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The Best of Abbott & Costello - Volume 1 (8 Film Collection)Rating:
Release Date: 10 February, 2004 Retail Price: $19.98 OUR Price: $14.99 You SAVE: $4.99! Cast: Complete Cast (8 total) |
The Best of Abbott & Costello - Volume 1 (8 Film Collection) Reviews
flawed dvd
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.
Mixed Bag, but Good DVD Value
"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.
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