Product Details

• Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nat Pendelton, Alan Curtis, Lee Bowman
• Directors: Arthur Lubin
• Writers: Arthur T. Horman
• Producers: Alex Gottlieb
• Format: DTS Surround Sound, Full Screen, Subtitled
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: April 17, 2012
• Run Time: 170 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B006YNYQGQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,414 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Universal Studios hit box-office gold when they drafted vaudeville comedians and radio stars Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and turned them into one of the most successful screen teams of the 1940s and 1950s. After a tryout as supporting characters in the musical One Night in the Tropics, they starred in Buck Privates as con artists who accidentally enlist while hiding out from New York street cop Nat Pendleton. Naturally he winds up their drill sergeant and comic foil as they wreak havoc on the armed forces. It's vaudeville in fatigues, with the bare bones of a story provided by spoiled millionaire playboy Lee Bowman, his strapping All-American former chauffeur Alan Curtis, and the girl-next-door they both pursue, Jane Frazee. The lackluster subplot is directed with little verve by Arthur Lubin, and the film's energy comes completely from the snappy by-play of the comedians and Costello's flustered double takes and jumpy physical comedy (including a hilarious rifle drill in which the out-of-step soldier marches to the direction of a different compass). The Andrews Sisters sing "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," among others, and future Stooge Shemp Howard shows where the "mess" in mess hall comes from as a cook on the receiving end of Costello's KP tomfoolery. This modest comedy became a smash hit and made Abbott and Costello Universal's most valuable commodity, prompting a quick follow-up with another peacetime armed forces comedy, In the Navy. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

Those two crazy cutups, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, turn the military upside down when they accidentally enlist in the Army. This hilarious comedy highlights some of the duo's funniest bits and routines.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This movie has E=V=E=R=Y=T=H=I=N=G ! ! ! ! February 15, 2012

By The "older than dirt" Time Traveller TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Okay, there're plenty of reviews for this film--on VHS-cassette; DVD; 12"-LASER-disc, but, those are like TEN years old...
here's a NEW one:

Okay, this isn't a one-hundred year old movie, but it is one of Abbott & Costello's first--and finest movies.

This 1941 movie is a mere seventy-one years old.

It made millions (that ain't hay!*) when THAT was lots of money.
So popular it prompted a film for the other branches: IN THE NAVY, and KEEP 'EM FLYING.
These three, and another one were all filmed the S-A-M-E YEAR the Pearl Harbor attack led us into World War II.

But that wasn't a big deal as "A'" & "C'"[also my favorite vitamins] o-f-t-e-n made at least two [of their (36)] films a
year.

I'm retired from the military, all of my older relatives fought in that war except two of them, and, t-h-e-y were in The
Cival War and The Spanish-American War. I was only in that Vietnam thing.

My dad grew up when they were popular. After I was born, 1949, this and AFRICA SCREAMS (not nearly as good, but ALSO
features Shemp) are the first few movies I can remember seeing on our small roundish black and white TV.

"The boys"---as some of us refer to A & C---raised millions of dollars for the War Bonds & Stamps effort, not to mention
saving Universal from going bankrupt.
Imagine, WWII is in full swing, and three of the movies you're likely to see star THESE guys IN/OUT/AROUND uniforms...
entertaining AND supporting the troops.

This duo was in the top-ten box office favorites for plenty of the '40s, and kept on keepin' on right through the '50s...
their movies were re-re-released for many years.
I feel it is my duty to tell you this movie is SUPER. It's got Boogie Woogie Rhythm [Bugle Boy] by the Andrews Sisters.
It's got Shemp(Stooge) Howard--brother of Moses and Jerry... You know, Moe, and Curly!

This film is SO old there ISN'T even an AIRFORCE yet, but the Army is doin' the best they can with those bi-planes and
tanks not much bigger than a modern HUMVEE.
Buy it; you'll LIKE it.
This folks will show you how it was when your older folks went to war.
This is on BLU-RAY fer crizakes!
And it's a two-disc set...
extras out the Bazookas:
40-page book... this SHOULD be what is known as a Blu-ray Book--- I hope!

The extras include:
==> The theatrical trailer
==> It is restored from 35mm film stock.
==> "ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET JERRY SEINFELD"(televised special).
==> "100 YEARS OF UNFORGETABLE CHARACTERS"
==> "100 YEARS OF RESTORING THE CLASSICS"
==> "100 YEARS OF CARL LAEMMIE"[after just 9 years in the film business, he opened UNIVERSAL STUDIOS in 1915]
*= denotes an A&C film from 1943.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bud Abbott was born in 1897.
Lou Costello , born in 1906.
Universal Studios opens 1915. Where's this 100-year thing come from? Ooooo Ooooo Ooooo I know, I know...
The Universal Studios , 1912-1928 made 900 films.

THAT, my friend, is one-hundred years ago. Now, let's show tremendous support for this lest we forget that Universal owns
the rights for all the, so called UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS... all of 'em, and wouldn't all of these look GREAT in blu-ray?
Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection [Blu-ray]

{SON OF FRANKENSTEIN... I've seen [home] film footage of Boris in COLOR (great extra THERE!)

Thank you, thank you very much... "Big Mac" has left the theatre.
***************************************************************************************************

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Your In The Army Now! January 9, 2000

By Joe Libby

Format:VHS Tape

Made for peanuts, BUCK PRIVATES was a tremendous hit for Universal studios and firmly established Abbott and Costello as movie stars. Bud and Lou's routines are among their best; indeed, the film is really not much more than a string of burlesque routines held together by a simple plotline. "The Dice Game," "The Drill Routine," "You're 40, She's 10," and several others burlesque bits are here to keep you laughing. The romantic triangle plot is rather forgettable, although one can certainly understand why both Lee Bowman and Alan Curtis are pursuing lovely Jane Frazee. The Andrews Sisters contribute some great songs, including the immortal "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." Dated but still very entertaining, BUCK PRIVATES delivered just what the movie going public needed in 1941. And it still delivers today.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four! August 24, 1999

By A Customer

Format:DVD

This great work of entertainment from l942 can be watched repeatedly and for different reasons. Sometimes I watch it just to catch the hysterical routines of our beloved A&C. The funniest is when Bud is trying to instruct Lou how to carry his rifle. Notice the tallest of the soldiers at the end of the row who can barely keep from screaming with laughter. His mouth trembles, he bows his head so you can't see his face, etc. Also, The Andrew Sisters are their peak, bouncing everybody with their classic, "Boogey-Woogie Boy" toe-tapping extravaganza with Patty dynamic. Even better in some ways is the fantastic "Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four" which comes towards the end. Look at those jive-cats, circa l942 swing and sway and shake their groove thangs. This was a perfect antidote in that year because of the horrible news pouring in from war-torn Europe and Americans were over there risking life and life. Buck Privates moves so fast you're startled when it ends with "You're a Lucky Fellow Mr. Smith". You wanna just reverse and start it all over again. Bravo to Patty, Laverne and Maxine, not to mention Abbott and Costello.