Review of In the Navy (1941) by Greg W — 02 May 2012

Though this was the third movie Abbott and Costello filmed as top billed stars, it was released as their second, right after 'Buck Privates', because of its timely Naval story. It was used, admirably, as both a piece of escapist entertainment geared toward those fighting in the military and a way to involve citizens at home with what their beloved friends and family were bravely giving their lives to.

As it lacks any kind of grit or realism, or fighting whatsoever (come on, it's a musical comedy), it rather fails at being informative or revealing. Sailors spend their time washing the ship and singing and dancing.

Still, one has to take this for what it is- pure popcorn entertainment- and as that, it succeeds. There are some really memorable gags in here, including one involving a gambling scheme that must have been taken from an Abbott and Costello vaudeville act.

Another one involves Costello explaining in a number of ways how thirteen multiplied by seven equals twenty-eight. Alongside the duo, Dick Powell, an actor I like a tremendous lot, hams it up a little as a celebrity crooner trying to lose his status and just slip into the Navy as an ordinary person; the beautiful Claire Dodd does her best, as a journalist, to out him.

This isn't the best movie made by Abbott and Costello in their early days, but it certainly isn't their worst, and its portions of laughs make it a definite worthwhile watch for anyone interested in either the comic team or wartime entertainment.