That no less than five authors are credited for the book and script is probably the most important, and comprehensible, fact concerning "One Night in the Tropics," now at the Roxy. From an idea so minute as to be almost invisible to the naked eye, they have spun a tangled comedy whose loose ends extend in all directions. If all the confused double-talk were scissored from the film its running time would be to its present length as a jigger is to a quart. As a matter of fact, those chaotic wits, Abbott and Costello, stand out as logistical wizards amid the helter-skelter confusion of the story—and that obviously is not as it should be. For the record, the story revolves about the misadventures of a doting swain who makes the mistake of taking out an insurance policy on his wedding only to lose his prospective bride to his broker. After the first five minutes the plot becomes as dizzying as a ride on a merry-go-round. It's a pity too, because Allan Jones, as the broker, can sing a romantic stanza with persuasion and Jerome Kern's lilting melodies, especially "You and Your Kiss" and "Your Dream," sound entrancing under a prop moon. The Messrs. Abbott and Costello, as a pair of undercover men, account for whatever hilarity there is in the film—and that is strange because the plot stalls in its tracks whenever they appear. When Costello is rooked of a year's salary by a series of logical deductions for holidays and lunch hours, or he and Abbott become involved in cosmic issues over the question of eating a hot dog with or without mustard, "One Night in the Tropics" becomes a riotous excursion. For the rest, it is merely a mild sedative. ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS; screen play by Gertrude Purcell and Kathryn Scola; adapted by Kathryn Scola and Francis Martin from the novel "Love Insurance," by Earl Derr Biggers; directed by A. Edward Sutherland; music by Jerome Kern; lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2d and Dorothy Fields. A Universal picture. Jim . . . . . Allan Jones Cynthia . . . . . Nancy Kelly Abbott . . . . . Bud Abbott Costello . . . . . Lou Costello Steve . . . . . Robert Cummings Aunt Kitty . . . . . Mary Boland Roscoe . . . . . William Frawley Mickey . . . . . Peggy Moran Escobar . . . . . Leo Carrillo Rudolfo . . . . . Don Alvarado Nina . . . . . Nina Orla Mr. Moore . . . . . Richard Carle Bosley Crowther New York Times 20 December 1940

The school staff perform the Oberufer Shepherds Play every year just before Christmas as their gift to the community. Running for about an hour, it's an undiluted medieval version of the night of Christ's birth, seen largely through the eyes of three very unruly, knockabout shepherds. The cast includes Joseph and Mary of course, the shepherds, a variety of unhelpful innkeepers, an angel, and the truly medieval Starsinger with his (her!) star on scissors who does the introductions and closing speech. The script is true to the spirit of the oral tradition rediscovered in Oberufer where the play has been performed for centuries. Adaptall SP 35-210 at 210mm f/4.2 (wide open) on the tripod, ISO3200 with no additional NR other than luminance and chroma noise reduction in CS1.