Private Buckaroo (1942)

I found this movie on a library copy of a DVD of 4 old musicals. I was mainly drawn to it because of Harry James.I grew up playing trumpet and of course Harry James is one of the all time greats. It is interesting that he was only about 25 here yet leader of his own big band and already with a reputation as "the greatest" in many circles. I love his sound, not blaring like Doc Severinson or Al Hirt, but more like the sounds were oozing out of the horn. Close-ups of his playing shows how he did some of his slides.In this movie he not only plays himself and a band leader and trumpeter but also as a new recruit headed off to basic training. He always seemed very natural and comfortable on screen. The story is simple, wartime requires young men to join the Army. It is just there to provide a launching pad for the production numbers. Also good were The Andrews Sisters doing several of their hits, plus singer Dick Foran as Lon Prentice singing several old favorites.One of the very early members of the "Three Stooges" was Shemp Howard who by the 1940s had mostly gone solo as an actor. Here he is effective in a comedic role as Sgt. 'Muggsy' Shavel. It was also fun to see a very young, maybe 16, Donald O'Connor as Donny, and under-aged recruit claiming to be over 18. The younger viewers might get bored by this old musical but for us old-timers it is total fun!

In 1941, Abbott & Costello made a huge splash when they starred in "Buck Privates" for Universal. Now, a year later, a film that is essentially "Buck Privates II" was released...but without Abbott & Costello! Many of the stars associated with the first film are back and are forced to carry the film. The Andrews Sisters are back and since there is no Bud or Lou, they are given more musical numbers. Shemp Howard, a minor character in the original, is a major character here. A few additions are the band leader Harry James, Ernest Truex, Mary Wickes and some cutesy kid. Dick Foran stars in the film, and while he was not in "Buck Privates", he co-starred in Abbott & Costello's other service pictures "In The Navy" and "Keep 'Em Flying".As a result of Foran, James and the Andrews Sisters, there are many, many musical numbers--too many if you ask me. I think Universal did this because without major comedians to anchor the film, they appeared to think that adding more songs would take up the slack. In other words, Shemp was pleasant but he was NOT an adequate replacement for a comedy team! There are two main plots to the film. One involves Shemp and his comedic situations--all of which seem pretty slight. The other involves Foran and it frankly made no sense at all...none. Foran is a complainer and when he balks at doing many of the things needed in basic training, the base Commander gives him permission to refuse to do anything he doesn't want to do--making the other soldiers do it in his place. This is apparently supposed to teach him some sort of lesson about teamwork, but there is no way ANY army would do such a stupid thing---at least not on this planet! When you think about it, any army that would make Shemp a sergeant and tell Foran he could ignore any order he didn't want to follow are both pretty insane notions! My assumption is that they wanted a plot similar to Lee Bowman's slacker from "Buck Privates" but this new idea just didn't work.So how is the film? Well, not unexpectedly, without Abbott & Costello the movie seems flat---like it's missing something. For example, instead of having some sort of reasonable resolution to the plots, the film just ends in a long series of musical numbers by Foran, The Andrews Sisters and Harry James...as well as some dance numbers. Not a satisfying ending, that's for sure. Overall, it's an okay film...but nothing more. And, as a result, I can understand why the studio allowed this film to slip into the public domain.

This is like a Abbott & Costello movie without Abbott & Costello. It's a service comedy only a year removed from "Buck Privates", and features the Andrews Sisters who co-starred with A&C in "Buck Privates", "In the Navy" and "Hold That Ghost". The male lead is Dick Foran, who co-starred in "In the navy", "Ride 'Em Cowboy" and "Keep 'Em Flying". Mark Wickes had a memorable role with Costello in "Hold That Ghost". Shemp Howard played supporting comic lead in a number of A&C pictures including "Who Done It?", "Africa Screams", "In the Navy", "Ride 'em Cowboy" and more, while Jennifer Holt can be seen in "pardon My Sarong" and Peggy Ryan in "Here Come the Co-eds". All that aside, this is a entertaining and fun film to watch. You just have the feeling somebody cut out all of Bud and Lou's scenes!

This is essentially an armed forces recruitment film made by Universal shortly after the U.S. formal entry into World War II, utilizing some comics and swing musicians to raise the patriotic tenor. The wispy plot relates how the entire band of Harry James decides to enlist in the Army to follow its drafted leader, with a subsequent U.S.O. follies being organized directly before the entire group marches avidly into combat. With the exception of the reliable Mary Wickes, the comedians, in particular Joe E. Lewis and Shemp Howard, are dreadful and serve only to make the various musical interludes, notably those featuring the sprightly Andrews Sisters, a welcome relief --- from comedy. Former big band singer Dick Foran, who warbles the title tune, is the featured non-musical performer tasked to deal with the hapless propagandistic script, but 16 year old Donald O'Connor nearly steals the show along with some of his jitterbugging cronies.