Customer Reviews

Abbott & Costello: Ride Em Cowboy [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just about all of the ingredients that made the first half of the 20th century a renaissance of great entertainment is here in one movie. This is not necessarily a great film, but very good and historically interesting. There is a rock and roll attempt in this 1942 comedy/musical. The song is called "Rockin' and Reelin' (Rockin' Around the Square.)" It has most of the ingredients necessary for rock and roll. A mixture of all the cultures and musical styles and rhythms, but the music form wouldn't be fully realized for another 10 or 12 years. Ella Fitzgerald does well in her first film appearance but her time had not quite happened yet. Abbott and Costello are in fine form especially in a chase scene that makes me woder how did they train that pigeon to do his trick? Dick Foran is the good guy. Johnny Mack Brown is the other good guy. Dick Foran did a lot of varied film roles including starring in "The Mummy's Hand." Abbott and Costello, of course, have a movie called "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." The pair also did some fun things in other films such as "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap." This western ,"Ride 'Em Cowboy" is a western with boogie and swing and light opera music. It also has some nice dancing. Trains chasing cars, bears driving cars, stunt guys jumping out of windows and a pretty girl who is tough and likeable. Tom Willett

A TERRIFIC mix of songs, a western film, and comedy. Abbott & Costello play rodeo peanut venders who get mixed up with Indians and cowboys. 5 STARS again for this HILARIOUS, UPROARIOUS comedy and to Abbott & Costello.

although the story line is farfetched, the boys seem to be enjoying themselves in this film. the music is great..ella fitzgerald is tops...good supporting cast//dick foran//johnny mac brown/there are so many different sequences that seem to be stand alone comedy bits that you can always find something you like....

A surprisingly entertaining movie. I had not heard of this one before but it surely ranks up there as one of their best by far. Some incredibly funny sequences, Costello trying to milk the cow stands out as one of the funniest. Great comedy a must for any Abbott & Costello fan and most comedy fans will find something good about this old time classic.

The film begins at a rodeo, Bronco Bob Mitchell has written many books, and sings. How much experience has he had in the real world? Willoughby and Duke work selling food at the rodeo. Comic skits follow. Willoughby learns how to play poker. The train stops and they learn about the local customs. They arrive at a Dude Ranch, at type of resort that is obsolete. There are comic skits at the pool. Bronco Bob joins a rodeo. He writes western novels because that is what sells. "Wildcat" is saddled and stunt doubles ride him.

The story proceeds with singing and comic skits. The joke with the Indian dummy was repeated in other films (a fake that turns out to be real). Willougby has a nightmare. He has his palm red. Will a bookmaker show up at a dude ranch? Will the contest be rigged? Will the crooks kidnap Alabam and Bronco Bob? Will Indians chase Willoughby and Buck? Bronco Bob arrives in time for the contest, and wins. There is a happy ending to this film. [If you ever get a chance see a 4th of July rodeo in a western state.]

The criticism of a writer of Westerns who doesn't "walk the talk" is irrelevant. Zane Gray was a dentist in Indiana, Clarence Mulford was an office worker in Brooklyn. Both produced popular novels that were successful in their times. Raymond Chandler never worked as a private detective like "Philip Marlowe".

WORTH THE MONEY
I LOVE THIS VHS, BRINGS BACK LAUGHTER AND MEMORYS AND YOU NEVER GET BORED WITH IT, BUY IT IN DVD BETTER

RIDE 'EM COWBOY
Release Date: February 13, 1942
Runtime: 82 minutes

Director:
Arthur Lubin

Producer:
Alex Gottlieb

Writing Credits:
Edmund L. Hartmann
True Boardman
John Grant
Harold Shumate

Cast:
Bud Abbott....Duke
Lou Costello....Willoughby
Dick Foran...."Bronco Bob" Mitchell
Anne Gwynne....Anne Shaw
Johnny Mack Brown....Alabama Brewster
Judd McMichael....Tom
Ted McMichael....Harry
Joe McMichael....Dick
Mary Lou Cook....Dotty Davis
Ella Fitzgerald....Ruby
Samuel S. Hinds....Sam Shaw
Douglass Dumbrille....Jake Rainwater
Morris Ankrum....Ace Henderson

Music by:
Frank Skinner
Gene de Paul

Cinematography by:
John W. Boyle

Film Editing by:
Philip Cahn

Other Crew:
Ted Cain....music supervisor
Nick Castle....choreographer
Ralph M. DeLacy....associate art director
Joan Hathaway....dialogue director
Charles Revin....musical director
Don Raye....lyricist

Plot Summary:

Two peanut vendors at a rodeo show (Abbott & Costello) get in trouble with their boss and hide out on a railroad train heading west. They get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch, despite the fact that neither of them knows anything about cowboys, horses, or anything else.

Routines & Hilarious Moments

Heard of cows
Crazy House
Poker game
swimming pool scene

Trivia (from imdb.com): (1)The original production plans were delayed in favor of another of Abbott & Costello's service comedies, "KEEP 'EM FLYING" (1941), which were proving to be huge box office hits for Universal.(2)This was the last Abbott and Costello film to be directed by Arthur Lubin. Like their previous collaborations, this became one of the biggest hits of the year.