weezeralfalfa This 1945 Abbott and Costello musical comedy has them doing a 'period' plot, supposedly in the 1890s. Also often labeled the 'gay' nineties, there are a fair number of brief 'show' segments, which work right into the story. A&C begin as actor and roustabout, respectively, for the River Queen: a Mississippi River showboat, later turned into a floating casino by its new majority owners. Incidentally, the historic River Queen of this era never plied the Mississippi, but was used for coastal and river transport on the East Coast. Rita Johnson, as Bonita, plays the 'bad' girl, who has her henchmen, Joe Sawyer, as Baily, and Alan Curtis, as Crawford, help her engage in crooked, when ever possible, gambling activities. By winning 3/4 interest in the River Queen from an inebriated Captain Sam(Henry Travers), the 'gang of 3' turns the River Queen from a showboat into a casino, with most games fixed in favor of the house. Her ambition is to build a lavish show place and casino in New Orleans, using profits from the River Queen to finance such. Toward this end, she offers the Captain $5000. for the remaining 1/4 share in the boat, but the Captain refuses. He suggests they play one open game of poker, winner take all. Amazingly, Bonita agrees, although, with even odds, she stands to lose much more than the Captain. Lois Collier, as Caroline: daughter of Captain Sam, is the 'good' girl. She's the main songbird for the Captain's shows, sing(dubbed) the classic "On a Sunday Afternoon", and the newly composed "I Can't Get You Out of my Mind". Toward the end of the film, surprisingly, she begins to get friendly with Crawford( Alan Curtis): one of Bonita's henchmen, who claims he only teamed up with Bonita because he owed her gambling debts. I noticed that he wasn't involved in chasing A&C after Captain Sam won his boat back, and it was only Baily and Bonita who left town in a buggy. However, there were no further positive indications of a Crawford & Caroline romance.A&C are up to their usual antics. They do a longer version of 'Who's on first' than the version they did in their 1940 film "One Night in the Tropics". Actually, I thought is was too long, with too much repetition. Hence, I continue to prefer their 1940 version....Lou also repeats his 'poisoned wine' sketch he did in "Pardon my Sarong", with bad girl Bonita putting some questionable pill in his wine, thinking he didn't see. He switches the glasses after distracting her attention, but she sees it. This goes back and both several times. The sketch ends differently than the first time....In the finale "Uncle Tom's Cabin", Lou plays an angel. When he is raised, the too thin rope breaks and he goes through the too flimsy floor. This is reminiscent of a similar fall through the floor in "Who Done It?" A&C try gambling to win back some money for Captain Sam. However, the ball keeps coming out of their slot, careening crazily, with the wheel stopped. They then try shooting dice, with Lou under the table with a huge magnet that causes the 'loaded' dice to turn over until they add to 7.Lou engages in the 'fake mirror' sketch, where he's on the opposite side of s window his victim thinks is a mirror, and mimics their actions. Actually, this is clearly the poorest example of this trick I've seen. For much more convincing examples, see "The Princess and the Pirate" or "Duck Soup".A&C are in a back room, next to the kitchen, when they hear the cooks talking about 'cooking the cat', meaning catfish. But there are several kitty cats around, and Lou thinks they mean one of them. Every time he reluctantly pokes his meat with his fork, he hears a cat scream. Also, when he pours his milk onto his dish, it's immediately absorbed by the meat, with the slurping sound. When he strokes the meat it purrs. Abbott experiences no such spooky reactions. Then, Lou is on stage, practicing his singing of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", reading from sheet music. Meanwhile, Abbott is behind him, directing the placement of a backdrop. He keeps saying "higher, higher", and Lou sings in higher and higher keys. When Abbott says farther to the front, Lou falls off the stage.There are further sketches and other comedy. Many of these routines are pasted onto the plot, but that's OK. With the reservations I mentioned, I recommend this film for those who like A&C shtick.

itamarscomix The one and only reason to watch this film, as far as I'm concerned, is that it contains the full-length, and probably the best, version of the famous 'Who's On First?' routine. The delivery of that routine is perfect, and it's a few of the most side-splittingly funny minutes ever put on film, and since it takes up nearly ten minutes of the film's 76 minute run, you might as well just go ahead and watch the whole thing, but unless you're an Abbott & Costello fan, you could well skip it and not lose any sleep about it. The Naughty Nineties has a couple of good routines and gags, and two or three very funny scenes of physical comedy; Costello is always tons of fun and Abbott is the ultimate straight-man, and when they're together on screen the dynamic is always great. But there are far too many scenes where only one of them is featured, and those always fall short; and the truth is, once you pass the 'Who's On First?' scene, nothing else comes close.

Evan Cyran What can I say about this movie? I introduced it to my cousin when we were both a bit younger and we were on vacation together. We were both in an Abbott and Costello craze at the time and, over the course of the trip, we probably watched that movie upwards of thirty times. It was great! Easily my favorite of their many films. The film consists of hilarious routine after hilarious routine which occur around a central plot. Three crooked gamblers cheat an honest Riverboat Captain out of 3/4 of his ship. It's up to Bud and Lou (a ham actor and his dimwitted assistant) to get it back. The routines keep on coming with the mirror routine, the catfish, Lou as the "little Indian", My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (Hilarious!!), 33 at the roulette table, bird shooting Lou, the out of control ending chase, and of course the full length "Who's On First?" just to name a few. The crew couldn't even contain their laughter during this routine. Listen for them chuckling! The many gags throughout don't hinder the plot of the movie, only enhance it. The music and classic atmosphere of "Nineties" also adds a great deal to the film and gives it that "feel good" vibe which makes it so special and easy to enjoy time and time again. This is the perfect film to introduce anyone to this great comedy team. The boys are in top form here, and I recommend this to A&C fans, classic comedy fans, comedy fans, movie fans, music fans, and to people who just want to enjoy an evening of fun and laughs. Sit back and enjoy!

classicsoncall Setting the stage for this 1945 comedy, Dexter Broadhurst (Bud) and Sebastian Dimwiddie (Lou) team up to save the "River Queen" from a trio of card sharks, who have gained a three quarter interest from Captain Sam Jackson (Henry Travers) in a rigged card game. The Captain's daughter Carolyn (Lois Collier) never gives up hope, and plays on the sympathies of villain Crawford (Alan Curtis) as the boys whiz through a host of their comedic sketches. They include "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", feathers in the cake, the catfish dinner, the fishing routine, and Lou's shaving routine opposite baddie Joe Sawyer. But they all take a back seat to the famous "Who's on First?" routine, which remains one of my all time favorite bits. The comedic timing is flawless, though in this case, the audience reaction is non existent at the request of the film's director - probably a bad decision as one's reaction is that these guys should play off the audience as much as each other.The movie's finale revs up to a high energy frenzy after the gamblers are dealt a losing hand with a cold deck by a remorseful Crawford in a one hand, winner take all bluff.Henry Travers is probably best remembered for his role as the angel Clarence, earning his wings in the memorable "It's a Wonderful Life". Though taken advantage of, he maintains his integrity through thick and thin. But with Abbott and Costello on board, you know that the bad guys don't stand a chance. And with all the mayhem, it's easy to forget that the film also stands up as a musical, with an assortment of tunes to lend counterpoint to the sketches along the way.