In the Navy

UPC: 014381429626

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:null

Summary: The third of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's starring films, In the Navy was released second; Universal had just made a bundle off Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates, and the studio wanted another "service" comedy put into circulation in a hurry. Abbott and Costello share over-the-title billing with Dick Powell, who plays a popular radio singer. Eager to avoid his screaming fans, Powell enlists in the Navy under an assumed name, hoping to serve his country incognito. Girl reporter Claire Dodd chases after Powell, hoping to secure a photo of the fugitive "idol of millions." So much for the "straight" plot; what are Abbott and Costello up to? Well, Costello plays a ship's cook who wants to impress Patty Andrews of The Andrews Sisters. With his pal Abbott's help, Costello poses as an admiral -- and in so doing nearly destroys the entire American fleet. This climactic sequence ran into trouble when the U.S. Navy decided that it didn't want to be held up to ridicule by showing the bumbling Costello ordering its ships around. To save the climax -- the most expensive portion of the film -- the scriptwriters wrote a new coda, passing off Costello's "admiralty" as a dream sequence. The best Abbott and Costello routines have little if anything to do with the plot: our favorite (indeed, everyone's favorite) is Costello proving to Abbott that 7 X 13 = 28. Those viewers who prefer music to comedy will be thoroughly satisfied by the vocal contributions of Dick Powell and The Andrews Sisters, as well as a lively dance number offered by the Condos Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Comedy

In the Navy

Release Date: 01/01/1899

Audio: 1 USA & territories, Canada

Runtime: 85 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1
0. Chapter Index
1. Main Title; America's Singing Heart Throb [4:59]
2. Special Delivery [8:32]
3. The Backbone of the Fleet [9:40]
4. Find the Submarine [6:34]
5. "Gimmie Some Skin" [8:14]
6. Going to Hawaii [5:21]
7. A Tomato in the Potato Locker [6:17]
8. Washdown Washout [2:50]
9. Shipboard Song and Dance [4:02]
10. The Sons of Neptune [3:51]
11. Hawaiian Shindig [4:07]
12. Carry the One... [4:25]
13. Two Dopes [3:20]
14. Captain Pomeroy Watson [9:30]
15. Mr. & Mrs. Stupid [3:22]
16. End Credits [:22]

Craig Butler

Sure, the plot of In the Navy isn't worth very much, but since when does plot have anything to do with whether an Abbott and Costello picture is any good. Truth to tell, making art was never high on the duo's list (nor on the list of any filmmaker who engaged them for a project); making fun was, and there's plenty of fun in Navy. It's silly fun, to be sure, but fun nevertheless. Naturally, anyone who tires quickly of the pair's personalities and typical high-jinks will soon lose interest in Navy, and it's for these viewers that the lack of a decent plot becomes a liability to Navy. The one that has been slung together, involving Dick Powell avoiding his fans by enlisting and Costello pretending to be an admiral, is a lot of hooey. When not letting Powell sing, that stretch of the film gets awfully boring awfully quickly. And it also must be admitted that the tunes concocted for Powell and for the terrific Andrews Sisters are not really top drawer; the performers do very well by them, but in lesser hands they would produce yawns. Fortunately, director Arthur Lubin keeps that focus on the performers, on the vocalists during the numbers and on the star comics at every other possible opportunity, and that's all to the good of the film. There are some classic bits here, including the multiplication sketch; the last named should amuse even those who don't ordinarily count themselves among Abbott and Costello's fans. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Thurston Hall  Actor 
Frank Penny  Actor 
Hooper Atchley  Actor 
Edward Fielding  Actor 
Patsy O'Byrne  Actor 
Douglas Wood  Actor 
Pat Gleason  Actor 
Robert Emmett Keane  Actor 
William B. Davidson  Actor 
Mickey Simpson  Actor 
Chuck Morrison  Actor 
Richard Alexander  Actor 
Eddie Dunn  Actor 
LaVerne Andrews  Actor 
Don Terry  Actor 
Lyle Latell  Actor 
Charles Sullivan  Actor 
Patty Andrews  Actor 
Ralph Dunn  Actor 
Jack Mulhall  Actor 
Claire Whitney  Actor 
Maxene Andrews  Actor 
Lorin Raker  Actor 
James Sullivan  Actor 
Joe Bautista  Actor 
Sunni O'Dea  Actor 
Ken Brown  Actor 
Alex Gottlieb  Producer 
John Grant  Screenwriter 
Arthur Horman  Screenwriter 
Arthur Lubin  Director 
Bud Abbott  Actor 
Lou Costello  Actor 
Dick Powell  Actor 
Claire Dodd  Actor 
The Andrews Sisters  Actor 
Dick Foran  Actor 
Billy Lenhart  Actor 
Shemp Howard  Actor 
The Condos Brothers  Actor 

Country: USA