There must have been dozens of these training camp comedies put out by the studios about the time World War II began and for some years afterward -- "See Here, Private Hargrove," "To The Shores of Tripoli," "Great Guns." Often, as here, they involved a comedy team being drafted along with some spoiled millionaire who had to learn how to become a man. There are usually some gorgeous girls hanging around the camp somewhere, and a couple of songs to be shoehorned in. Perhaps the least calcified example, and certainly the one with the most striking ladies, is Danny Kaye's "Up In Arms." In "Buck Privates" the songs aren't bad either. The Andrews Sisters resurrect "Apple Blossom Time" from 1920 and introduce "The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B." The trio get considerable screen time and I always sort of enjoyed their rhythmic sense and obstinately chipper attitude.
The following year, in another Abbott and Costello venture, "Ride 'Em Cowboy," a silly flick, Dick Foran introduced another pretty tune, "I'll Remember April." Victor Young composed the rhapsodic "Stella By Starlight" in a 1944 film, and David Raksin wrote "Laura" for the 1945 mystery of the same name. They had CRAFTSMEN in those days, by God! Where did they all go? The Academy Award for Best Song in 1986 went to the dismal "Take My Breath Away." What can we expect NEXT year -- "You Be My Bitchin Ho"? (Sob.)
Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. There's something else I want to get off my chest. Abbott and Costello go through a kind of Basic Training that looks nothing like the grueling experiences I had in boot camp. Where did all those women come from? We had some women, too, of course, and the young Swedish maids were attractive enough with their blond curls and dainty aprons, but there seemed to be no exact translation of what we, in English, call "medium rare." What we see on screen here is a picnic compared to what I went through. Oh, it was rough.
I really can't say too much about Abbott and Costello. I enjoyed movies like this when I was a kid but now the gags seem tired and juvenile, unpacked in their pristine condition from vaudeville skits. And I don't like to see Bud Abbott slap Lou Costello in the face. It's just not amusing. The Three Stooges do that poke-in-the-eye business even more often but the sound effects render them painless. But with A and C you can hear every slap of Lou's chubby face. It's like watching a child being beaten.
Many of these training camp comedies end with war games involving two armies of different colors, and the marginalized characters redeem themselves through acts of self sacrifice. ("The Dirty Dozen" is a training camp movie exemplar except for the final assault on a real target.) "Buck Privates" follows the same format.
However, it was Abbott and Costello's first movie and it led to something of a career for the two of them, at times keeping Universal Studios afloat. The quality declined, as series will, until they were refurbished after the war with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which, I can say honestly, I get a kick out of seeing once in a while.
The following year, in another Abbott and Costello venture, "Ride 'Em Cowboy," a silly flick, Dick Foran introduced another pretty tune, "I'll Remember April." Victor Young composed the rhapsodic "Stella By Starlight" in a 1944 film, and David Raksin wrote "Laura" for the 1945 mystery of the same name. They had CRAFTSMEN in those days, by God! Where did they all go? The Academy Award for Best Song in 1986 went to the dismal "Take My Breath Away." What can we expect NEXT year -- "You Be My Bitchin Ho"? (Sob.)
Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. There's something else I want to get off my chest. Abbott and Costello go through a kind of Basic Training that looks nothing like the grueling experiences I had in boot camp. Where did all those women come from? We had some women, too, of course, and the young Swedish maids were attractive enough with their blond curls and dainty aprons, but there seemed to be no exact translation of what we, in English, call "medium rare." What we see on screen here is a picnic compared to what I went through. Oh, it was rough.
I really can't say too much about Abbott and Costello. I enjoyed movies like this when I was a kid but now the gags seem tired and juvenile, unpacked in their pristine condition from vaudeville skits. And I don't like to see Bud Abbott slap Lou Costello in the face. It's just not amusing. The Three Stooges do that poke-in-the-eye business even more often but the sound effects render them painless. But with A and C you can hear every slap of Lou's chubby face. It's like watching a child being beaten.
Many of these training camp comedies end with war games involving two armies of different colors, and the marginalized characters redeem themselves through acts of self sacrifice. ("The Dirty Dozen" is a training camp movie exemplar except for the final assault on a real target.) "Buck Privates" follows the same format.
However, it was Abbott and Costello's first movie and it led to something of a career for the two of them, at times keeping Universal Studios afloat. The quality declined, as series will, until they were refurbished after the war with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which, I can say honestly, I get a kick out of seeing once in a while.