum cleaner | abbott and costello | mind reading | actor playing multiple roles | 

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Taglines:

They're Selling Vacuum Cleaners !

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Boy Wonder

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

C.S. Productions,Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lou Costello is mistaken for a male model and forced to strip, there is a very visible bandage on his right arm; that was to mask the bracelet containing the name of his baby son, who died in 1943, which the comic had welded closed so it could never be removed.

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Goofs

Abbott's toupee shifts noticeably during the "7 times 13 = 28" scene. (The "shift" is due to the fact that the scene was filmed after principal photography was completed. It was felt that at least one classic "routine" had to be inserted into the picture. You will notice that Lou is also heavier during this footage. Also filmed at this time was the routine with Sidney Fields, replacing a less confrontational sequence filmed with Eddy Waller.)

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Quotes

Benny Miller: Do you mind if I have a piece of candy while I wait on you?
Hazel Temple Morrison: Aren't you worried you're going to wear your teeth down to the bones?
Benny Miller: What?
Hazel Temple Morrison: You ate three packages of cracker jacks, two bags of peanuts, one of those red gooey apples on a stick, and three chocolate malked milkshakes.
Benny Miller: And don't forget the banana split, with a lot of fruit on it!

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Connections

Featured in The World of Abbott and Costello (1965)

User Reviews

Costello Door To Door

This is a little appreciated A&C film that actually is quite good. It has almost no music to interrupt it. Abbott has a dual role & is only with Costello in small parts of the film. When this was made, the boys were fighting so they tried not to do scenes together.

Director William Seiter has a lot to do with a lot of the difference here. Sidney Fields has a great sequence doing the straight man with Costello early in the film too.

This film has a funny/ fuzzy math routine (common core) that obviously is drawn straight from A&C's radio shows they did before the movies. There is a lot of good support for A&C in this movie. This is the only film where Costello does "pathos" type comedy and he is actually quite good at it.

Some critics rated this as the best A&C film that few people have seen. It is the first of 2 films which departed from their standard format. Maybe they should have fought more often as they are 2 of the stronger films the team did.

Overall, this is a good outing, and worth seeing. Universal has it on their DVD Franchise Collection, Volume 2 of 4 volumes.