Pardon My Sarong (1942)

Very Cool!!!

Powerful

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A cross-town bus disappears in Detroit and ends up on the road to paradise in this campy farce. Bud and Lou were at the height of their fame when they got on this wild goose chase that has them as the geese and private detective as the hunter. Their journey from the mid west takes them to a south seas island with Caucasians as the native chorus girls and a strange character in Lionel Atwill who has made his home on the island studying the native customs. The minimal romantic plot involves Robert Paige and Virginia Bruce who distract from the gags and songs.The Ink Spots add some musical sequences while Abbott and Costello are on their cross country journey. A couple of native dances (Hollywood style) help stretch out the running time of the paper thin plot when the gags are on hold. A ton of familiar faces have uncredited roles here, among them Charles Lane as the perplexed bus company owner. Costumes on the island sequences seem closer to Mardi Gras celebrations rather than a Pacific Island, but as the boys would say, "What's sarong with that?"Adults will be as equally amused as younger audiences as the kids, and who could balk at the constant flow of slapstick? Irving Bacon gets the Costello treatment as a gas station attendant who is bilked out of gas money and change, while an underwater sequence with the bus, and ultimately a seal, creates some laughs as well. It's all topped by a volcano erupting where Lou is given a test to see if he is worthy to become the king of the island. This could be ranked on gag mileage for as fast as they happen, and that makes this one a winner.

Just recently I began re-watching the films of Abbott and Costello. As a kid, I'd seen just about all of them and now, decades later, I am going through a nostalgic phase seeing them again. I started at the beginning and have already noticed one thing. While the team tries hard and does just fine, Universal Studio (as well as MGM for three films) insisted on sticking the boys with the same tried and true formula--and it handicapped the films. First, they insisted on making Bud and Lou more like supporting players and had an unrelated love story which starred some hunky guy (such as Dick Foran or Dick Powell--two Dicks that were unnecessary in the film). Second, the films were given at least 4 or 5 big production number songs--often in nightclubs but always with lots of gloss and they are certainly not subtle! Heck, in this film, they even did a few numbers like this on a primitive tropical island!! Well, as I mentioned PARDON MY SARONG above, you can correctly guess that it, too, is one of these early formulaic movies. So, in addition to way too much music, it had a love story involving Virginia Bruce and Robert Paige--two people who had no reason to be in the film. Why, oh why couldn't they just give the film to Abbott and Costello and them alone? Later, this would be the case in many films, but for now this one is yet another that is handicapped at the start--though I must admit that the two Ink Spots songs were more enjoyable than most.As for the plot, it's not bad and the film is fun. BUT, Universal also severely handicapped the team again by creating the lamest tropical island in the history of film. It's inhabited with people that look like Hollywood extras covered in a dye to make them look "tropical". Along with the women's 1942 hair styles (complete with perms) they looked about as native as Lana Turner!! And, unfortunately, there were some dumb gimmicks added as well that simply looked like dumb gimmicks--such as the terribly unrealistic swordfish and the underwater scene early in the film (it's obviously an aquarium scene with Mollies and Guppies superimposed over Bud, Lou and William Demarest). It's a shame the studio took so many shortcuts, I could have ignored the unnecessary songs and love story but I couldn't ignore the cheesiness. It's also a shame, as the idea of the film is good AND it was nice to see Lou really be a hero by the end of the film. Too bad--a film with a lot of promise that is undone by stupid studio hacks that insisted on formula and didn't trust Abbott and Costello to be funny on their own.

PARDON MY SARONG (1942) ** (D: Erle C. Kenton) - So-so Abbott and Costello which suffers badly from too many musical numbers once more that have a tendency to pull you right out of the movie. Highlights include William Demarest as a frustrated cop hot on the duo's trail and some very gorgeous island girls.

Having returned to Universal following MGM's somewhat disappointing "Rio Rita," Abbott and Costello get back on track with "Pardon My Sarong," sort of their version of the Hope-Crosby "Road" pictures.A&C play Chicago bus drivers, who through a series of funny machinations, end up on a tropic isle with evil Lionel Atwill. There are many funny moments both at sea and on the island.If there are people who don't like Abbott and Costello, it is probably because they don't like Abbott's often callous treatment of Costello. While this is part of their characterizations, and is often funny, the screenwriters went admittedly overboard in "Sarong." While Virginia Bruce does stand up to Abbott on Costello's behalf several times, one tasteless gag includes Abbott matter-of-factly giving Costello a gun to shoot himself! Such gags have limited the duo's appeal over time, but if looked upon broadly, "Sarong" is a funny film and shows A&C at their peak, which ran roughly from 1941 to 1945. 7 out of 10.