''The Naughty Nineties'' is a 1945 American film starring the comedy team of

Abbott and Costello Abbott may refer to: People *Abbott (surname) *Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist * Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act Places Argentina * Abbott, Buenos Aires United States * Abbott, Arkansas ...

. The film is noteworthy for containing a filmed version of the duo's famous "

Who's on First? "Who's on First?" is a comedy routine made famous by American comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Costello. However, the players' names can simultaneously ...

" routine. This version is shown at the

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

Plot

The time is the 1890s. Captain Sam, owner of the showboat ''River Queen'', travels along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

bringing honest entertainment to each town. At a stop in Ironville, he meets Crawford, Bonita, and Bailey, who are wanted by the local sheriff. Against the advice of his daughter Caroline, his lead actor Dexter Broadhurst, and his chief

roustabout Roustabout (Australia/New Zealand English: rouseabout) is an occupational term. Traditionally, it referred to a worker with broad-based, non-specific skills. In particular, it was used to describe show or circus workers who handled materials ...

Sebastian Dinwiddle, the Captain joins them for a card game at a local gambling house. The Captain is plied with alcohol until he is intoxicated and gets involved in a crooked card game where he loses controlling interest in the show boat to Bonita and Crawford. They turn the showboat into a floating gambling casino with every game rigged in their favor. Dexter and Sebastian help the captain regain ownership of his vessel and oust the unwanted criminals.

Cast

Bud Abbott William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Early life Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New ...

as Dexter Broadhurst *

Lou Costello Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine "Who's on First?" ...

as Sebastian Dinwiddle * Alan Curtis as Crawford *

Rita Johnson Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...

as Bonita Farrow *

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life' ...

as Capt. Sam Jackson *

Lois Collier Lois Collier (born Madelyn Earle Jones; March 21, 1919 – October 27, 1999) was an American actress born in Salley, South Carolina. She was sometimes credited as Lois Collyer. Early years Collier's father was Ernest Jones, a pharmacist, of S ...

as Miss Caroline Jackson *

Joe Sawyer Joe Sawyer (born Joseph Sauers, August 29, 1906 – April 21, 1982) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962, and was sometimes billed under his birth name. Early life Sawyer was born August 29, 1 ...

as Bailey *

Joe Kirk Ignazio "Nat" Curcuruto (October 1, 1903 – April 16, 1975), better known by his stage name Joe Kirk, was an American radio, film, and television actor who was best known for playing the role of Mr. Bacciagalupe on ''The Abbott and Costello S ...

as Croupier *

Lillian Yarbo Lillian "Billie" Yarbo (March 17, 1905 – June 12, 1996) was an American stage and screen comedienne, dancer, and singer. Early life Born Lillian Yarbough

as Bonita's cook (uncredited)

Routines

Who's on First?

The line, "Who's on First?", was ranked No. 91 on

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

's 100 Movie Quotes. The "

" scene was intended to appear much earlier in the film. Costello begins the routine by saying, "When we get to St. Louis...", but at this point in the film they are already in St. Louis.Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). ''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood''. New York: Perigee Books. Members of the film's crew can be heard laughing off camera during the routine.

Other routines

The film also contains the "Lower/Higher" routine, where Costello auditions as a singer while Abbott shouts directions to the stage crew to change the height and placement of the backdrop curtain. Costello believes Abbott is directing him, not the stagehands, and follows Abbott's instructions by singing higher or lower, or even on one foot. Bonita sneaks poison into Lou's wine, leading to the old swapping of glasses routine (previously done by Abbott & Costello in ''

Pardon My Sarong ''Pardon My Sarong'' is a 1942 comedy film starring Abbott and Costello. Plot Tommy Layton, a wealthy bachelor, rents a city bus to take him from Chicago to Los Angeles to participate in a yacht race to Hawai’i. The bus drivers, Algy and Welli ...

''). Costello accidentally bakes feathers into a cake, which is served to everyone in the saloon. The patrons wind up coughing up a blizzard of feathers. This gag was taken from the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

short ''

Uncivil Warriors ''Uncivil Warriors'' is a 1935 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerry Howard). It is the eighth entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the ...

'' (1935). Costello and Sawyer perform the "Mirror Scene," copying each other's actions. Variations of this old vaudeville routine were done by several movie comedians, most famously in the 1933

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

film '' Duck Soup''. Abbott and Costello had used it before, too, in ''

Lost in a Harem ''Lost in a Harem'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Marilyn Maxwell. Plot When a traveling vaudeville show becomes stranded in the Middle East, their singer, Hazel ...

''. To break up the crooked card game and rescue Captain Sam, Abbott concocts a plan to dress as a bear and scare everyone out of the casino. Costello ends up wrestling with a real bear, thinking that he's wrestling Abbott in a bear suit.

Production

Filming occurred from January 15, 1945 through March 1, 1945. On May 13, 1945, during filming of their next film, ''

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood ''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood'' is a 1945 American black-and-white comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello alongside Frances Rafferty. Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was produced by Martin ...

'' for MGM Pictures, Abbott and Costello returned to Universal for re-shoots on this film. The riverboat used was originally constructed for the 1936

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

musical ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

''.

Rerelease

It was re-released in 1950 along with ''

One Night in the Tropics ''One Night in the Tropics'' is a 1940 comedy film which was the film debut of Abbott and Costello. They are listed as supporting actors but have major exposure with five of their classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On Fi ...

'', which also contained a shorter version of the "Who's on First?" routine.

Home media

This film has been released three times on DVD. The first time, on ''The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume Two'', on May 4, 2004, and again on October 28, 2008 as part of ''Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection''. In November 2019, ''Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection'' was rereleased on DVD and Blu-ray as an 80th anniversary edition.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Naughty Nineties 1945 films 1940s historical films American historical films Abbott and Costello films American black-and-white films Films directed by Jean Yarbrough Films set in the 1890s Films set on ships Gambling films Universal Pictures films Films scored by Paul Dessau 1940s English-language films 1940s American films