A cross-town bus disappears in Detroit and ends up on the road to paradise in this campy farce. Bud and Lou were at the height of their fame when they got on this wild goose chase that has them as the geese and private detective as the hunter. Their journey from the mid west takes them to a south seas island with Caucasians as the native chorus girls and a strange character in Lionel Atwill who has made his home on the island studying the native customs. The minimal romantic plot involves Robert Paige and Virginia Bruce who distract from the gags and songs.The Ink Spots add some musical sequences while Abbott and Costello are on their cross country journey. A couple of native dances (Hollywood style) help stretch out the running time of the paper thin plot when the gags are on hold. A ton of familiar faces have uncredited roles here, among them Charles Lane as the perplexed bus company owner. Costumes on the island sequences seem closer to Mardi Gras celebrations rather than a Pacific Island, but as the boys would say, "What's sarong with that?"Adults will be as equally amused as younger audiences as the kids, and who could balk at the constant flow of slapstick? Irving Bacon gets the Costello treatment as a gas station attendant who is bilked out of gas money and change, while an underwater sequence with the bus, and ultimately a seal, creates some laughs as well. It's all topped by a volcano erupting where Lou is given a test to see if he is worthy to become the king of the island. This could be ranked on gag mileage for as fast as they happen, and that makes this one a winner.

This is another of the early Bud Abbott and Lou Costello movies that began just before World War II. Even after the films with armed services settings, the Abbott and Costello films continued for a while to include some music and dance performances. "Pardon My Sarong" features The Ink Spots (sometimes known as The Four Ink Spots) singing, and some very fancy and entertaining tap dancing by a trio that went by the name of Tip, Tap and Toe. Those talented African-American dancers had marvelous routines. Each danced with an emphasis that his name indicated. Samuel Green was the tip, Ted Fraser was the tap and Ray Winfield was the toe. Winfield was particularly entertaining as he introduced sliding actions that made it look as though he was moving on butter or oil. Much smoother, even, than moonwalking that came along in the 1980s. The trio had performed for years in vaudeville and would dance in five films in all. Bud and Lou play Algy Shaw and Wellington Pflug, respectively. How they came up with some of their names in films is anyone's guess. Even that add some humor to their films. Unlike all their films before this, the boys are the center of the plot here. They have more antics that must have involved considerably more trick camera work and some special effects. The supporting cast for their romp across the screen includes Virginia Bruce as Joan and Robert Paige as Tommy. They are a token romantic interest, of sorts. But supporting actors William Demarest and Leif Erickson are more a part of the hijinks and hilarity of the comedy duo. A couple of the very funny scenes are the biggest stinker on the island; the familiar switching cups of a drugged drink; and Bud and Lou in an artillery relay sequence shooting huge coconuts at the bad guys with a big slingshot atop the palm trees. This all makes for good fun and a movie the whole family can enjoy. Some reviewers think it's the best of the A&C films, but I think two or three are much funnier. With the number of antics here, the movie appears choppy at times.

Just recently I began re-watching the films of Abbott and Costello. As a kid, I'd seen just about all of them and now, decades later, I am going through a nostalgic phase seeing them again. I started at the beginning and have already noticed one thing. While the team tries hard and does just fine, Universal Studio (as well as MGM for three films) insisted on sticking the boys with the same tried and true formula--and it handicapped the films. First, they insisted on making Bud and Lou more like supporting players and had an unrelated love story which starred some hunky guy (such as Dick Foran or Dick Powell--two Dicks that were unnecessary in the film). Second, the films were given at least 4 or 5 big production number songs--often in nightclubs but always with lots of gloss and they are certainly not subtle! Heck, in this film, they even did a few numbers like this on a primitive tropical island!! Well, as I mentioned PARDON MY SARONG above, you can correctly guess that it, too, is one of these early formulaic movies. So, in addition to way too much music, it had a love story involving Virginia Bruce and Robert Paige--two people who had no reason to be in the film. Why, oh why couldn't they just give the film to Abbott and Costello and them alone? Later, this would be the case in many films, but for now this one is yet another that is handicapped at the start--though I must admit that the two Ink Spots songs were more enjoyable than most.As for the plot, it's not bad and the film is fun. BUT, Universal also severely handicapped the team again by creating the lamest tropical island in the history of film. It's inhabited with people that look like Hollywood extras covered in a dye to make them look "tropical". Along with the women's 1942 hair styles (complete with perms) they looked about as native as Lana Turner!! And, unfortunately, there were some dumb gimmicks added as well that simply looked like dumb gimmicks--such as the terribly unrealistic swordfish and the underwater scene early in the film (it's obviously an aquarium scene with Mollies and Guppies superimposed over Bud, Lou and William Demarest). It's a shame the studio took so many shortcuts, I could have ignored the unnecessary songs and love story but I couldn't ignore the cheesiness. It's also a shame, as the idea of the film is good AND it was nice to see Lou really be a hero by the end of the film. Too bad--a film with a lot of promise that is undone by stupid studio hacks that insisted on formula and didn't trust Abbott and Costello to be funny on their own.

I didn't watch the movie, really. I saw attractive, glimpses of it, possibly a couple of key points I hope, but "yeah" I thought it was pretty interesting to see a 1942 movie (which I didn't know until it was over), and reflect, in a detached presence, about how it was a good example of an era in the evolution of theater; where only the rich, elite could afford a live audience and demand variety in their amusements, to (something "else" in many ways) . . . I can't, quite put my finger on it. What I really wanted to say was that 'I thought it was a good example of the transition between stage and film'. Then it started to get out of hand . . .