Reviews


It Ain't Hay (Universal Vault Series)

It Ain't Hay: Sit Back and Enjoy!

1943's It Ain't Hay is an Abbott and Costello vehicle adapted from a Damon Runyon story, Princess O'Hara. If you have qualms about how an established, iconic comedy team can mesh with Runyon's writing, well, why not take the carefree attitude of one Shemp Howard? Early in the film, fellow character actor Eddie Quillan asks Mr. Howard, 'What's the deal with the umbrella?' since it's not raining. Shemp's casual reply: 'Who knows? I'm a Damon Runyon character. The movie addresses the apparent incongruity of the styles by essentially telling us to just sit back and enjoy, and It Ain't Hay is indeed an enjoyable 80-some minutes. It's easy to build it up into something more than 'just' a solid Abbott and Costello picture because it was unavailable for years, thought to be entangled in a rights dispute with the Runyon estate. The same source material was actually filmed earlier by Universal in 1935 as Princess O’Hara, with Jean Parker, Chester Morris, and Leon Errol, and I’d love to see that version sometime. The DVD of this version is a great example of the value of ClassicFlix. Those of us who dutifully bought the 4 box sets of A&C flicks Universal cranked out got all of their feature films made for the studio...except It Ain't Hay. But when it was time for a super colossal mega box set cramming all the movies into one definitive package, well, it just so happened that whatever situation keeping Hay on the sidelines was resolved, and so it was included on that release. So those of us who had the original sets had to go without or shell out for the new set...OR rent it from ClassicFlix. It would be a mistake to raise expectations too high just because it was unavailable on video and considered a rare film (Actually, I’m not sure how often it aired on television, but Leonard Maltin included it in at least several of his movie guides, indicating it must have been available at some point). It Ain't Hay may not be an all-time classic, but it's always fun to watch the boys when they're clicking, and for me they get the job done here. They work a lot of slapstick into a plot centered on a preteen girl, her kindly father, and a valuable racehorse. It all builds to a suitably wacky action sequence at the track, with Lou on a horse and all sorts of complications, but there are also all of the other standard Abbott and Costello elements you expect: Musical numbers, a half-hearted subplot involving bland 'straight' characters (the thread about a soldier trying to raise money to put on a show is so thin, it's more like quarter-hearted), and some vintage routines. It will come as no surprise to fans that the guys use a variation of 'Mudder/Fodder' in this horse-themed movie. There’s also some funny business in a diner with Lou being threatened by a group of thugs that includes a typically menacing Mike Mazurki. I even like the music in this outing. Sure, it often feels like the song-and-dance numbers in A&C films are just keeping you from the good stuff, but I enjoy the extended sequence here featuring a female roller skating trio known as The Hollywood Blondes and the tap-dancing quartet The Four Step Brothers. A big number at the end is the payoff to that bit of plot about the soldier putting on a show, and it sure does feel tacked on, but even so the movie manages to get Bud, Lou, and Eugene Pallette involved for one final gag.
One of the best features of It Ain't Hay is its supporting cast. In addition to Shemp and Quillan, familiar faces like Cecil Kellaway and Samuel Hinds show up and leave strong impressions. Most effective for me is Pallette as the literal and figurative heavy, an efficiency expert who keeps landing jobs in places that bring him into direct conflict with Bud and Lou. The veteran’s gravelly voice and no-nonsense persona make Eugene a great foil for the leads. Runyon's original story elements blend pretty well with the classic Abbott and Costello formula, but one of the most Runyonesque scenes is written specially for the film. Set in an illegal gambling operation, it features a group of hoods trying to swindle Lou by staging phony race calls. They convince him to put increasing amounts of money down on the ponies while someone calls out fake races over a loudspeaker from a back room. The sequence offers colorful character actors, great Costello reactions, and a fun denouement, and it is one of the standout parts of the movie. I wish Universal had included a featurette, a text piece, or something explaining what kept It Ain't Hay in video limbo, but maybe I should be happy just to see its liberation. Forget about extras; there is no trailer, and in fact this disc doesn’t even have a menu. Hey, remember how we all used to laugh when studios listed “Interactive Menus” as a DVD extra? As we move forward with Manufactured on Demand discs, we move backward by losing some of what we took for granted. Perhaps many don't consider It Ain't Hay an upper-tier Bud and Lou flick. Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo’s invaluable book Abbott and Costello in Hollywood is down on the musical elements and the picture as a whole, especially compared to other efforts from director Erle C. Kenton. Yet I think it's a quality outing that holds up well alongside their other wartime movies. Now that it's more accessible, fans owe it to themselves to check it out. Rick Brooks is the proprietor of Cultureshark, a blog in which he uses an often irreverent approach to express his reverence for the classics and the un-classics.