Bancando Granfinos

In Society (1944)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Abbott and Costello play plummers who are accidentally invited to a rich person's house for the weekend where they much try to become part of society. Apparently A&C were causing a lot of troubles for the production of this thing due to a contract issue and the final results really show. This certainly isn't their worst film but it's certainly middle of the ground stuff. Most of the jokes just don't flow right as they seemed rushed and forced. Still, there are several minor laughs that keep this thing going for fans.

Abbott and Costello play plumbers who exasperate the rich in this middle-of-the-road comedy that has one standout routine, the famous Susquehanna Hat Company bit. That segment of the film is hilarious but it also sticks out like a sore thumb as it has nothing to do with plumbing or high society. It's just like they thought they needed a funny vaudeville sketch so they threw it in. A good chunk of the movie is devoted to the romantic pairing of Marion Hutton (sister of Betty) and Kirby Grant (later of Sky King fame). As is often the case in these comedies, the most skippable parts are these tacked-on romances. However, here Hutton does sing a couple of nice songs so there's that. Overall this is an "ok" Abbott & Costello film. They don't get much mileage out of the plumbing stuff nor the classist stuff. Also, some of the footage for the finale is lifted from the W. C. Fields film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. Still, the supporting cast is decent and the boys seem to be having fun.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play a couple of plumbers whose handiwork reminds one of scenes from the Three Stooges when they were "handymen" in a couple of films. Their scenes being mistaken as house guests at an estate are very funny, with them getting the dress clothes of a couple of other guests. The two have a couple of other scenes with some humor, including a firetruck chase. But the comedy in the rest of the film is just so-so. And, but for the two stars, the rest of the film would be a drag.

"In Society" has a romance subplot, as do a number of early Abbott and Costello films. These usually evolve around singing and music with a lesser known swing band of the day. That translates in the 21st century to a band no one is likely have heart of or remembered. And, the cast for this story, and their performances are what one would normally see in the B movies of the day. That goes for the singing and music as well. The only other cast member who adds anything to the film is Arthur Treacher who plays Pipps, the butler.

This film may have been funnier to audiences of its day, during World War II, but it's not a memorable comedy in the 21st century.

Made towards the end of their first contracted stint with Universal Studios, "In Society" is possibly the last eminently watchable Abbott and Costello feature until they initiated their horror spoofs with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein", the picture which has probably survived the sands of time better than any of their others. In "In Society", the emphasis is very much on the physical and visual side of the pair's vaudevillian humour and there is little in the way of the verbal routines or snappy one-liners which are dotted around many of their other movies. But the visual set-pieces are performed with a great vivacity and enthusiasm for which Costello's apprenticeship as a stuntman in some pictures of the late twenties had prepared him well, and it is refreshing to find an unexpected but heart-warming tribute to W.C. Fields, including shots taken directly from the master's 1941 "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break".

"In Society" has a promising set-up - Abbott and Costello as bumbling plumbers who get invited by mistake to a high-society weekend party and try to act as if they belong there - but the film doesn't exploit this premise for all it's worth. At its best, the film approaches the surreal craziness of the Marx Brothers movies (the flooded room, the Susquehannah Hat Company sketch, etc.). But there are too many songs, 4 to be specific in a 70-minute movie (though at least one of them, "No bout adout it", has likably crazy lyrics - "I sove you lo much, I mean I love you so much"), the back projection during the big chase scenes couldn't be more obvious, and Abbott's character is thoroughly obnoxious. (**)