Hit the Ice

I've always liked this Abbott & Costello outing, probably ranking it just in their top ten - but I really don't know why! The story is so contrived and abounding with plot leaps and non-sequiteurs I wonder what everyone was thinking about in the making and release of this. I think it must be the fun and inconsequential atmosphere created so effortlessly by Universal studios during the War that brings me back to re-watch Hit The Ice every few years, along with my love of A&C of course.

Basically: 2 photographers are mixed up in bank robbery, the main perp of which is laid up as ill in hospital as an alibi. His doctor is going to Sun Valley to take up a new post, so the gangsters tag along with him taking the suspicious nurse in tow - plus A&C trying to clear their names. Ignoring all the plot inanities along the way, this would be a pleasant but ordinary comedy with ditto songs - which were beautifully produced and evocative of the time, but not very catchy. But A&C's packing and re-packing the grip routine still holds up well even with the overly childish conclusion to it. It's also a film that can be watched credulously at 10 years old, in middle age the link to the Keystone Kops is sadly more apparent - who finds them a Laugh Riot nowadays? On the other hand compared to Blazing Saddles (the personal yardstick that I regularly use to gauge the worth of various films) this is a beautiful work of Art - seriously!

So the bottom line is if like me you can overlook plot and you like A&C then you'll do alright, if not, well, it's definitely not their best anyway!