In 1942, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello capitalized on their smashing success and churned out what is arguably their best effort up to that point. This time around, Bud and Lou play two dim-witted soda jerks trying to work their way into the radio business. When a "whodunit" mystery writer meets them and gives them tickets to that night's play, the duo jump at the opportunity. However, they soon find themselves in the middle of a real murder case when the studio's Executive Director is bumped off in the same manner as the victims in the mystery script. Thanks to one of Bud's bright ideas, they become prime suspects in the case while the murderer targets them as well. Trying to clear their names and solve the case, Bud and Lou embark on a wild chase that evokes laugh after laugh after laugh.

After seeing this film, it is not at all difficult to see why Abbott and Costello were so popular. Every routine is treated like a masterpiece and their comedic delivery is as close to perfect as you will find anywhere. Take the soda bar scene, for example. It's not that the "Muck and Mire" radio script is so inhumanly dumb, but rather Lou's constant heckling of the straight-faced bud that is funny. Then there is the way Lou reacts to everything. The man is just priceless. These guys had comedy nailed like few others ever managed.

Another reason Who Done It? is so great is the supporting cast. Sure Bud and Lou almost get in trouble for pretending to be cops, but it is a wonder that the real ones managed to keep their jobs for more than a day. Williams Bendix as Brannigan is even dumber than Lou! Now that is a first! His buddy is not too bright either. Sure, Bud and Lou nearly get in trouble for pretending to be cops, but the real ones are nearly as bad. Adding even more laughs is Mary Wickes as Juliet Collins. The subplot with her and Lou completes a one-two-three punch that is one of A&C's best ever.

Finally, there cannot be a great Abbott and Costello without a famous routine or two. The "volts are watts" scene is terrific, and who can forget "Alexander 2222"? For fans of Bud and Lou, the best part has to be when they hear "Who's on First?" on the radio and DISLIKE IT! The director managed to create a terrific flow from one wacky sequence to the next. For Bud and Lou in top form, look no further than Who Done It? Laughs guaranteed.

Bud and Lou are talentless aspiring writers who want to get jobs writing murder mysteries for the radio. In the meantime, they are working as soda jerks at the counter in the same building as the network. When a real murder takes place, Bud insists that they investigate, as he assumes that if they can crack the case they can have a leg-up on getting these jobs. Naturally, this makes the boys top targets for this killer. The movie turns out to have, not surprisingly, an angle involving the Nazis and spies--common sorts of propaganda additions for wartime films.

What is surprising, though, is Walter Tetley. He plays a role much like Bud did in IN THE NAVY, as some of the familiar Abbott and Costello routines (such as when they made change) are used with him as the straight man to Lou's idiot. Also, and this really surprised me, Tetley looked about 16 in the film but was a decade older. Apparently seeming younger than his real age was a natural for him in films, as he played the voice of Sherman in the "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" cartoons when he was in his mid-40s.

As for highlights and lowlights of the film go, there were a few low points. The scene where Lou runs away--through the doors and wall is priceless and really made me laugh. Also funny but completely stupid was the acrobatic sequence. This was supposed to be at a radio station and I kept asking myself "how are the people listening to the radio supposed to enjoy this?!". Otherwise, a very good film and it has a lot going for it--Abbott and Costello are still young and agile, there is no singing and the distracting love interest that Universal insisted on sticking in the early films is toned down--way down. As a result, this film doesn't suffer from all the distractions that are in their early films--no sharing the limelight and no silly (and pointless) production numbers. Instead, the focus is almost exclusively on the team--as it should be in a comedy. Because of all this, it's their best early film. It's funny, as it really is an early film (as it came in their third year in Hollywood) but by this film, the team had already made eight other films--churning out four a year in 1941 and 1942!

Two soda jerks desperate to break into radio to have their murder mysteries produced end up investigating the real deal in this amusing slapstick comedy that is one of Abbott and Costello's funniest. Filled with gag after gag and some great comedy performances, this jump into slapstick from the start and never lets go. Lou's getting hoodwinked by a juvenile telegram boy, first losing five cents and a bunch of glasses of orange juice, and later tickets to a radio show he believed were for a previous performance, as well as falling for the old two dimes for a nickel gag.

More comedy is provided by a young Mary Wickes as the radio station secretary, and there are also amusing gags involving various takes on the old "Who on First?", including one where Lou wins a radio, turns it on and hears the real Abbott and Costello doing the routine, and being turned off by having to hear this again over and over again. Unlike other Abbott and Costello movies, this one doesn't have any musical numbers, but it focuses more on plot for a change and that makes it a bit better than some of the musical comedies they had done up to that time.