For over twenty-five years, California's number two (and sometimes top) commercial network used to broadcast Abbott & Costello movies on weekend afternoons. Just about all their films received a good work-out, right through from their first One Night in the Tropics (1940) to their second-last Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy (1955). Even their last, Dance With Me, Henry (1956), occasionally saw the light.But would you believe there were a few A&C titles that were never dusted off at all? The Noose Hangs High (1948), Africa Screams (1949), Jack and the Beanstalk (1952), Abbott & Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952). These of course are not Universal (or MGM) titles. But what about The Time of Their Lives? That's Universal. And it was never televised on weekend afternoons. In fact it was last aired way back in 1965, before the big A&C revival had even started. Their best film too. Their funniest, their most inventive, the wildest, most ingenious, craziest, cleverest film they ever made.Maybe because The Time of Their Lives is so brilliantly conceived and executed - with flawless production values and superlative special effects joined to an exceptionally witty, sharp-edged, New Yorker-sophisticated type of story - the television network simply didn't want to know. Maybe it's the fact that both comedians give the best performances of their careers - but not as a team. In individual character roles. They don't indulge in their usual verbal humor. In fact they don't even speak to each other, except briefly right at the beginning. Costello's straight man in this one is not a man at all, but the very attractive Marjorie Reynolds who makes a superb partner. And there's also wonderful support work by Binnie Barnes and Gale Sondergaard.Technically, The Time of Their Lives rates as simply marvelous (in both senses of that ill-used word). So much of the humor derives from breathtaking special effects work, I can't understand why this movie isn't the number one favorite of A&C vehicles today. After all, today's movie-lovers are just crazy about special effects. And the effects here represent cinema magic at its best.OTHER VIEWS: Of all the Abbott and Costello comedies, The Time of Their Lives is the most interesting. It employs a sustained plot and the humor is derived from characterizations and situations, rather than "stock routines"... Lou, as a misplaced ghost, gives the performance of his career. Bud, playing a neurotic psychiatrist, also gives his best performance and showed he was capable of being a fine character actor...Director Charles Barton created a marvelously atmospheric film. Jim Mulholland in his absolutely essential "Abbott and Costello Book" (Popular Library, New York, 1975).

Abbott & Costello once again work separately, but with more successful results. Bud plays both Cuthbert & his descendant Dr. Ralph Greenway, who during the Revolutionary War betrays Tinker Horatio Prim(played by Lou) who has in his possession a letter of recommendation from General George Washington. Marjorie Reynolds plays Melody Allen, who learns that someone on the estate they share is a traitor. Unfortunately, due to a tragic misunderstanding, both she and Horatio are killed by their own side, and cursed into becoming ghosts who will be Earthbound to their estate until they find evidence to prove their innocence, which finally arrives in 1946, when new people move in, causing the ghostly duo to go into action once more. Imaginative and funny film with good F/X and performances. One could quibble about story morality and logic, but it all works out quite well in the end.

Abbott and Costello may have been feuding in real life but it doesn't hurt TTOTL in which there is only one scene where they fully interact with each other. This film was directed by Charles Barton who also directed their most famous masterpiece "Meet Frankenstein", and the quality of the writing and plot is up to that standard, in fact ahead of its time. Even though it is about the supernatural, the plot is a logical framework like "Meet Frankenstein", which makes the laughs and gags so funny. It's a story of wrongful conviction and final redemption where things are put right. Costello and the supporting cast are terrific, including his female foil, Marjorie Reynolds, but what really stands out is the chemistry between Bud Abbott and Binnie Barnes whose lines with each other are as snappy and fast paced as any Abbott and Costello routine. If Abbott were to take a female partner, she was the one for him. If there is a flaw, it's the inconsistencies about what ghosts can touch, but that's forgivable. It is also a film where Abbott takes a lot of the pratfalls. That's great if you have been dying to see him get paid back for all the times he picks on Costello.

Most unusual A&C film starts off in the Revoluntionary War where Horatio (Bud Abbott) and Melody (Marjorie Reynolds) are shot and killed and mistakenly believed to be traitors. Because of that their spirits are forced to remain Earthbound. Only a letter from George Washington can prove their innocence--but it's hidden away. Cut to 1946 where a bunch of people renovate and move into the house--and Horatio and Melody discover the letter might still be there...but where? They decide to haunt the house and find it.Strange comedy. Abbott & Costello shave precious little screen time together--but they're still great. Abbott's screaming is a little much at times but he plays well with beautiful Reynolds. Lou Costello is given probably the best role he ever had as an intelligent psychiatrist who can't believe the haunting. He clearly is enjoying playing it straight and he's just fantastic! Also Gale Sondergaard is on hand as a sinister housekeeper--of course. The rest of the cast is just there but Binnie Barnes does have some fun lines as Millie.I saw this countless times as a child in the 1970s--a local TV station used to show A&C films every Saturday night at 7:00 for years. I loved this back then and it still holds up. It's quick, funny and the special effects actually aren't bad (if obvious and amusing). This wasn't a hit at the time of its release but is now considered one of their best features. A must-see.One great line: Binnie Barnes meets Sondergaard for the first time and says, "Didn't I see you in Rebecca?"