It Ain't Hay (1943)

It Ain’t Hay: Directed by Erle C. Kenton. With Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Grace McDonald, Cecil Kellaway. Adaptation of the Damon Runyon story ‘Princess O’Hara’, in which the horse of a street vendor is replaced by a racehorse.

“Abbott and Costello are at their very best in this agreeable comedy. They play a couple of Manhattan taxi drivers with a fondness for a sweet young girl and her horse. Costello means well in trying to be nice to the animal, but his feeding it candy ultimately causes the horse to get sick – and die. So he and Abbott set out to make things right by getting a new horse for the girl, whose dad (Cecil Kellaway) runs a horse and carriage ride in the city. I know that synopsis sounds rather dramatic, but there is a lot of well-staged comedy between the serious moments. And Bud and Lou are as sharp in ever performing them. Some routines include: their classic u0026quot;the horse eats his fodderu0026quot;, the boys getting swindled at a phony horse race outfit, Lou getting into trouble at a restaurant for not being able to pay his check, and other assorted gags. Third Stooge Shemp Howard also has a part, but the real fun comes courtesy of fat man Eugene Palette, who is the perfect foil for Costellou0026#39;s antics. As with almost all of Au0026amp;Cu0026#39;s movie of this period, there is some singing and dance numbers here; however, I find them to be rather entertaining and endurable this time out. *** out of ****”