THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES

(1946)
With Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marjorie Reynolds, Binnie Barnes, John Shelton, Gale Sondergaard, June Prescott
Directed by Charles Barton
Black and White

Reviewed by JB

But praytell, sir Abbott, Whoeth is on first?     THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES is part period piece, part screwball comedy and part ghost story.  What it is not, however, is an "Abbott and Costello comedy".  The two comedians share few scenes together and only one in which they actually speak to each other. While not among the funniest movies by the Boys, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES is their classiest film, one which stands up better today than many of their more gag-filled efforts..

      Lou Costello and Marjorie Reynolds star as ghosts from the Revolutionary War shot as traitors who need proof of their innocence before they can move on to the next world.  Bud Abbott, in a part that should have been billed forth or fifth, plays a nervous psychiatrist whose ancestor, also played by Abbott, helped ruined Lou's life.  Abbott proves himself a fine actor in a light comedy part in which, for once, he takes the brunt of Lou's wrath rather than vice versa.

     With superior production values, charmingly dated special effects and an outstanding cast including Gale Sondergaard as a creepy maid ("Didn't I see you in Rebecca?" asks one character), THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES is much like Laurel and Hardy's OUR RELATIONS: it's not a typical vehicle for the team, but it is so well done it works anyway. 4 - JB

Abbott and Costello     The Age of Comedy