Hit the Ice (1943)

That was an excellent one.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

HIT THE ICE (Universal, 1943), directed by Charles Lamont, certainly has the distinction of being another one of many ice skating musicals starring Olympic skating champion, Sonja Henie. Though Henie doesn't appear, much of the icing goes to Universal's top comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. While there are good songs and some ice skating involved, HIT THE ICE also has the distinction of other fine things presented that truly indicate why Abbott and Costello movies were so successful during the World War II years. Though they don't really hit the ice, they surely were hitting their stride.The story opens at Fulton Hospital where Harry "Silky" Fellowsby (Sheldon Leonard) occupies a room feigning feverish illness in order to establish an alibi as he and his fellow mobster pals, Phil (Marc Lawrence) and Buster (Joseph Sawyer) sneak out of the hospital to rob the bank across the street. While Bill Burns (Patric Knowles) is doctor in the case, his nurse, Peggy Osborne (Elyse Knox) suspects foul play. As the gangsters await for the arrival of a couple of gunmen from Detroit, Doctor Burns meets up with a couple of friends from his childhood days, Flash Fulton (Bud Abbott) and Tubby McCoy (Lou Costello), now photographers hoping to get some pictures for the newspaper where they hope to obtain employment. Inviting the boys to come along on an emergency call via ambulance, naturally when Flash and Tubby unintentionally encounter Silky and his gang at the hospital, they are mistaken for the boys from Detroit. Unwittingly assisting the gangsters in the bank robbery, it's Flash and Tubby who are accused with their photo sketches placed on the newspaper's front page. As the dual attempt to prove their innocence and return the bank money by following the gangsters via train to Sun Valley, Silky and his gang keep watch on Flash and Tubby believing they hold actual photos of them at the robbery. In the meantime, as Silky hides the loot in his mountain cabin, Burns, now a resident physician at Sun Valley accompanied by his ever suspicious nurse, Flash and Tubby, working as waiters, soon meet up with another friend from their boyhood days, orchestra leader Johnny Long (Johnny Long), whose vocalist, Marcia Manning (Ginny Simms), might have some connection with Silky and his gang. Then the fun really begins.Aside from great comedy routines in the true Abbott and Costello fashion, including some clever verbal exchanges (one resembling their classic "baseball" routine), pack and unpack, Costello's "all right" piano playing to a recording (a scene usually edited from broadcast TV channels to allot for extended commercial breaks, and a routine later recreated in an episode to their 1950s TV series, "The Abbott and Costello Show"), and the handkerchief and punch-me gag, there's the usual time-out song interludes to showcase some musical talent, in this case, the vocalization of the gorgeous Ginny Simms. Songs scored by Harry Revel and Paul Francis Webster include: "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water" (no connection to the same title tune from the 1937 Warner Brothers musical, "Hollywood Hotel"); "I Like to Set You to Music" (sung by Ginny Simms, The Four Teens, and Johnny Long); "Slap Happy Polka" (sung by Simms and skaters) and "Happiness Bound" (sung by band members). Of the four tunes, "Slap Happy Polka" and "Happiness Bound" are at its listening best, with the Polka number staged in hilarious fashion as Costello gets himself entangled in an ice skating ensemble, to hilarious results. If that's not hilarious enough, be sure not to miss Abbott and Costello's climatic chase coming down the mountain on skis.With frequent broadcast television revivals, especially on New York City's WPIX Channel 11 Abbott and Costello Sunday morning movies(1971-1990), and prior to that on WNBC, Channel 4's late show through much of the late sixties, HIT THE ICE, which was then one of the most widely known among Abbott and Costello film titles, has become sadly overlooked through the passage of time, which is a shame because it's still 84 minutes of old-style non-stop fun.Formerly available on video cassette around the 1990s, HIT THE ICE can still be seen in its full glory on DVD, along with other Abbott and Costello titles on the same disc as IN SOCIETY (1944) and THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (1945). Take note that while Costello is called "Tubby" throughout the story, he's listed in the closing cast credits under the name of "Weejie." Now that's really hitting the ice. (***)

Abbott & Costello play Flash Fulton & Tubby McCoy, two newspaper photographers who are mistaken for hit men by a trio of gangsters(played by Sheldon Leonard, Marc Lawrence, & Joe Sawyer) who plan to rob a bank while have an alibi of being in the hospital. The boys become prime suspects for the crime, so flee to a ski lodge where they meet old friend Johnny Long and his orchestra, along with singer Ginny Simms, who get them jobs, while they dodge the gangsters and clear their names. Patrick Knowles & Elyse Knox play the doctor and nurse fooled into helping the "sick" gang leader. Very funny comedy with pleasant setting, good cast and songs. Quite underrated comedy with the team.

Photographers Flash and Tubby believe they have land a paying job when they agree to cover a group of men coming out of a bank. Little do they know that the men are bank robbers who have mistaken the two for hired guns, booked to cover the entrance during the job. They discovery this too late and suddenly find themselves suspected of the robbery themselves. With only the photographs they took as leverage, the two follow the crooks to a mountain ski resort where they plan to expose them and clear their own names.Abbott & Costello are always a duo I come back to but yet they are also a duo that tend to deliver solid amusement rather than great films. Hit the Ice is another one of those because it is roundly "ok" even if it does have some bits that capture why people love these two. The plot is a simple affair with the usual misunderstandings and scrapes along the way but it does work, providing the love interest for Costello to flirt with and also the tough guys for him to face off against. There are a few routines that are good fun like the "teller" one or the bit where Costello packs and unpacks repeatedly, while the pratfalls and chases are amusing and are done with energy. It doesn't have enough to be considered a great film or anything but it is amusing enough to please fans and also children.The film is padded far too much with musical numbers. You expect one or maybe two but there are loads of them here and they never feel like anything other than filler. Abbott and Costello are both on pretty good form here, they feel like they are working well off one another – with Costello in particular putting effort into his falls and double-takes. Simms' songs perhaps don't appeal but she certainly does – stunningly beautiful and she has an easy screen presence that helps as well – I feel for Knox who has to compete but doesn't really. Leonard is fun as the main villain while Knowles is about as vanilla and dull as he could have been.Overall this is an OK piece of comedy that fans will like as well as kids. There are a couple of funny routines and, although it has too much of it, the pratfall-style comedy is OK too. The musical numbers are overused and slow the film down but at least you get to look at Simms while they are on (well, mostly). Solid but unremarkable.

This is an odd formula for an Abbott and Costello film. Instead of their usual locale, they find themselves going to the ski resort at Sun Valley to track some bank robbers, as the police think Bud and Lou did it. And, once they arrive at the resort, the viewers are treated to lots of song and dance numbers performed by Ginny Simms. The overall effect is a lot like taking a Sonja Henie film and shoving Abbott and Costello and some gangsters into it--a rather surreal experience to say the least! Like almost all of the teams prior films (aside from WHO DONE IT!), the film follows a typical formula. In addition to Bud and Lou's antics, there is a couple on hand for support (Patric Knowles is back from a previous outing with the boys and Elyse Knox is there a 'the blonde'--something found in all their previous films) and there are too many irrelevant song and dance numbers. People looking for pure Abbott and Costello without all the other rigmarole should either see their later films (which, fortunately lacked this) or WHO DONE IT!.Unfortunately, because this is set at a snow resort and apparently Bud and Lou apparently knew nothing about skiing or skating (either that or the studio was afraid they'd get hurt), the scenes of them doing these sports seem rather forced. When Lou is skating, it's pretty obviously not him and they tended to use lots of distance shots (the stuntman was actually too fat--and obviously not him). He did actually take a few good, hard falls up close but most of the work was clearly the stuntman. For the skiing scenes, they used a few stuntman shots but a lot of it was done with rear-projection--a common but incredibly unrealistic method of the day. This is a problem, as the film has less laughs and makes up for it by using more stunts--so this is obviously not one of their better films. It is still very watchable but certainly among their lesser efforts of the day.