The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 1 (Buck Privates / Hold That Ghost / In the Navy / Keep 'Em Flying / One Night in the Tropics / Pardon My Sarong / Ride 'Em Cowboy / Who Done It?) DVD
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Rating:  -
"The Best of Abbott and Costello Vol. 1" from Universal collects the duo's first six films for the studio: One Night in the Tropics (they don't star in this one); Buck Privates; In the Navy; Hold That Ghost; Keep 'Em Flying; Ride 'Em Cowboy; Pardon my Sarong; and Who Done It?
Those who liked Abbott and Costello comedies as a kid (like I did) may be disappointed with these movie. They're all practically the same, with the same boring love story, the same square-jawed hero, the same skippable novelty musical acts, and the same wheezy comedy routines that we've heard a million times before. The feeling of deja vu was probably easier to handle back when these films were released in the 40s, when Abbott and Costello movies were seen at the local theatres only once, and several months between. All of these movies have several truly funny moments (Lou Costello's enormous double takes still make me chuckle), though I enjoyed the comedy team's antics more when I was seven.
In this batch, the best movies are the horror/suspense ones "Hold That Ghost" and "Who Done It?," which forshadow the success they had with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (still by far Abbott and Costello's best movie). The service comedies like "Buck Privates" and "Keep 'Em Flying," though popular in their time, come across as the most hopelessly dated. If nothing else, however, they give an interesting glimpse at the popular humour of their time (and really, the worst Abbott and Costello movies are probably better than the worst modern comedies).
No matter what you think of the films, the DVD set is undeniably a good value, bringing all of them out on one set for $25. The image quality is grainy at times but perfectly acceptable overall. The extras are production notes for each film and, in most cases, theatrical trailers. The DVD packaging is very nice.
Rating:  -
I tried to watch In the Navy and the picture started to break up and then eventually froze. It also froze my DVD player, and I had to power it off and then on to get the controls to respond. Another volume contains Naughty Nineties which refused to play at all. Frankly, this kind of poor quality is inexcusable and reflects a cavalier if not a willful and culpable attitude from the manufacturer. I could not recommend any of these A&C dvd's to anyone.
Rating:  -
In spite of all the bad reviews regarding the quality defects of
the dvd's and the fact i own all the vhs tapes that took me years
to collect at $15.00 a pop,i took a chance and purchasedVol.1,2,3.
Just finished Vol 1 and had no problems with the dvd's at all.The
package is very attractive and the transfers are crisp,clear and
brilliant.The audio is very good for mono and its age.The trailers
are good and the production notes are informative.The one thing
that i noticed is the times on a few of the movies are off from
the dvd's to the tapes(the printed length),however the actual film
lenght matched the tapes,so nothing is missing!My tapes are still
in excellent condition,but still cant match the quality of the dvd
picture.Will let you know about Vol 2 and 3 when i finish,but so
far,so good!Great buy through Amazon.
Rating: -
i too had afreeze prblem on buck privates but brought it back and it works fine.my problem is with some of the films being rereleases.one night in the tropics is missing the original opening and closing title,but on the vhs release its original.buck privates is a re-art rerelease(just before end title) not on vhs.c'mon universal you own these films,why are you putting rerelease prints out for.and could you get te rights to the only a&c title not out it aint hay,it is a universal picture after all.actually it is out on a horrible duped vhs.other than that it is good value for the money.now if mgm or warners could put out the mgm titles.
Rating: -
Well, here I go again. Now as a kid, back in the 1940-1950, my mother took me to the theater, dumped me there ... and there, was Abbott and Costello on the screen. These two guys were simply funny. Now that was then. Take a look now, and think as a kid. These two men did what we all would have liked to have done ... except that what Abbott and Costello did then might now be viewed as stupid. That humor was not stupid, but funny to us kids back then. Now, I suggest you sit back and simply enjoy those two simple guys, who went out to entertain us with somthing funny, after a Nation finished WWII.
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