Starring: Bud Costello, Lou Abbott, Mary Wickes, William Gargan, Patric Knowles, Louise Allbritton, and William Bendix
Director: Erle C. Kenton
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars
When a pair of dimwitted, would-be scriptwriters (Abbott & Costello) witness the murder of a radio executive, they decide that if they solve the mystery on their own, the resulting fame will launch their careers. Unfortunately for them, the killer doesn't want to be captured...
"Who Done It?" is one of Abbott & Costello's best pictures. It's like someone took a serious script for a typical B-movie murder mystery and inserted comedy routines, deftly weaving the more serious story around them. The "straight" characters in the film react with the sort of confusion, frustration, or amusement that anyone would have when faced with the sort of harebrained nonsense that follow in our "heroes" wake, as these "straight" characters go about their business of a serious plot involving murder and espionage. The film also features great cinematography with an often shadowy, almost film-noirish look that supports the dramatic elements of the film and makes the wackiness of Abbott & Costello pop even more.
Every routine presented in the film is top-notch, every actor gives a great performance, and almost every character is actually a character with something interesting about them. (There is one very disappointing exception to this, which I can't comment on without ruining the plot... but it almost knocked the movie down to Eight Stars is bugged me so much.) The only other thing that I found distracting to the point of mild annoyance was the way Costello spends the movie pulling up his pants and/or anticipating the moronic now-nearly 30-year "fashion" of having your pants hanging low.
"Who Done It?" is one of eight movies included in the two DVD set "The Best of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Volume 1" and it by itself is almost worth the price of the set.
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