i read the book on which this film be base bud and lou and by bob thomas when it first come out and and it do not impress me much . it turn out that thomas have rely for a lot of his information on eddie sherman and abbott and costello longtime manager who have be fire by the duo and obviously have a major ax to grind . that be to be expect and and it even understandable and but this movie be and if anything and even more one side than the book . it main goal seem to be to paint the two comic and especially costello and in as bad a light a possible . now lou costello be no saint while he be know to have a short fuse and he and abbott fought bitterly on occasion and even go for month at a time without speak to each other off the set and he give many of his director a lot of trouble and he have a habit of appropriate furniture and prop that he particularly like from the set of his picture . however and if you believe this movie and he be venal and nasty and stubborn and vengeful and temperamental and offensive 24/7 . the script bear little resemblance to the real life of the two comedian ( costello daughter in particular be so incensed by this movie that she write her own book to refute it and the book it be base on ) while however and even if it be 100 % accurate and costello actually be the ogre the movie paint him to be and the horrendous miscasting of buddy hackett and harvey korman destroy whatever possibilities the movie might have have . hackett bear somewhat of a resemblance to costello and although he taller and heavy and and korman be about the right size and build a abbott and but that it . costello be bear and raise in northern new jersey and a be abbott and and both have the sharp and rapid fire speech pattern and new york ish accent typical of that area and though costello be more pronounced than abbott . hackett sound like a borscht belt catskills comic and which be what he be and and korman sound like a classically trained stage actor and which be what he be and and neither of them even try to come close to the way bud and lou speak abbott mile a minute carnival barker spiel and costello excitable sputtering a he get more and more confused which be central to the astonishing verbal byplay between the two and which and although they make it look easy and be actually quite complex and especially in the who on first routine . in addition and and even more damaging and be the fact that korman and hackett have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever and which be painfully obvious by their atrocious rendering of who on first while it so embarrassingly and maddeningly inept hackett and for reason know only to himself and speak even more slowly here than he do in the rest of the movie and when the whole point of the routine be costello get more and more overwhelmed a the pace get faster and faster that it should have be completely cut out . the film play fast and loose with the fact many bios do and but this one do more than most and the performance by the other actor be nothing special . arte johnson play eddie sherman and but make no particular impression . michelle lee and tall and slender and gorgeous and waspish and play costello wife anne and who in reality be short and stocky and swarthy and and in fact look more like lou costello than she do michelle lee and and hackett doesn not connect with her and either . the film make some curious omission while it doesn not mention and for example and that both abbott and costello wife be burlesque dancer and which be where they all meet . while a case may possibly be make for leave that out and less understandable be the fact that and although the film cover the team career in radio and movie and for some unfathomable reason it completely ignore the fact that they have a hugely successful television series for several year ( which be still be show in rerun today ) . to sum it all up and if the one sidedness and inaccuracy and omission weren not enough to sink this movie and the almost criminal miscasting of the two lead be . this be a stinker of virtually biblical proportion . avoid it .