ABBOTT AND COSTELLO-IN THE NAVY

 

"We've got a tomata in the potat-ta locker."

IN THE NAVY starts out great and is totally funny for the entire first three quarters with a reduced song count and a boy/girl story that's not so bad. The boys' characters seem more involved in the plot than BUCK PRIVATES and their timing is, if possible, even more funny and spot on. Don't get me wrong, I love BUCK PRIVATES and IN THE NAVY as well as all the boys' movies and the early ones have a certain charm to them. In addition, I get that the US, now in the war, was trying to make the best of it. IN THE NAVY, however, sags in the middle because after a great first three quarters, it starts in with musical number after musical number after musical number and dancing, too. Bud and Lou get the occasional cut away during these numbers so they still seem a part of the movie but really? That many musical numbers stops the movie cold at least four or five times. In addition, I think the makers of the movie went with the right decision to make Pomeroy (Costello)'s sham as a fake captain directing the ship and almost killing everyone a dream was the right one. It DID make everyone look as stupid as Costello was supposed to look. In this movie, though, everyone notices Costello's importance as a person and a cute one at that ("Say, you're cute!", the main actress says). I'm sorry but even the Andrews Sisters cannot make these songs that likeable. The routines, the jokes, the in-between bits, and the ad libs as well as Costello's laughing as he just cracks up during the "give me the water" routine is engaging, charming and fun. IN THE NAVY, like BUCK PRIVATES, really doesn't have the full scale exciting climaxes of some of A and C's other movies, though, again. They try with the dream sequence and it doesn't really work al that well. It's the most unfunny part of the movie, other than the endless song and dance numbers. Again, though, any A and C movie is better than your standard comedy, although to be unfair and compare it to more modern comedies, can you imagine MY COUSIN VINNIE or KINDERGARTEN COP or BACK TO SCHOOL or YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN stopping every ten to fifteen minutes or so to do a musical number...and in the latter half of IN THE NAVY, the numbers come faster than that! On WPIX, they cut a lot of this movie out, including, for once, the musical numbers and it was worn down to less than an hour! All I can say is thank goodness for the fast forward button because it's Bud and Lou I want to see. Shemp Howard also appears and adds to the fun. If last quarter or even the whole second half were as fast and as funny as the first three, IN THE NAVY would rank as my favorite "wartime" A and C movie. As it is, I won't be sure until I see KEEP EM FLYING but I seem to recall LOADS of musical numbers during that movie, too! I want Abbott and Costello comedy, not some romantic musical!