classicsoncall Review of The Noose Hangs High

The Noose Hangs High (1948)

"Every time I talk to you I get a headache."

[6/10 · 30 November 2014]

Here's an Abbott and Costello flick I didn't catch as a kid growing up but as it turns out, I didn't miss anything. All the bits here were either recycled from earlier films or done again later, so there was nothing new to see regarding their material. In fact, now that I think about it, the boys were so popular it wasn't surprising that they did their routines over and over again for appreciative fans. The backdrop for this story is a misplaced sum of fifty thousand dollars that puts Ted Higgins (Bud) and Tommy Hinchcliffe (Lou) indebted to a mobster (Joseph Calleia) who in turn owes on a big time gambling bet to Julius Caesar McBride (Leon Errol). As I think about it now, I wonder if it was really necessary to give their characters different names because let's face it, nobody ever relates to their being anyone else other than Bud and Lou. With backup support from actress Cathy Downs and former wrestler and boxer Iron Mike Mazurki, "The Noose Hangs High" delivers plenty of routines in staccato fashion even if the story itself is as improbable as they come.