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Universal Studios hit box-office gold when they drafted vaudeville comedians and radio stars Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and turned them into one of the most successful screen teams of the 1940s and 1950s. After a tryout as supporting characters in the musical
One Night in the Tropics, they starred in
Buck Privates as con artists who accidentally enlist while hiding out from New York street cop Nat Pendleton. Naturally he winds up their drill sergeant and comic foil as they wreak havoc on the armed forces. It's vaudeville in fatigues, with the bare bones of a story provided by spoiled millionaire playboy Lee Bowman, his strapping All-American former chauffeur Alan Curtis, and the girl-next-door they both pursue, Jane Frazee. The lackluster subplot is directed with little verve by Arthur Lubin, and the film's energy comes completely from the snappy by-play of the comedians and Costello's flustered double takes and jumpy physical comedy (including a hilarious rifle drill in which the out-of-step soldier marches to the direction of a different compass). The Andrews Sisters sing "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," among others, and future Stooge Shemp Howard shows where the "mess" in mess hall comes from as a cook on the receiving end of Costello's KP tomfoolery. This modest comedy became a smash hit and made Abbott and Costello Universal's most valuable commodity, prompting a quick follow-up with another peacetime armed forces comedy,
In the Navy.
--Sean Axmaker
Review
One of the best Bud Abbott and Lou Costello films, Buck Privates not only marks the film that put them on the map of stardom but also contains, as do many of their films, some of their classic vaudeville material. While these routines are hilariously funny, they work better mostly because of the situations the boys find themselves in. Bud and Lou enlist in the army to avoid being sent to jail and soon are in boot camp under the command of the police officer who was set to arrest them. While the rigors of military discipline naturally provide all sorts of opportunities for hijinks and pratfalls, the film holds up because it doesn't overdo them and actually has an interesting secondary plot involving a well-heeled dandy trying to use his family's influence to get out of service and his former valet, now also vying for the attention of the same woman. This may seem to be a diversion but it allows for a breather between the madcap routines that take over the film and provide the belly laughs. Veteran comic actor Nat Pendleton gives Abbott and Costello a run for their money as their drill sergeant, and the Andrews Sisters have a prominent role as themselves, appearing in many of the musical numbers that crop up throughout. Although the combination of all of these bits has a cumulative effect to make the film feel a little over-stuffed, by limiting the appearances of Bud and Lou on-screen it makes their performances that much more effective and avoids the fate some of their later films suffer in which they wear out the welcome of their good-natured characters. Stooge Shemp Howard has a small role as a cook. ~ Dan Friedman, All Movie Guide
