Buck Privates Blu-ray Review
General-ly very amusing.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, April 3, 2012
Isn't it funny how sometimes the most trivial things can stick in the memory, seemingly for no obvious reason? Years
ago,
too many years for me to want to admit, my father was getting ready to take me on a camping trip, just the two of us,
to
the Four Corners region of the American Southwest, and then slightly east to Mesa Verde and the cliff dwellings that
are
one of the most incredible sights of Native American life in a bygone era. My father had been out getting our trailer
ready
for the travels, and I, all of seven or eight, had turned on the television where a movie called
The Time of Their
Lives was
just starting
up. I was instantly entranced by this quasi-ghost story featuring two people I had never heard of, Abbott and Costello.
My Dad came in and said we were ready to go, and I told him, somewhat trepidatiously, that I had started a movie that
was really good and would like to watch the end of it. He asked me what it was, and I was fully expecting him to tell
me
to just turn off the television and get cracking so that we could leave. Instead when I mentioned the film's title, my
father's eyes lit up and he started exclaiming about how funny it was, actually spoiling several gags that hadn't yet
come
into view. He sat with me, quite happily so, for the rest of the film, telling me a lot about Abbott and Costello, including
their famous "Who's on first" routine, during the broadcast's many commercials. Perhaps for that reason more than
other,
I've always had a soft spot for Abbott and Costello's films, overlooking their obvious flaws and instead concentrating on
their silly, innocent joy which is something that obviously was part of their allure for my father and his generation when
the films were first exhibited theatrically.
Universal probably didn't quite know what they had on their hands when they signed Abbott and Costello as supporting
players in the otherwise pretty forgettable 1940 romp
One Night in the Tropics. But recreating some of their
legendary routines on screen, including of course "Who's On First?", helped catapult the pair into a new echelon of
stardom that their long careers in vaudeville and radio hadn't yet provided. The two basically stole the film (not that
that
would have been hard), and Universal soon had the duo under an exclusive contract, this time as stars.
Buck
Privates was the first film with Abbott and Costello billed as leading players, beginning a long and vaunted
relationship
with
Universal that would last well into the fifties. None of the Universal films is especially notable for being very innovative,
and all of the Universal films basically acted as general frameworks that allowed Abbott and Costello to pretty much
play
themselves, often recreating their famous routines in slightly more character driven settings.
It might surprise some who associate the attack on Pearl Harbor as the precipitating event which led to the United
States' entrance into the war to see the
prelude of
Buck Privates, which shows the ostensible "peacetime" draft starting in September 1940, which at
the very least shows that while we may not have yet "officially" entered the war, we weren't resting on our collective
pacifist laurels, either. That sets
up the basic premise of
Buck Privates, where Abbott and Costello, seeking to get out of impending trouble
(always a recurring motif in their films) duck into a movie theater, thinking they're going to take in a show, but not
realizing the theater is actually a recruitment center. We're also introduced to the main male supporting players in this
outing, a well to do playboy (Lee Bowman), who believes that his well connected father will keep him out of the service,
and the playboy's average Joe valet (Alan Curtis), who is of course eager to join up and help preserve and protect The
American Way. It may also surprise viewers to see how "rah rah"
Buck Privates is in its unabashed celebration
of the build up to American involvement in World War II, at least as that imminence is alluded to in the training of our
men (and women) in uniform.
Part of this "rah rah" aspect is given over to the strange but wonderful involvement of The Andrews Sisters, who simply
appear as if by magic at several points during the film and deliver a socko assortment of great tunes, including the
Oscar nominated "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". But in another song, a sort of kinder, gentler "love it or leave it" screed
called "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith" skirts right up to very edge of political incorrectness by having an African
American train porter aver that he's "Uncle Sammy's fair haired boy".
The comedy here is fairly predictable, if no less enjoyable for the fact. Lou wreaks havoc wherever he goes and Bud's
fast talking quasi con man gets in his own scrapes, sometimes due to his terrorizing of Lou. The one really odd element
here is the strangely handled love triangle between the Bowman and Curtis characters and an Army hostess played by
Jane Frazee. Both of the guys have eyes for the girl, and she kind of plays them both throughout the film.
Buck
Privates ends with an allusion that the three will be moving on to Officers Training Corps, certainly a rather sly hint
of a nascent
ménage a trois for a film of this era.
Buck Privates was a huge hit when it was released in early 1941, cementing Abbott and Costello's status as big
new movie stars, a status they enjoyed for most of the rest of the decade. The film has some undeniably creaky
elements, but it's still a lot of fun and shows why the pair became such a phenomenon for a world desperately seeking
an hour or two of carefree laughs amidst the gathering war clouds.
Buck Privates Blu-ray, Video Quality
Why don't we just cut to the chase with regard to Universal's AVC encoded 1080p transfer (in a 1.35:1 aspect ratio) of
Buck Privates and answer the burning question that will probably be foremost on the minds of many readers of this
review: is there DNR? Yes. Is it horrible? Well, that's another matter entirely, and one which will no doubt depend on
one's tolerance for a digitally scrubbed image. There
is still grain in this presentation, but it has been diminished.
The noise reduction here is not as dramatic as in many Universal catalog releases (which of course may be damning with
faint praise), and the studio seems to be gaining
cognizance (albeit too slowly for some aficionados) of how their efforts are being greeted by potential consumers. There is
still some good fine detail here, especially in close-ups, and the elements here are in generally good shape, though
occasional scratches and flecks still dot the landscape, albeit very briefly. There are also a couple of missing frames which I
assume have always been in the film, as there's no noticeable disruption of the soundtrack at those moments. Contrast is
quite good as well, with excellent
renderings of gray scale and solid black levels. The overall film is a tad on the soft side, and some second unit and stock
footage is noticeably more ragged than the bulk of the film. Those who hate DNR will no doubt hate this transfer, while
those with a bit
more tolerance will just as doubtedly find a lot to like here.
Buck Privates Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
Buck Privates is a relic of a bygone age, with a decidedly different comedy
ethos than a lot of what's on
display nowadays. Avid fans of Abbott and Costello are only slightly less rabid than those of The Three Stooges, and for
those folks, this new high definition presentation of the pair's first starring entry will no doubt be like manna from heaven.
Other, more cynical, types may question the film's burgeoning militarism (something inescapable given its context and
premise) as well as a couple of questionable bouts with political incorrectness. But for those who grew up with Abbott and
Costello, either in the theaters or on television,
Buck Privates remains one of their simplest, least forced entries,
one which retains just the right amount of lunacy mixed in with some fantastic music interludes courtesy of the winning
Andrews Sisters. DNR-phobes will be upset with this release's video quality, but fans of the pair will be willing to overlook
that perceived shortcoming to enjoy this release's otherwise decent looking video and good sounding audio. The Seinfeld
special is another definite bonus and helps to make this release
Recommended.
