{"id":491,"date":"1942-01-03T14:47:46","date_gmt":"1942-01-03T19:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/?p=491"},"modified":"2017-01-03T15:46:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T20:46:32","slug":"buck-privates-a-wartime-movie-must-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/1942\/01\/03\/buck-privates-a-wartime-movie-must-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Buck Privates a wartime movie must-see"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enlisting in the U.S. Army never seemed so fun until Bud Abbott and Lou Costello did it. The dynamic comedy duo’s hit film Buck Privates<\/em>, released last year, has a new relevance now that the U.S. has entered the war and millions of young Americans are likely to be called upon<\/a><\/span><\/strong> to serve their country.<\/p>\n

Directed by Arthur Lubin, Buck Privates <\/em>provides a light-hearted wartime story during an era of intense conflict. Rather than focusing on the fighting\u00a0in Europe, however, Lubin and script writer John Grant place their characters precisely where most new enlistees will find themselves: in an army training camp. It provides\u00a0a high-spirited and nationalistic take on the U.S. Army that will leave\u00a0any American viewers\u00a0with their heads held high and their cheeks rosy from laughter.<\/p>\n

Non-stop comedy from Abbott and Costello, character growth from suave film star Lee Bowman and lively performances from The Andrews Sisters throughout the movie grasped the viewer\u2019s attention from beginning to end. Along with that, real film of soldiers in action placed throughout the film made the viewing experience feel more realistic and relatable.<\/p>\n

The movie begins with Abbott and Costello\u2019s characters, Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown, selling knock-off ties for cheap on the street. As soon as the slick scammers are about to make a sale they get busted by a cop \u2013 their only means of escaping jail was to enlist in the army.<\/p>\n

Abbott and Costello are obviously best pals in the film, however, Abbott enjoyed messing around with Costello\u2019s character a bit. One instance that had viewers crying from laughter was the boxing scene between Costello and a huge soldier. When Abbott and Costello\u2019s commanding officer asks for a volunteer to fight in the match, Abbott lights a match under Costello\u2019s shoe to make him jump up and accidentally volunteer. Abbott\u2019s tomfoolery and the hilarious scenarios in which it lands Costello put a smile on the viewers\u2019 faces, but the belly-busting laughter mostly comes from Costello\u2019s goofy reactions.<\/p>\n

Quick, in-your-face jokes are spread throughout the movie, not allowing the viewer to get bored for one moment.<\/p>\n

In addition to providing some much-needed jokes during a time of global upheaval, Buck Privates<\/em>\u00a0shows how the army can turn a boy into a man with Bowman\u2019s character, Randolph Parker III.<\/p>\n

From the start, Parker\u00a0detested the idea of joining the army and was simply waiting for his family\u2019s connections in Washington, D.C. to keep him from serving. A\u00a0playboy sleaze who cares only for himself, Parker has little regard for what the army means for the U.S. When he\u00a0is forced to continue his time at boot camp, however, Parker begins to develop into a man. By the end of the film, he has become\u00a0a respectable soldier who is\u00a0selfless and cordial. This character shows the army\u2019s ability to transform nearly anyone into an\u00a0upstanding soldier.<\/p>\n

The famous singing Andrews Sisters made regular appearances during the film \u2013 they performed “You’re a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy<\/a>,” “Bounce Me, Brother, With a Solid Four” and “(I’ll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time<\/a>.” Their performances not only provided viewers with the ability to catch their breath from laughter, but they also heightened the sense of patriotism throughout the movie.<\/p>\n

Although Buck Privates<\/em>\u00a0has quickly become known for its brilliant performances, none of this would have been possible without Grant\u2019s witty script or Lubin\u2019s directing skills. Grant specifically wrote this screenplay for Abbott and Costello \u2013 the content he produced did not disappoint. The humor was quick and witty; Costello and Abbott didn\u2019t need to try that hard to turn their lines into a hilarious performance.<\/p>\n

Along with Grant\u2019s script, Lubin\u2019s directing skills added to the greatness of the film. Including actual filming of soldiers during battle and at boot camp added to the authenticity of the film, creating a perfect combination of comedy and realism.<\/p>\n

Altogether, Buck Privates<\/em> is a film that anyone who is searching for a hearty laugh and a feel-good movie about patriotism and the U.S. Army should see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enlisting in the U.S. Army never seemed so fun until Bud Abbott and Lou Costello did it. The dynamic comedy duo’s hit film Buck Privates, released last year, has a new relevance now that the U.S. has entered the war and millions of young Americans are likely to be called upon to serve their country. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/files\/2016\/12\/Buck-Privates-still.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8bpwr-7V","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2764"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":672,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions\/672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}