Right out of the gate I got a kick out of 'Dugan's Detective Training' Class of 1951. The initials 'DDT' could also be taken for a widely used insecticide during the era that was eventually banned in the U.S. As a farmer, my Dad used it on his onion crops in the 1950's, and it makes me wonder now whether the film's use of the initials was a clever pun on taking out the competition.
So with a title like "A&C Meet the Invisible Man", probably the last thing you would think of is some connection to a boxing story. But then again, why not, as anything could happen with these boys around. As new graduates of the detective school, Bud and Lou's first case involves boxer Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz) who's on the run after being framed for murdering his manager. The invisibility hook comes in as Tommy's girlfriend (Nancy Guild) has an uncle (Gavin Muir) who's a scientist working on a secret pripitane serum that's been effective on animals, but has the potential of driving human users insane. Nevertheless, Tommy is intent on turning himself invisible and hires Bud and Lou to get the goods on gangster Boots Morgan (Sheldon Leonard) who's been fixing matches against his champ Rocky Hanlon, and also arranged the rubout of Tommy's manager.
If you've seen your fair share of Abbott and Costello flicks you could figure how they'd use the invisibility gimmick to their advantage in setting up a variety of situations. The most humorous example of it here was when Lou nonchalantly worked on the speed bag and amazed every onlooker at the gym. Of course it came in real handy in the final match against Rocky (John Daheim), with Lou defeating his rival with an assortment of phantom punches.
Today was Abbott and Costello day on Turner Classics, a nice way to ring out the old year 2012 on New Year's Eve. Catching this one was a welcome treat as I don't remember seeing it back in the day, though I could have. A&C were teamed up with various Universal monster characters during their heyday, like Dr. Jekyll and The Mummy, but like many others, my favorite will always be their 1948 flick when they 'Meet Frankenstein', though the title doesn't tell the whole story. Universal went for the gusto by throwing in Dracula and the Wolf Man as an added bonus.
So with a title like "A&C Meet the Invisible Man", probably the last thing you would think of is some connection to a boxing story. But then again, why not, as anything could happen with these boys around. As new graduates of the detective school, Bud and Lou's first case involves boxer Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz) who's on the run after being framed for murdering his manager. The invisibility hook comes in as Tommy's girlfriend (Nancy Guild) has an uncle (Gavin Muir) who's a scientist working on a secret pripitane serum that's been effective on animals, but has the potential of driving human users insane. Nevertheless, Tommy is intent on turning himself invisible and hires Bud and Lou to get the goods on gangster Boots Morgan (Sheldon Leonard) who's been fixing matches against his champ Rocky Hanlon, and also arranged the rubout of Tommy's manager.
If you've seen your fair share of Abbott and Costello flicks you could figure how they'd use the invisibility gimmick to their advantage in setting up a variety of situations. The most humorous example of it here was when Lou nonchalantly worked on the speed bag and amazed every onlooker at the gym. Of course it came in real handy in the final match against Rocky (John Daheim), with Lou defeating his rival with an assortment of phantom punches.
Today was Abbott and Costello day on Turner Classics, a nice way to ring out the old year 2012 on New Year's Eve. Catching this one was a welcome treat as I don't remember seeing it back in the day, though I could have. A&C were teamed up with various Universal monster characters during their heyday, like Dr. Jekyll and The Mummy, but like many others, my favorite will always be their 1948 flick when they 'Meet Frankenstein', though the title doesn't tell the whole story. Universal went for the gusto by throwing in Dracula and the Wolf Man as an added bonus.