Hit the Ice (film)
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| Hit The Ice | |
|---|---|
 Hit The Ice Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Charles Lamont |
| Produced by | Alex Gottlieb |
| Written by | True Boardman Robert Lees Frederic I. Rinaldo |
| Starring | Bud Abbott Lou Costello Ginny Simms Patric Knowles Elyse Knox |
| Music by | Harry Revel Paul Francis Webster |
| Editing by | Frank Gross |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 2, 1943 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 82 min |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | It Ain't Hay (1943) |
| Followed by | In Society (1944) |
| IMDb profile | |
Hit The Ice is a 1943 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Lamont, who took over after the original director, Erle C. Kenton, was fired.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Two sidewalk photographers, Tubby McCoy (Lou Costello) and Flash Fulton (Bud Abbott), aspire to work for the local newspaper. Their friend from childhood, Dr. Bill Burns (Patric Knowles), invites them to come along on a call to a building fire. While attempting to photograph the inferno, Tubby is injured and brough to Burns' hospital. While they are there, Silky Fellowsby, a gangster who is checked in as a patient to establish an alibi for a robbery he is planning, mistake Tubby and Flash for two hitmen from Detroit. The gangster expects them to guard the bank's entrance while they go inside and rob it, but instead they think they are hired to take photographs of Silky and his gang when they exit the bank. When the bank is robbed, Tubby and Flash are considered the prime suspects.
The gangster heads to a ski resort to "recuperate" and hires Burns and his nurse (Elyse Knox) to care for him. Tubby and Flash follow Silky to the resort to expose him as the real bank robber. They are hired as waiters and attempt to retrieve the stolen cash by blackmailing the gangsters with the photographs they have taken. Unfortunately the photo is worthless as it does not show the robbers faces, but a fight ensues and after a climatic chase down the mountain, the gangsters are caught.
[edit] Trivia
- It was filmed from November 23 through December 31, 1942.
- It was re-released on a double bill with another Abbott and Costello film. Hold That Ghost, in 1949.
- In the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the rolling boulder booby trap is very similar to the climax of this film. Costello and the bank robber roll down a snowy mountain and become enveloped in a large ball of snow. As it rolls down the hill it comes very close to running over Bud Abbott who is on skis in front of the ball of snow.
- After filming ended, Abbott and Costello embarked on a two-month tour of army camps. When they returned on March 3, 1943, Costello was diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever and was bedridden. The team would not work again until November 4, 1943 when they returned to their NBC radio program. Tragically, that same day, Costello's son, Butch, drowned in their pool. As a result, Costello had a bracelet that had Butch's name welded around his wrist so that it wouldn't fall off.
[edit] DVD Release
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[edit] Reference
- ^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
