SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

JohnHowardReid PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: Although Hit the Ice failed to make the topmost ranks of 1943's domestic ticket champions, the movie must have filled plenty of seats, because both Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were voted equal third (to Betty Grable and Bob Hope) as the year's most popular stars by motion picture exhibitors in the U.S.A. COMMENT: In this one, Sheldon Leonard has the bright idea of committing a bank robbery while hospitalized with a phony fever. He ropes the boys in to cover him while he does the job. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not as imaginative as this original premise.The boys are in good form and perform their usual routines (the best of which is a stint in which Costello pretends to play the piano while Bud plays a record behind) quite ably, but the jokes supplied to them by scriptwriters Robert Lees, Frederic Rinaldo and John Grant are pretty feeble: "Teller!" - "Tell who?" - "Teller in the bank!" - "Tell who in the bank?" - "Listen, stupid, I want a teller in the bank!" - "Well go ahead and tell her! Who's stopping you?"Their acts are interspersed with some pleasant but forgettable songs, and there is the usual chase finale, this time on skis.The kids will love the movie anyway. For connoisseurs, however, the film is somewhat of a lesser joy. Charles Lamont's direction is as dull as can be. It's a long way down the scale from the smoothly confident competence of an Arthur Lubin or an S. Sylvan Simon. Fortunately, quality photography, sets and sound help take up the slack. OTHER VIEWS: Nicely photographed, fast-moving fun, complete with neat routines, crazy gags, plus polished musical numbers courtesy of Ginny Simms, Helen Young and The Four Teens, Johnny Long and his Orchestra. PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: Although Hit the Ice failed to make the topmost ranks of 1943's domestic ticket champions, the movie must have filled plenty of seats, because both Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were voted equal third (to Betty Grable and Bob Hope) as the year's most popular stars by motion picture exhibitors in the U.S.A.

bob the moo Photographers Flash and Tubby believe they have land a paying job when they agree to cover a group of men coming out of a bank. Little do they know that the men are bank robbers who have mistaken the two for hired guns, booked to cover the entrance during the job. They discovery this too late and suddenly find themselves suspected of the robbery themselves. With only the photographs they took as leverage, the two follow the crooks to a mountain ski resort where they plan to expose them and clear their own names.Abbott & Costello are always a duo I come back to but yet they are also a duo that tend to deliver solid amusement rather than great films. Hit the Ice is another one of those because it is roundly "ok" even if it does have some bits that capture why people love these two. The plot is a simple affair with the usual misunderstandings and scrapes along the way but it does work, providing the love interest for Costello to flirt with and also the tough guys for him to face off against. There are a few routines that are good fun like the "teller" one or the bit where Costello packs and unpacks repeatedly, while the pratfalls and chases are amusing and are done with energy. It doesn't have enough to be considered a great film or anything but it is amusing enough to please fans and also children.The film is padded far too much with musical numbers. You expect one or maybe two but there are loads of them here and they never feel like anything other than filler. Abbott and Costello are both on pretty good form here, they feel like they are working well off one another – with Costello in particular putting effort into his falls and double-takes. Simms' songs perhaps don't appeal but she certainly does – stunningly beautiful and she has an easy screen presence that helps as well – I feel for Knox who has to compete but doesn't really. Leonard is fun as the main villain while Knowles is about as vanilla and dull as he could have been.Overall this is an OK piece of comedy that fans will like as well as kids. There are a couple of funny routines and, although it has too much of it, the pratfall-style comedy is OK too. The musical numbers are overused and slow the film down but at least you get to look at Simms while they are on (well, mostly). Solid but unremarkable.

Spikeopath ...but dangerously close.However, there is still enough here to keep the grin on the face and there is still a high production value within the structure, if only the same could be said of the writing! I tend to feel with Abbott & Costello movies it pays to take a break for a few months and then go back to further viewings refreshed and not feeling a sense of seen this before repetitiveness.This one sees the boys as photographers who unwittingly get mixed up in a bank robbery and have to flee to a ski resort to hopefully prove their innocence. The usual pratfalls are abound as Tubby constantly loses his pants, gets his bum set on fire, skis with a grizzly bear, and of course he tries to woo the pretty lady by bluffing he can play the piano. Music comes courtesy of Ginny Simms and the Johnny Long Orchestra, with stoic supporting acting duties falling to Patric Knowles, Elyse Knox and the always great Sheldon Leonard as the chief villain.Not close to being in the top five outings from the guys, but certainly an above average offering showing glimpses of just why they really were a special talent back in the day. 6/10

kyle-mcdonald This is another awesome bud Abbott and Lou Costello film and for all the same reasons it has great comedy it has a good story line to it the acting is good in it the actors are good in it everything is good in it so i'm sure that you will not be disappointed with hit the ice. So make sure that you rent or buy hit the ice because it is an awesome bud Abbott and Lou Costello film. and i'm sure that you will have a good time watching it and that you will watch it over and over again. because i still watch it and laugh.overall score ********* out of ********** **** out of *****