Violence/Gore: A bank is robbed. A girl is held hostage against her will. Abbott smacks Costello quite a bit. Guns are fired. A gangster punches through a closed door, hitting Costello square in the face. Costello stumbles while trying to skate, eventually causing minor destruction. Costello is engulfed in a snowball. Costello is sprayed by a skunk.

Sex/Nudity: Costello courts a bandleader’s girl, who isn’t shy about kissing Abbott.

Best Line: “Unpack that grip.” “Pack that grip.” (Abbott to Costello, repeatedly changing his mind on whether or not they should flee town.)

Score:

Bud plays Flash Fulton and Lou plays Weejie McCoy, a couple of nickel-and-dime photographers trying to get newspaper jobs. Along the way, they run into their old pal Dr. Elliot, who works at the local hospital and happens to be in charge of a patient who’s faking an illness in order to provide an alibi for a planned bank robbery. As things work out, the feigning crook mistakes the boys for a couple of big-time hit men, and as a result, the boys become an innocent party to the robbery.

Now afraid of both the cops and the criminals, they flee to a ski resort, where - thanks to old pal Johnny Long - they get jobs at the resort. Naturally the criminals wind up there as well, the boys get the opportunity to clear their name, and a romantic subplot of minor interest plays out between the funny bits.

HIT THE ICE finds the boys in good form, with several laugh-out-loud skits, particularly the visual ones. This time, there’s the “alright” sketch, in which Costello clues Abbott in on when to play a record by saying “alright,” which degenerates into a delightful display of cruelty from Abbott; there’s the pack/unpack scene, where Abbott - unable to make up his mind - forces Costello to pack and unpack a grip; and there’s a belly-bursting scene involving Costello and a train window that closes at inopportune times. Of course there’s more, but why spoil all the fun?

Charles Lamont of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY and FRANCIS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE, not to mention several episodes in the “Ma and Pa Kettle” series, directs the proceedings with an eye for decent visual comedy. The film doesn’t have the occasional stylish flourishes that Erle C. Kenton brought to his few pictures with the boys, but it is more consistent with its presentation. The boys produce their bits in rationed-out intervals, punctuated by intriguing to exceptional songs from Johnny Long and his orchestra and a rote romance.

Costello is reigned in and Abbott shines as always as the outrageously intolerant counterpoint to Lou’s lovable simpleton. The way Abbott smacks Costello around is pure art. We’d give the film more stars, but on an intellectual level it doesn’t warrant it, as overall the plot functions in the same way as a porn flick - it’s only there to get to the action.

DVD Extras: The film has been released on DVD as part of Universal’s excellent “The Best of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello” Volume 2. The set consists of eight films spread out over two double-sided discs. This film’s extras include subtitles in English, French and Spanish, and production notes.

AH