Buck Privates
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Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was also the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the U.S. entered the war (In The Navy and Keep 'Em Flying.) A sequel to this movie, Buck Privates Come Home, was released in 1947. "Buck Privates" is also one of three A&C films that features The Andrews Sisters, who were also under contract to Universal Pictures at the time.
Plot
Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown (Abbott and Costello) are two sidewalk 'salesmen' who hawk neckties out of a suitcase. They are chased by a cop and duck into a movie theater, not realizing that it's now being used as an Army Recruitement Center. They think they're signing up for theater prizes, but actually enlist.Meanwhile, spoiled playboy Randolph Parker (Lee Bowman) and his long-suffering valet, Bob Martin (Alan Curtis), are also signing up at the theater. Parker expects that his influential father will pull some strings so he can avoid military service. Bob, on the other hand, takes his military obligations in stride. Tensions between the two men escalate further with the introduction of Judy Gray (Jane Frazee), a camp hostess and friend of Bob's who Parker sets his sights on.
At camp, Slicker and Herbie are mortified to discover that the cop who chased them is now their drill sergeant! Randolph, meanwhile, learns that his father won't use his influence on his behalf, believing that a year in the Army will do Randolph some good. Life at camp isn't so bad, since the Andrews Sisters pop up at regular intervals to sing patriotic or sentimental tunes, and Herbie continues to mess up with little consequence.
During a war game exercise, Randolph redeems himself by saving Bob and coming up with a ruse to win the exercise for his company. He is finally accepted by the rest of the men, and even wins Bob and Judy's admiration. Randolph and Bob are offered places at officer's training school.
Trivia
- The famous 'drill routine', where Smitty tries to get Herbie and other soldiers to march in formation, was actually a series of shorter takes that were strung together to expand the bit to more than 3 minutes of screen time.
- 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.
- "Buck Privates" was the first service comedy released in 1941. Others quickly followed, including Bob Hope's Caught in the Draft and Laurel and Hardy's Great Guns.
- Japan allegedly used this film as propaganda to show its own troops how incompetent the U.S. Army was.
- The Andrews Sisters performance of "Bounce Me Brother With A Solid Four" also features one of the more famous Lindy Hop dance sequences of the Swing Era. Many of LA's finest dancers including Dean Collins, Jewel McGowan, Ray Hirsch, and Patty Lacy are featured.
External links
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