The Time of Their Lives (1946)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Poor Horatio(Lou Costello) and Melody(Marjorie Reynolds) are having the time of their ghostly lives, haunting the arrivals to the newly restored Danbury mansion. This estate has been their prison for 166 years, as punishment for being wrongly accused as traitors to the cause of the American Revolution. Actually, they were going to warn General Washington about the treachery of Benedict Arnold, but Washington had already found out. His information also implicated Tom Danbury as being involved in the plot to give West Point to the British, and capture Washington. Hence, his troops came to the Danbury residence to arrest Danbury, and loot and burn his mansion. In the dark, they mistook the duo as British spies. They were fleeing from what they thought were British soldiers. Their bodies were thrown down the well, and a curse placed on their souls, forbidding then to leave the estate, unless evidence surfaced that they were not traitors. They figure the only way they might prove their innocence, would be if they could find the letter of commendation by Washington to Horatio. Danbury took the letter and hid it some unknown place. His mansion was burned to the ground, but the furnishings were looted beforehand. The present owner, Sheldon Gage, supposedly furnished the new mansion with mostly the original furnishings(How would he know what they were, and where to find them??)The estate occupants finally figure out that the letter was placed in a secret compartment of the library clock, but that the present clock isn't the original. They also figure out that the original is in a NY museum(pretty contrived) So, how to get access to it? Their story would be too unbelievable to warrant examining it. Dr. Greenway(Abbott) volunteers to go to the museum. They won't let him have it, but he (unbelievably) smuggles it out, with police on his tail. He gets to the Sheldon estate after the police(How did they know to go there to find him??)He pus the clock in another building and tries to figure out how to open the secret compartment, with Horatio's help. But, the police find him before he can figure it out. They handcuff him and put him and the clock in their car. But there is an invisible barrier at the gate, as long as Horatio and Melody unknowingly are in the car. When they get out to see what's wrong, Horatio takes the wheel and drives crazily around the estate, ending up at the well and a nearby tree. The clock flies into the bushes, begins to chime, and the compartment opens , with the letter inside. Now, the ghosts can wander where they want to, which is heaven, where Horatio hopes to find his first love: Nora, and Melody hopes to find Tom Danbury. Strange that she, evidently a supporter of the Revolution, should pine for Tom: a Tory!I will not describe the various comedic happenings. See them for yourself. I will say that Abbott, as Dr. Greenway, was often the victim of Horatio's antics, because he strongly resembles his ancestor Cuthbert Greenway, who was a rival for Nora's hand.This was the last of 2 pictures where Abbott and Costello weren't partners in misadventures, and where Lou never got slapped by Bud. Evidently the audience response wasn't positive enough to continue this format after the boys made up with each other. As usual, there were some gaping holes in the plot.Marjorie was radiant looking, usually in flattering outfits. She is best remembered in Hollywood films as the leading lady in the famous musical "Holiday Inn", with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. As often, she was a blond then. Here, she's back to her natural brunet. On TV, she was Riley's brunet wife in "The Life of Riley" series... Binnie Barnes, in her 40s, looked much younger than an aunt to a grown woman.

This movie is unusual for its absence of the usual Abbott & Costello routines and shtick. Instead, it has a genuinely engrossing plot, good acting, a few scary moments, and even decent special effects.The story opens in 1780. Lou Costello plays Horatio Prim, a Revolutionary War tinker loyal to the Revolutionary cause; and Bud Abbott plays Cuthbert Greenway, a butler who has wronged him. Mr. Prim and a friend, equally patriotic Melody Allen (played by the delightful Marjorie Main) are mistaken for traitors by General Washington's army and killed. They return as ghosts, cursed to walk the earth near where they were shot, unless they can find some evidence to prove their innocence of the charge of treason. Centuries pass without any success, and now it's 1946. A new family has built a house on the premises, including Dr. Ralph Greenway (also played by Bud Abbott), a descendant of the original Cuthbert Greenway. Mr. Prim and Ms. Allen try to enlist their aid in finding evidence to prove their own innocence--and free them to go to heaven.Except for those aforementioned scary moments, the movie is warm and even touching rather than good for belly laughs, with a cute twist at the very end that will leave you smiling.

You almost wonder with the premise of this one if Bud & Lou got back together in the great beyond & did this one again? The story is set in the American Revolution when Lou becomes a ghost. He is a tinker with a letter from George Washington which has gotten hidden, & until it is found his spirit can't leave. Then there is a shapely woman ghost with him under the same curse. Bud is a traitor who hides the letter. The mansion burns down but the letter survives.Then we fast forward to the 1940's Bud's Grandson who looks just like Bud comes back to visit the re-built mansion. Lou's ghost haunts him from the get go & this makes some of the funnier moments they have in their films. Lou & Bud argued a lot off screen so here, Lou gets to lay it on Bud & he does so pretty thick.The support cast in this movie is better than the average A&C film & for once there is not a bunch of music to distract the viewer. All these years later & the film is a little dated, but it is still funny.

This is my #1 favorite film. I saw it as a child in a very small movie theater in a small town in KY. It had everything. There was mystery, comedy, ghosts and a love story. And the special effects were pure delight. I would love to know any trivia others know about this story. I do know it was originally a play. I found it a Baker's play book, in the 1970 under another name. I wish I had order it. I have shown it to students ages 12 to 18 and they love it. I have shown it as an English teacher and even as a science teacher for the special effects in 1946. My 2000 era students laugh out loud and want to know more about Bud and Lou and their other movies. The theme song was the one my children let me walk down the isle to at their weddings. I hum it frequently. I have just joined and look forward to reading comments from other fans. I own the film in both VHS and DVD. I would love to see a remake, but it could never replace the original. Thanks Bud and Lou.