lugonian
THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (Universal, 1946), directed Charles Barton, is an Abbott and Costello comedy with originality, in fact, one of the very few where they break away from their routine style of limited story tied together with tried and true comedy routines. With the team heading the cast, it's Lou Costello's film all the way with the top-billed Bud Abbott having less screen time but taking an important part as two different characters from two different generations. After six years of team work on screen, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES is a welcome change of pace for them. It's uncertain how audiences of the day responded to Bud and Lou in a period piece/fantasy film, but the result from today's classic movie lovers rank this the most interesting and favorable Abbott and Costello comedy thus far. Being a ghost story, a theme commonly found during the 1930s and 40s, with TOPPER (1937) and/ or THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (1944) as notable selections, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES might have had Abbott and Costello having the time of their lives as mischievous ghosts haunting the living, but this movie goes a step further in having Costello as the ghost(who kisses his girlfriend by pressing his lips together like a fish) with Abbott being the live one whose life becomes one big scare. "Why do they always pick on me?" he demands to know. He's sure to find out, no question about that.Part I: The prologue, set during the American Revolution September 23, 1780, opens in Danbury Manor located in Kings Point, New York. Horatio Prim (Lou Costello), a patriotic tinker, loves Nora O'Leary (Anne Gillis), a Danbury housemaid, with whom he intends to elope. Holding a letter of recommendation by General George Washington, Nora takes it to show Mistress Melody Allen as a means for her help with their elopement. However, all this changes as Horatio's rival, Cuthbert Greenway (Bud Abbott), the Danbury butler, tends to marry Nora and get Horatio out of the way. When Nora overhears Tom Danbury (Jess Barker) to be working with Benedict Arnold and plotting against General Washington, she is caught and abducted with Horatio's letter taken and placed in a secret compartment in a clock. Melody Allen (Marjorie Reynolds), Tom's fiancée, also learning of the treason, rides out, with Horatio, to warn Washington. Spotted by American soldiers who have already learned of Danbury's plot, Horatio and Melody, mistaken as traitors, are shot and killed. Their bodies are placed in the well, with Major Putnam (Robert Barrat) condemning their immortal souls earthbound to Danbury Acres "til the crack of doom" unless evidence proves them innocent (the evidence hidden in the clock). All seems hopeless for Melody and Horatio, having materialized as ghosts, only to witness patriots burning down Danbury Manor. Part II: The year, 1946. The spirits of Horatio and Melody still roam the grounds of Danbury Manor. The mansion, having been restored by Sheldon Gage (John Shelton) with most of the original furniture intact, brings forth his fiancé, June Prescott (Lynne Baggett), her Aunt Mildred (Binnie Barnes), and Dr. Ralph Greenway (Abbott), a New York psychiatrist and descendant to Cuthbert Greenway, as his guests. After experiencing some supernatural haunts, it is Emily (Gale Sondergaard), the psychic maid, through a "ghost to ghost broadcast" séance, who reveals the truth of the earthbound spirits wanting help to prove their innocence.While Abbott and Costello obviously failed with their initial "split teaming" comedy of LITTLE GIANT (1946), THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (title not to be confused with a James Cagney comedy, THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, 1948) makes up for it for obvious reasons. Played straight throughout, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES succeeds with its developed story, great use of special effects, spooky sequences, funny slapstick by Costello and witty dialog recited by Binnie Barnes. Both atmospheric and funny, the script even manages to throw in the traditional car chase commonly found in Abbott and Costello comedies, with the ghostly Costello driving the police, particularly the "slow burn" Lt. Mason (Donald MacBride), out of their minds. Other key elements include Costello tampering with modern appliances such as the telephone and radio, along with a dark and gloomy séance headed by Emily communicating with the dead, with some surprises thrown in.THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES further proves Abbott and Costello capable of working successfully either a team or as separate characters. Costello, remaining true to form with his bumbling character, has a new counterpart, wonderfully played by Marjorie Reynolds in one of the few times on screen where she's used to good advantage. Thanks to frequent television revivals over the past few decades, and availability on both VHS and DVD formats, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES has earned the reputation it deserves as being one of finer comedies starring Abbott and Costello. No smart guy-dumb guy partnerships this time around. In fact, this even became the first A&C comedy presented on American Movie Classics (1990-91). In later years it was resurrected to a new generation of movie lovers on other cable channels, especially Turner Classic Movies (2004-05). For a spook-tacular time, be sure to see Abbott and Costello, mainly Costello, having the time of their lives. (***)
lord woodburry
1780: Treachery as Victory Nears Time of Their Lives opens in 1780 with the Rebels confidentally looking forward to ultimate success. Behind the scenes Tom Danbury (Jess Parker) the master of the manor is plotting to subvert the Revolution. When Melody Allen (Majorie Randolph) Danbury's fiancée, the future mistress of the great estate discovers the treason, Melody enlists Horatio Prim, a faithful tinker (Lou Costello), who can gain access to George Washington. Though a letter of recommendation from Washington to the tinker been stolen by the snide Cuthbert (Bud Abbot), Melody and Horatio Prim the Tinker set off to report Master Danbury. Accidentally, the aristocratic Melody and the commoner Horatio are cut down by friendly fire and damned to roam the grounds of the manor for eternity. Redemption From DamnationTheir chance to escape eternal damnation comes almost 150 years later, the new master of the manor falls into a spell of melancholia and is treated by a psychiatrist Dr Greenway (Bud Abbot) a great-grandson of Cuthbert, a soft, indecisive bumbling look a like for his snide ancestor. As the haunting proceeds Dr Greenway (Bud Abbot), the descendant of Prim's rival Cuthbert, accuses the unseen ghosts of being "out to get him." Meanwhile the 18th century ghosts confronted with modernity attribute all the marvels of the Twentieth Century to the genius of Ben Franklin. After all Dr Franklin "was always inventing things." Eventually, all of the quick accept a séance as the only cure for the strange rumblings around the manor. The letter from Geroge Washington is recovered in a hidden compartment in a clock along with Tom Danbury's 150-year-old confession. The Silver Path to Heaven Melody is carried to heaven on a silver ray of light, while St. Pete goes fishing and leaves the Tinker at the gate. Cultural ImpactThe film certainly is not history, even if it is unique for Abbot and Costello: no trademarked jokes, Abbot in character as Cuthbert and out of his type cast playing the namby-pam, indecisive psychiatrist Dr Greenway, and indeed little interchange between Abbot and Costello at all. Though there are funny scenes, the film is more of a fantasy or a gentle ghost story than a comedy. As a ghost story about the Revolution it was not without literary precedent among the legends of the Hudson River Valley or the old Long Island towns. As a fantasy, it was superbly acted and staged. The film is remarkable as part of the culture of the Revolution for its exposition of common American Beliefs and misbeliefs. The Tories were rich, smooth and treacherously duplicit. Old family lines may be founded by the cunning and the shrewd, but the blood wears thin and eventually flows into the inadequate. In the long run "Everyman" will triumph over evil even if it takes 150 years. It is certainly a pleasant film to watch even if what followed was not pleasant for the two greats of American comedy. Aftermath of the Film At the time, Time of Their Lives was filmed, Abbot and Costello verged on a split up. As unpleasant as the circumstances were between the two giants as filming proceeded with Times of Their Lives, each actor might have matured into separate careers in dramatic film. Unfortunately, the tragic death of Lou Costello's infant son in a pool accident impeded the rupture. Abbot stood by his partner throughout Lou's personal crisis. The team had a hit TV show in 1952, but in the movies, Abbot and Costello played together in B films which spoofed popular horror and monster movies. The glory days were over. Costello took to gambling; Abbot, the bottle. The IRS took them both "to the cleaners." After the audit wrecked the team, Costello briefly tested more dramatic roles, before his death in 1957 of heart failure. Costello who had begun in the early 1950s to dabble in Republican politics died without fulfilling his dream of scripting and playing the serious story of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the first Italian-American mayor of a major US city. Abbot faded into obscurity until his death in 1974 revived interest in the pair. Some have tried to read a wider political theme into Time of Their Lives, putting away the ghosts of the past and getting on with the new modern age. However, other than the attempt to launch Lou Costello out of comedy and into more serious roles, the movie lacks a serious underlying message. Even without a serious undertone, Time of Their Lives remains a superior film
theowinthrop
Most fans of Abbott & Costello, if they don't consider THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES the best film they made consider it among the best films they made. It is an unusual film - their is some interplay between the two in the 18th Century sequences, where Abbott's Cuthbert plays his normal bossy and unscrupulous acquaintance to Costello's patriotic Horatio. To add to their normal problems with each other, they both like the same servant girl. Horatio has one prized possession - a letter from George Washington praising his patriotism. Unfortunately, the servant girl's employer is a large landowner who is a traitor (and a member of Benedict Arnold's conspiracy). The landowner has a girlfriend named Melonie, played by Marjorie Reynolds (probably her best remembered role after Bing Crosby's girlfriend in HOLIDAY INN). Melonie is momentarily in control of the letter, but her boyfriend takes it and hides it inside an expensive clock. Then the patriots arrive - Major Andre has been captured and the conspiracy revealed. Everyone flees, but Costello and Reynolds are shot and killed before they get away. A curse is put over their remains in their grave on the estate that (mistakenly considered) traitors they are doomed to be forever at unrest there.The ghosts of the two find they literally are stuck their (the special affects are good - they accidentally run through each other and find they are wearing each other's clothing). They see a sign that reveals the curse that was unfairly put on them. Both know if the letter is found they would be released. But time passes. They don't know where the note is, or how to get to it.Comes the 20th Century and Binnie Barnes, Abbott, and John Shelton show up - Abbott a descendant of the 18th Century scoundrel. They are planning to turn the old estate into an inn. Costello, with two centuries of bile and anger building up in him, torments Abbott (in this film Costello maintains the whip hand for a change). Gradually, with the aid of medium Gale Sondergaard, they learn what happened. And Abbott decides to redeem his family name by freeing the ghosts.It is surprising that the Arnold Conspiracy is the only incident of the American Revolution that seems to have been properly handled in the movies, both here and in the later THE SCARLET COAT. But that was a more in depth look at the tragedy and heroism of Major John Andre. Here the Arnold conspiracy, while the motor for the plot, is only shown in the first twenty minutes of the film (then it goes modern), and the film (for all the tragedy for Costello and Reynolds in their rightful lifetimes) is mostly comic. The antics of the pair, in particular Costello's campaign against the hapless modern Abbott, is funny - living up to the first part of the pun of the title. For all their anguish at being cursed unfairly, the two ghosts get to enjoy themselves - they do have the time of their lives. The other half of the pun, of course, deals with the key to their salvation: that all important letter - hidden inside an 18th Century timepiece.
