Movies - Buck Privates

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	Movies - Buck Privates

Buck Privates is a 1941 comedy/World War II film in which characters played by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are people who accidentally get drafted into service during World War II. It was the first of four 'wartime' movies that Abbott and Costello made - the other three being In The Navy, Keep 'Em Flying, and the sequel to this movie, Buck Privates Come Home. It is also the first of many A&C films where The Andrews Sisters would play minor parts, the sisters being under contract to Universal Pictures at the time.

Plot

Abbott and Costello are Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown, two street 'salesmen' who try selling neckties out of a suitcase - until a cop almost arrests them. Needing to hide out, they duck into a movie theater, not realizing that it's an Army Recruitement Base. In order to avoid getting arrested, the boys sign up for duty.

Meanwhile, Randolph Parker (Lee Bowman) and Bob Martin (Alan Curtis) are also both in the recuitment office. Randolph, though, being from a rich family, expects that his father will pull some strings and get him out in a few days. Therefore, he takes the time to try and get to know Judy Gray (Jane Frazee), also in the army, a little better. Judy, though, is protected from Randolph's advances by Bob, whom she knew from childhood. Bob and Randolph become rivals as a result.

Once at the base, Slicker and Herbie are horrified to find out that the cop chasing them is now their drill sergeant! Randolph, meanwhile, finds out that his father didn't pull any strings on his behalf. Instead, he'll have to finish his tour of service. Life on the base isn't so bad for everyone, though, as The Andrews Sisters serenade the men with their songs. Slicker and Herbie make the best of their time in the army, though Herbie continually messes up, much to the Sergeant's anger.

The men are then given a war game to accomplish - capture the enemy's flag. Randolph winds up saving Bob and the rest of the company by quickly thinking of an ambush to distract the other team, while Randolph himself gets the flag for his company. This results in his being accepted by the rest of his company, and even Bob and Judy's admiration. With time, Randolph comes to accept his role in the army, and wins the affections of Judy. Herbie, meanwhile, attempts to fool the Sergeant in a game of dice (attempting to use the same trick Slicker used on him on the train ride to the base). However, at the end, the Sergeant wins at the dice game, so much so that Herbie walks off wearing nothing but a barrel, which has "The End" written on the back.

Trivia

The famous 'drill bit', where Smith tries to get Herbie and other soldiers to march in formation, was actually a series of takes strung together to make the bit last longer on film. Each take would have Herbie fall or march in a different way. They cut together the different takes to make what would have been a 30 second bit into a sequence that lasts more than 3 minutes on film.

Much of the lines between Abbott and Costello were ad-libbed during filming.

The Andrews Sisters perform four songs during the course of the film: You're A Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith; Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy; Bounce Me Brother With A Solid Four; and I'll Be With You When It's Apple Blossom Time.

Laurel and Hardy
were also busy making a World War II Army picture, Great Guns. This fim was rushed into production so as to be first.

Adolf Hitler allegedly used this film as propoganda for his own troops to show how incompetent the U.S. Army was.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Buck Privates ]

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