PARDON MY SARONG

(1942)
With Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Virginia Bruce, Robert Paige, Lionel Atwill, Leif Erickson, Nan Wynn, The Four Ink Spots
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Black and White
Reviewed by JB

    Universal's answer to the popular Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road" pictures from Paramount, PARDON MY SARONG is a loose and virtually plotless concoction held together by musical numbers and Abbott and Costello routines.  The Ink Spots do two songs, including their 1940 hit "Do I Worry?", the boys do several lesser-performed routines including one known as "The Baseball Story" that has nothing to do with "Who's on First", and eventually everyone (well, not the Ink Spots) wind up on a tropical island filled with natives who crown Lou their new hero.

    The film's two best scenes are the boys, disguised as musicians, tussling with detective William Demarest, and a variation on the "Tree of Truth" routine where coconuts fall on Lou's head every time he tells a lie.  In the magician scene, Bud Abbott actually gets to be funny on his own for a few moments, using a nonsensical language to confuse the not-too-bright detective.  The kick in the "Tree of Life" routine is when Lou tries to tell story after story to a beautiful young native girl, and Abbott has to keep stopping him because every one of them leads to the same dirty "traveling salesman" joke!

    Lionel Atwill shows up as a villain late in the film to pretend that there is a story going on, but don't worry, there's not. 3 - JB

Abbott and Costello     The Age of Comedy