Main Cast: Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, Bud Abbott, Marjorie Reynolds, Binnie Barnes, John Shelton, Gale Sondergaard
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
While perhaps not Abbott & Costello's best film, The Time of Their Lives is certainly their most unusual. Lou Costello plays a Revolutionary War-era tinker, whose prized possession is a letter from George Washington, commending Costello as a loyal patriot. Costello's lady love is Anne Gillis, maidservant to aristocratic Jess Barker. Costello's rival in romance is Barker's butler Bud Abbott, who locks the tubby tinker in a trunk to keep him away from Gillis. Meanwhile, Gillis stumbles onto a plot to betray the Colonial Armies, masterminded by Barker. The girl is kidnaped and spirited away, but not before Barker has appropriated Costello's letter from Washington and hidden it in a mantelpiece clock. All this is witnessed by Barker's fiancee Marjorie Reynolds, who disguises herself as a man, the better to make her way through the lines to warn the Colonial troops of Barker's plot. She frees Costello from his trunk and enlists his aid in locating Washington. Mistaken for traitors, Costello and Reynolds are shot dead. Their bodies are thrown in a well as a colonial officer curses their souls to remain on the grounds of Barker's estate "until the crack of doom," unless some evidence should prove them innocent of treason. A few moments later, Costello and Reynolds materialize as ghosts. They try to escape the grounds, but a supernatural force holds them back. Flash-forward nearly two centuries to 1946: Costello and Reynolds, still confined to the estate, resent the intrusion by Barker's descendants, who plan to renovate the mansion and open it to tourists. The two ghosts decide to haunt the estate, resulting in a series of amusing and well-conceived invisibility gags. Much to their surprise, Costello and Reynolds find none other than Costello's old nemesis Bud Abbott as one of the house guests. No, Abbott isn't a ghost: he's a famed psychiatrist, a descendant of the butler who double-crossed Costello back in 1780. Costello has a high old time playing tricks on the nervous Abbott (a fascinating reversal of the usual Abbott-Costello relationship) before the rest of the house's occupants decide to hold a seance to find out what's annoying the two ghosts. In a genuinely spooky sequence, sinister house servant Gale Sondergaard, possessed by the spirit of Jess Barker, reveals that the ghosts have been falsely accused of treason, and that their salvation lies in locating that letter from Washington. Driven by a feeling of remorse over the sins of his ancestor, Abbott does his best to help the ghosts. Before the plot is resolved, there is time for a standard Abbott-and-Costello chase scene, with the invisible Costello driving a car wildly around the estate, with a terrified Abbott cringing in the back seat. More than a little inspired by The Canterville Ghost, The Time of Their Lives was the second of two Universal films that attempted to recast Abbott and Costello as individual characters rather than smart guy-dumb guy team members. While the film is an unmitigated delight when seen today, it failed at the box office in 1946, compelling Bud and Lou to return to their standard formula in their next film, Buck Privates Come Home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Time of Their Lives is the perfect Abbott & Costello film for people who don't like Abbott & Costello. Indeed, rabid fans of the comic duo may actually like Time much less than those who usually find the pair's shenanigans hard going. This is largely because Bud and Lou have very little screen time together and are in no way a "partnership" herein, so those looking for their usual horseplay and verbal games will be disappointed. But being separated has a distinct advantage, seeming to enable both of these talented gents to rein in some of their excesses. It also helps that Time has a storyline that's of much greater interest, and while it still allows opportunity for little meaningless side trips or for plot points that don't make much sense, for the most part Time's screenplay is more cohesive than many others written for the duo -- and also has more heart. Time gives Costello more opportunities to strut his stuff than it does Abbott, but the latter does well when given a chance. Marjorie Reynolds does well as the female part of the ghostly team, Binnie Barnes is appropriately caustic, and Gale Sondergaard is a bit of a hoot in her "Mrs. Danvers" send-up. Although atypical for Abbott & Costello, Time is a treat nonetheless. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Jack Otterson - Art Director, Richard H. Riedel - Art Director, Charles Barton - Director, Phil Cahn - Editor, Milton Rosen - Composer (Music Score), Milton Rosen - Musical Direction/Supervision, Charles Van Enger - Cinematographer, Val Burton - Producer, Jerome Ash - Special Effects, D.S. Hursley - Special Effects, Val Burton - Screenwriter, Walter de Leon - Screenwriter, John Grant - Screenwriter, Bradford Ropes - Screenwriter
As in the previous Abbott and Costello film, Little Giant, the duo plays separate characters instead of partners, due to tensions between them that led to their splitting up for a while in 1945. The film also avoids their famous routines. In this film, the two only speak directly to each other during one scene at the beginning of the film.[1]
The time is 1780, and Horatio Prim (Lou Costello) is a master tinker. He travels to Tom Danbury's (Jess Barker) estate with a letter of commendation from General George Washington. He plans to present this letter to Danbury, whom he hopes to persuade into allowing Horatio to marry Nora O'Leary (Anne Gillis), Danbury's housemaid. Unfortunately, Horatio has a romantic rival in Cuthbert Greenway (Bud Abbott), Danbury's butler, who is very fond of Nora and intends to prevent Horatio from presenting his letter, which Nora has taken for safekeeping.
Nora happens to overhear Danbury discussing his part in Benedict Arnold's plot; Danbury captures her, and hides the commendation letter in a secret compartment of the mantel clock. Danbury's fiancée, Melody Allen (Marjorie Reynolds), witnesses the situation and sets off on horseback to warn Washington's army. She enlists Horatio's help, but the two of them are mistakenly shot by American troops that are arriving at the estate. The two are thrown down a well and condemned to remain bound to the estate unless evidence can prove their innocence. The soldiers ransack the house and burn it to the ground.
For the next 166 years, Horatio and Melody's ghosts roam the grounds of the estate before it is restored by Sheldon Gage (John Shelton). When the restoration is finished, complete with the "original" furniture (which was removed before the estate's fateful burning), Sheldon invites some friends to spend the night there. Accompanying him are his psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenway (Bud Abbott), a descendant of Cuthbert, as well as Sheldon's fiancée, June Prescott (Lynn Baggett) and her Aunt Millie (Binnie Barnes).
Upon arriving, they are greeted by Emily (Gale Sondergaard), the maid who strongly believes that the estate is haunted. Ghosts Horatio and Melody have some fun with this idea and try to scare the guests, especially Greenway whom Horatio mistakens for Cuthbert. The newcomers hold a seance and learn the identities of the two ghosts, and of the letter which can free them. They search for the letter but soon learn that all of the furniture is not original, as the clock which holds the letter sits in a New York museum. Greenway, as a way of atoning for the cruelty of his ancestor, travels to the museum to retrieve the letter. However, unexpected events force him to steal it. He arrives back at the estate, with state police on his tail.
The letter has been found, and Melody and Horatio leave the estate to enter heaven. Unfortunately for Horatio, who is met at the gate by Nora, he must wait one more day, as Nora points to a sign that says heaven is "Closed for Washington's Birthday."
Production
The Time of Their Lives was filmed from March 6 through May 15, 1946.
Abbott learned to drive a car for this film, which according to his son Bud Abbott, Jr., was the only time in his life that he ever drove.[2]
A few weeks into filming, Costello wanted to switch roles with Abbott. He refused to work until this was done, but director Charles Barton waited it out; Costello eventually returned to work and said nothing more about it.[3]
This film has been released twice on DVD. The first time, on The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume Two, on May 4, 2004, and again on October 28, 2008 as part of Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection.
References
^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
