Moviecut—Pardon My Sarong

source: Pardon My Sarong

Pardon My Sarong

One evening, I was flipping channels; bored as bored can be when a black and white film caught my eye. (It was the scene with the gas station attendant.) I watched until the scene with the dancers. Then I got bored and was flipping channels again. I went on the computer ate food ETC, when I went to watch TV again. All the sudden, four people were on some island. I was shocked, confused and mesmerized. I watch the rest of the film. At the end, I bitterly cursed myself for ever changing channels. I watched the whole movie a year later. That's when I got hooked. I now can't wait for the CBC to show a classic movie with our lovable heroes, Bud and Lou!!!

Pardon My Sarong (1942) *** (out of 4) Good Abbott and Costello film has the boys on a tropical island where a thief (Lionel Atwill) is planing to steal a priceless jewel from the locals. The nearly 200 people in the theater seemed to enjoy this one pretty well. I've always found this to be a pretty good film even with the way too many musical numbers. The boys timing is right on the mark with the highlight being the spoof of Tarzan films at the end. Plenty of laughs throughout. Available on DVD through Universal.

PARDON MY SARONG (1942) *** Abbott and Costello comedy with the boys as bus drivers who wind up on a tropical isle with a playboy to thwart some criminal elements from some lovely native babes. Best bit: "Big Stinkah!"

Probably not one of Abbott and Costello's shining moments. It's funny in spots ("Go ahead, back up"), but it lacks comic momentum. 5 musical numbers are simply too many for an 80-minute comedy. The numbers are interesting in their own right, but not well-integrated into the story, and not as catchy as some of those in another A & C film of the same period, "In The Navy". And although I have absolutely nothing against Black & White films, the tropical island setting of this one might have benefited from being shot in luscious Technicolor. On the plus side, the special effects are very impressive for their age, and as Luana, the island tribe chief's daughter, Nan Wynn is a dazzling exotic beauty - without exaggeration, one of the most beautiful women I have EVER seen. (**1/2)

This is pure silliness at its best. If you plan to watch, bring your sense of silly. A native dance turns into a nightclub act; Lou the bus driver gets confused by the instructions "go ahead and back up"; and many other classic bits. Bud and Lou obviously had a great time making this movie (Lou is hysterically funny). A smile never left my face during the last half of it, even though this a 60+ year old movie now. I'm sure it was popular escapist fun for Allied troops during WWII.

Abbott & Costello play two bumbling bus drivers who accidentally end up stealing their own bus; now fired and on the run from the police, they drive it into the ocean(!) and hitch a lift with a playboy(played by Robert Paige). After some mishaps along the way, they finally arrive on a South Seas island where they encounter a hostile native tribe(with pretty island girls of course!) and a Dr. Varnoff(played by Lionel Atwill) who is really a jewel thief on a mission, and most unappreciative of their intrusion. Virginia Bruce plays a potential love interest. A big hit in 1942, though I'm not sure why, since this is an overly silly film with the usual clichés that haven't worn well, though the one funny bit with "the big stinker" is a highlight, otherwise, the team had made much better films.

I wanted to see this film because my grandfather acted in it. His name is James Spencer. This film was very fun to see and watch the entertainment of the war years. I specially enjoyed the songs and dancing in this film. There is very little of that kind of entertainment in today's films. A great shame! "The Boys", Lou & Bud, were never better!