It was on this day, 68 years ago, that Abbott and Costello’s Rio Rita was released. This comedy film is a remake of the Ziegfeld Broadway operetta and the 1929 RKO movie starring Wheeler & Woolsey, both of the same name.
Rio Rita, along with Lost in a Harem (1944) and Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945), were made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while the comedy team was under contract to Universal. Abbott and Costello had become so popular by 1942 that MGM made a deal to “borrow” them for these three films.
It’s interesting to note two connections that Rito Rita has with MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. The first is that the songs for Rio Rita were written and composed by many of the same individuals who put together the songs for MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939). Second, Mitchell Lewis, who plays Julio in this Abbott and Costello film also played the Wicked Witch’s lead soldier in The Wizard of Oz.
Here is the funny “Laundry Room” clip from Rio Rita:
It was on this day, 64 years ago, that the Abbott and Costello film, Little Giant, was released. Originally titled, On the Carpet, Little Giant was filmed from November 1 through December 17, 1945. Regardless, it’s questionable whether any other title would have helped this particular Abbott and Costello movie.
Indeed, Little Giant is not considered one of the comedy team’s best films, perhaps owing to the fact that this was the first time the team attempted to work separately within the same film. In this film, as well as the next Abbott and Costello film, The Time of Their Lives, the team play separate roles as opposed to partners. This is due to a falling out between the two men that actually led them to splitting up the team for a short period in 1945.
In this film, Abbott and Costello perform the 7×13=28 routine, where Costello attempts to prove to Abbott that 7 times 13 equals 28, 28 divided by 7 equals 13, and seven 13’s added together equals 28. Here is a video clip of that routine:
It was on this day, 68 years ago, that the Abbott and Costello movie Ride ‘Em Cowboy was released.
Ride ‘Em Cowboy was filmed from June 30 thru August 9, 1941 and was originally intended to be the third Abbott and Costello film. However, due to the success of the service film, Buck Privates, the production [...]
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was one of Hollywood’s top money makers of 1948, and certainly the most successful film for the comedy duo since Buck Privates (1941). It has also held up as one of the most popular of their thirty-six movies.
But what you may not know is that the movie contains three bloopers. [...]
Did you know…?
I read somewhat recently that the two lead characters in one of my favorite TV shows, Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter of The Big Bang Theory, were named as a tribute to the late Sheldon Leonard (see picture to the right). Sheldon Leonard was one of the 20th century’s most prolific directors (The [...]
Poker games on the sets of Abbott & Costello movies were legendary. It was not unusual for tens of thousands of dollars (much of it in $100 bills) to be on the poker table. Bud and Lou were famous for inviting all kinds of players to the high-stakes games. If no one else [...]
One Night in the Tropics, released on November 15, 1040, is considered to be the first of the thirty-six movies that Abbott & Costello made together. However, it is also the only movie that did not give the duo top-billing.
Presumably this is the reason why Bud and Lou hardly ever mentioned the film during interviews. [...]
This post is for all you trivia buffs out there. Here’s a list of ten interesting bits of Abbott & Costello trivia:
1. In 1991, Abbott & Costello were featured on a 29 cent U.S. commemorative postage stamp.
2. While not members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, Abbott & Costello are the only two non-sportsmen [...]
Not many people know this, but in 1945, Abbott and Costello experienced a rift in their relationship. The brouhaha concerned the hiring of a domestic servant by Abbott who had previously been fired by Costello. Looking back, this may seem silly and maybe even petty, but Costello, hurt by his partner’s action, refused to speak [...]
Did you know?…
Abbott and Costello’s film, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, is often cited as the funniest of the 36 movies these two made together. The film was released in June 1948 and re-released in 1956.
In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and chose it for [...]
It was on this day, 68 years ago, that Abbott and Costello’s Rio Rita was released. This comedy film is a remake of the Ziegfeld Broadway operetta and the 1929 RKO movie starring Wheeler & Woolsey, both of the same name.