Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

With its 5 hillbilly songs sung by Dorothy Shay, this is definitely a musical comedy in the mold of "Buck Privates", rather than a straight comedy. Dorothy made an early career out of singing hillbilly songs in urban settings. This was her only movie, where she held her own as an actress. True, about every stereotypical aspect of Appalachian mountain folk is played up. I think that's good for a comedy about these people. In contrast to most reviewers, I found this adequately humorous for a A&C comedy, especially for kids, as usual. I do agree that about 3 songs, rather than 5, would have been better. I did find the lyrics unusually good.The boys begin as an inept magic show, following Dorothy's singing. Dorothy was raised as a backwoods McCoy, and figures out that Lou's grandfather was 'Squeeze-box' McCoy, who left a fortune in gold in a secret place. She suggests she accompany A&C to their community and try to find out more information about where this treasure might be found. Lou puts on his skunkskin cap and the 3 arrive at the family settlement. Turns out the McCoys sometimes have arguments or physical contests with the neighbor Winfields.At the carnival, Lou gets a facefull of blackberry pie, then a facefull of mustard that squirted out of a hotdog bun. He finds out that Matt, a 14y.o. girl, often treated like a boy, has a crush on him.The crazy McCoys choose Lou to represent them at the annual turkey shoot, Lou never having fired a gun. Matt fires from behind a tree next to Lou at the same time he fires. Her multiple shots hit the target, severing the tree and causing it to catch fire. Lou's declared the winner: the first time in 30 years a McCoy has outshot a Winfield. Granny doesn't take kindly to people referring to her as 'an old lady'. She takes out her revolver and shoots the pipe out of their mouth or whatever. This becomes a running gag.Granny says it's time for Lou to marry. He chooses Dorothy, but she prefers Clark Winfield. Besides, Granny says he doesn't get to choose a wife. The family as a whole chooses one for him. They chose Matt, who is agreeable. But Lou doesn't think she is appropriate. The boys do their routine where Abbott supposes there is a 40y.o. man in love with a 10y.o. girl, Should he wait until she's 30 and he's 60 before marrying her? He'd only be twice her age then, etc.. This routine was previously done in "Buck Privates". Granny suggests Lou go to see reclusive Aunt Huddy(Margaret Hamilton) about making up a love potion to give to Dorothy to make her change her mind about Lou. Huddy looks like a witchy old hag, rather similar to Margaret's getup for "The Wizard of Oz". She makes a voodoo doll in the likeness of Lou, and he reciprocates. They stab the doll in the derriere, and feel it in their buttocks. Lou finds Huddy's magic broom, which even has a windshield wiper on it! He gets on , presses one area, and zooms out the window into a tree. Meanwhile, Huddy does make the desired potion. Lou tricks Dorothy into taking some, and she immediately gets romantic with Lou. Unfortunately, it soon wears off. Lou takes some and gets romantic with Matt, then Matt takes some and gets romantic with Abbott! Eventually, a double wedding is arranged, with Dorothy marrying Clark, and Matt marrying Lou. However, there is still some lingering uncertainty about the desired pairings. A Winfield discovers that a Winfield is about to marry a McCoy, and gets riled up. In the commotion, the buggy Dorothy and Clark are in takes off with them still unmarried. Devil Dan Winfield goes after the boys. Lou says if he kills them he will get 'the chair'. Just then, Matt hits him over the head and back with a chair. A bullet knocks a hole in the jug of potion above Devil Dan's head, and drips on his face. He tastes some of it and gets friendly with Lou. Devil Dan agrees to take them to the mine where Matt says the treasure is hidden, having overheard granny. Some other Winfields show up at the mine, so the boys get on one of the counterbalanced lifts and descend. The Winfields get on the other lift, and the boys go up while they go down. The boys put some heavy rocks on their lift, then tell the Winfields to get off their lift. As a result, they rocket down with such force that they go through the bottom of the floor, and guess what they find. I will let you see the last bit.There, doesn't it sound like much more than just the witch scene, which many reviewers overemphasized?

Right off the bat I knew this wouldn't be one of Abbott and Costello's better comedies because the movie starts off with Dorothy Shay singing a novelty song that goes on forever. It wouldn't be the last time either. Shay has four or five songs in this movie! Who's the star here? I watch an Abbott and Costello movie for comedy, not forgettable songs. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a song here or there. But this was too much. It felt like they were more concerned with providing a showcase for Shay than worrying about making a good comedy.The plot centers on Lou discovering he's related to Dorothy. So Kentucky native Shay accompanies the boys to her home. From here, we get a lot of jokes about hillbillies, feuds, and marrying 14 year-old cousins. I don't mind laughing at these types of jokes when they're clever, but this is all pretty tired. Even the presence of Margaret Hamilton can't save it, although that's the best scene.Let me say that, while I didn't care much for her songs, Shay does have a likable quality about her and she's a perfectly fine singer. She's not bad to look at, either. Just wish there had been less of her singing her corny songs and more focus on comedy. I don't think I laughed more than once and that was during Hamilton's scene. The whole thing plays like one overlong cartoon. I don't know if it's the worst Abbott and Costello movie, but it's one of them.

In "Comin' Round the Mountain" a 14-year-old girl (actually the actress who plays her looks about 25, but that's beside the point) has the hots for Lou Costello, and after they both drink a love potion Lou falls in love with her and she gets the hots for Bud Abbott! At another point Lou says "You can't marry a 10-year-old girl...unless you come from these hills". And I thought these films were supposed to be clean, wholesome entertainment!The comedy never gets beyond the mildly amusing, the portrayal of the "country hicks" is totally stereotypical, and although Dorothy Shay is quite beautiful, her singing takes up too much screen time. The ending (which I won't spoil here) is by far the cleverest part - it has the kind of absurdist inspiration that the film needed more of. (**)

In my rewatching of the Abbott and Costello series that I loved in my youth, this is by far the worst of the series that I have rewatched. The problem is not in the subject material. The problem is in the script, the execution and the performances. Abbott and Costello have never been more bland and the songs from the Manhatten Hillbilly take up seemingly half of the movie's length. The song about a half an hour in goes on forever. The old granny is fun but isn't allowed to do enough. The "courtship" between Costello and the 14 year old hillbilly girl is ghoulish. Bud Abbott is non-existent and the hillbilly clans do nothing whatsoever. There are a few chuckles and nothing more. The opener and the conclusion are awful. On the bright side, Glenn Strange is great here and Costello's duel with the witch is funny. Costello's "christening" is a gut buster. But that's it. Has a little of the same flavor as The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap but isn't in the same league, much less the same ballpark.