Who Done It? (1942 film)

Who Done It?
Who Done It?
	Newspaper advertisement
Directed by	Erle C. Kenton
Written by	Stanley Roberts; Edmund Joseph; John Grant
Produced by	Alex Gottlieb
Starring	Bud Abbott; Lou Costello; Patric Knowles; William Gargan; Louise Allbritton; Jerome Cowan; William Bendix; Mary Wickes
Cinematography	Charles Van Enger
Edited by	Arthur Hilton
Music by	Frank Skinner
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	November 6, 1942;
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,750,000 (US rentals)

Who Done It? is a 1942 American comedy-mystery film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It is noteworthy as their first feature that contains no musical numbers.

Plot

Chick Larkin and Mervyn Milgrim both work at the soda counter of a local radio station's headquarters. Their true passion, however, is to become writers on a radio mystery show. They attend a broadcast of the radio program Murder at Midnight along with one of the writers, Jimmy Turner, and the producer, Jane Little.

As the show begins, the network president, Colonel J.R. Andrews, is mysteriously electrocuted. Seeing this as an opportunity to become radio writers, Chick and Mervyn impersonate detectives and attempt to solve the crime with the help of Juliette Collins, who works for the station. Meanwhile, Moran and Branningan, two real detectives, consider the 'fake' detectives to be prime suspects. A prolonged chase ensues throughout the studio, and the body of Dr. Marek, Andrews' personal physician, is also discovered.

Larkin and Milgrim flee the studio, but hear on the radio that Milgrim has apparently won $10,000 on the Wheel of Fortune radio program. Larkin and Milgrim return to claim the prize, only to be arrested by the real detectives. Turner and Little, who have also been investigating, manage to convince everyone that there should be a full reenactment of the program that led to the murders, so that the true culprit might crack and be revealed.

An eavesdropping Nazi spy, who used the radio station to transmit information to his cohorts, attends the reenactment broadcast. It turns out that the spy murdered the Colonel and his physician because they found out about his illegal radio transmissions. During the broadcast, he loses his nerve and flees to the roof, where he is pursued by Larkin and Milgrim. After a struggle, Milgrim uses a slingshot to break the light bulbs that spell out the name "TOWNSEND PHELPS", causing the sign to now read "SEND HELP". The police arrive and the murderer is arrested.

Cast

Bud Abbott as Chick Larkin / Voice of Himself on Radio
Lou Costello as Mervin Q. Milgrim / Voice of Himself on Radio
Patric Knowles as Jimmy Turner
William Gargan as Police Lt. Lou Moran
Louise Allbritton as Jane Little
Thomas Gomez as Col. J.R. Andrews
William Bendix as Detective Brannigan
Don Porter as Art Fraser
Jerome Cowan as Marco Heller
Mary Wickes as Juliet Collins
Ludwig Stössel as Dr. Anton Marek

Who's on first?

There are two references to the team's popular Who's on First? routine. During the murder scene, Abbott confuses Costello with the "volts-and-watts" routine. Lou bleats, "Next you'll be telling me Watt's on second base!" Later, in the radio giveaway program scene, Bud and Lou tune the radio to a broadcast of their own Who's on First? routine, which they promptly turn off and, as an obvious inside joke, disparage.

Release

After completion of this film, Abbott and Costello began a tour of the United States to help promote the selling of U.S. War Bonds.^[2]

Who Done It? was re-released in 1949 with Keep 'Em Flying, and in 1954 with Ride 'Em Cowboy.^[3]

Home media

This film has been released three times on VHS 1989, 1991 and 2000. It has also been released twice on DVD. The first time, on The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume One, on February 10, 2004, and again on October 28, 2008 as part of Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection.

References

^ "101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58
^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0

External links

Who Done It? at IMDb
Who Done It? at the TCM Movie Database

[1] "101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58

[2] Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0

[3] Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0

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v t e Abbott and Costello
Bud Abbott Lou Costello
Films	One Night in the Tropics Buck Privates In the Navy Hold That Ghost Keep 'Em Flying Ride 'Em Cowboy Rio Rita Pardon My Sarong Who Done It? It Ain't Hay Hit the Ice In Society Lost in a Harem Here Come the Co-Eds The Naughty Nineties Abbott and Costello in Hollywood Little Giant The Time of Their Lives Buck Privates Come Home The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap The Noose Hangs High Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Mexican Hayride Africa Screams Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man Comin' Round the Mountain Jack and the Beanstalk Lost in Alaska Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Abbott and Costello Go to Mars Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Dance with Me, Henry The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (Costello only) The World of Abbott and Costello
Shorts	10,000 Kids and a Cop
Television	The Abbott and Costello Show (episodes) The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show
Radio	The Abbott and Costello Show
Bits	"Who's on First?"
Cartoons	Babbit and Catstello A Tale of Two Kitties The Mouse-Merized Cat Tale of Two Mice Hollywood Canine Canteen