After going through a good number of their classic films (over 12 so far), I happened to find an old VHS copy of the Abbott and Costello film "Who Done It?" at my local library. I wanted to see it for two reasons: one, it has A&C. How could you beat that? Two, it centers around a radio studio and the events therein. For an OTR buff and a classic film buff, how could I resist? Easy; I couldn't.
The film begins in the office of Colonel JR Andrews, head of the "General Broadcasting Network". In these first scenes, we see the main love interests (between a very good Patric Knowles and Louise Allbritton) come together (then separate!) in the office. After that, Knowles goes down to the studio café, where we are introduced to Mervyn Milgrim and Chick Larkin (guess who is who!), two budding radio writers stuck behind a soda fountain. They are invited to the radio broadcast that night of the program "Murder At Midnight" (not to be confused with the 1946-7 radio show of the same name), and it is there at the studio that we meet the first of two actors that would make a bigger splash on radio than on film. Walter Tetly, who most famously portrayed "Leeeeeeeeroy" on The Great Gildersleeve and Julius Abrusio on The Phil Harris/Alice Faye show, here plays a wise-cracking "studio bellboy", not unlike his role as Julius on PH/AF.
Mervyn and Chick sneak their way into the studio, only to be there at the moment Colonel Andrews suddenly dies! The doctor in the studio believes that it was his "weak heart", but Knowles thinks otherwise, saying "It wasn't his heart. This is murder!!!" The film then careens into the boy's usual madcap routines, some new, some classic (such as the classic "phone-booth"routine). I will not bore the reader with details of the rest of the plot, only because I would reveal some spoilers! However, it must be said that the second of the afore-mentioned two real radio actors was cast in a role befitting his life. William Gargan is paired up with the hilarious William Bendix (of The Life of Riley fame) in the role of a homicide detective. Gargan himself was a "private-eye" in California (before feeling the call of showbiz), and, after bit parts in several films (most notable film he ever played in: 1945's The Bells of St Mary's), he finally landed a starring role in the radio series "Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator". In the film (a full 9 years before Barrie Craig), Gargan is the serious counterpoint to Bendix's comedic acting.
All in all, the film is a "lost gem" of Abbott and Costello's magnificent career, and is a film that should NOT be missed. I just ordered the recently-released DVD set, and plan on enjoying it very soon.
FINAL RATING FOR "WHO DONE IT?"- 10/10. A pure classic, through and through.
Never seen this one, but I'll be keeping an eye out for it after reading the above review.
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