One Night in the Tropics (1940) in Color — Starring Allan Jones & Nancy Kelly

One Night in the Tropics (1940) — Buy This Classic in Color

One Night in the Tropics is a 1940 American romantic comedy directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Allan Jones, Nancy Kelly, Robert Cummings, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The film follows a young man who sails for a tropical island to escape a marriage he never agreed to, only to find the woman he is meant to avoid waiting on the same ship. It was the screen debut of Abbott and Costello, and it blends romance, mistaken identity and musical numbers into one breezy, fast-talking comedy. Own this classic movie in color as a DRM-free MP4 digital download for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

The story opens in New York, where Jim Moore (Robert Cummings) learns that his uncle has arranged a marriage for him by proxy. Jim has no intention of honouring the arrangement, so he decides to leave the country altogether and sail for a tropical island. His friend Steve Harper (Allan Jones) and a small circle of companions join him on the voyage, and the trip is meant to be a clean escape from the whole business. What Jim does not know is that the woman named in the arrangement, Cynthia Merrick (Nancy Kelly), is about to board the same ship.

Cynthia is travelling under circumstances of her own, and she has no wish to be tied to a stranger either. Through a series of mix-ups and half-truths, neither Jim nor Cynthia realises at first who the other really is. Their paths cross on deck and in the ship’s lounges, and the two strike up an easy, teasing rapport without ever connecting the names to the contract waiting for them at the other end of the journey. The comedy turns on that gap between what the characters know and what the audience can see coming.

Complicating everything are two shipboard schemers, the fast-talking Abbott and Costello, who work the passengers with a running patter of gags and get-rich-quick ideas. Their routines give the film its comic engine, and their scenes with the rest of the cast keep the pace light even as the romantic misunderstandings pile up. Also aboard is the wealthy and theatrical Roscoe (William Frawley) and a colourful set of fellow travellers whose interference keeps pushing Jim and Cynthia closer together.

As the voyage continues, the tropical setting takes over. There are musical numbers, moonlight, and a growing attraction that neither Jim nor Cynthia is quite ready to admit. Steve, meanwhile, has his own romantic complications, and the various couples aboard keep tangling and untangling as the ship nears its destination. The film moves between the romantic leads and the comedy team, letting each carry a stretch of the running time before handing off to the other.

By the time the ship reaches the island, the truth about the arranged marriage can no longer be avoided. Jim and Cynthia each discover the identity of the person they have been trying to escape, and the contract that brought them together becomes the thing standing between them. The final act gathers the whole cast for a resolution that depends on whether the two of them can see past the arrangement they were handed. The question the ending answers is whether a marriage neither of them wanted can become the one thing they both choose.

Cast & Crew

Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Stars: Allan Jones, Nancy Kelly, Robert Cummings, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

The colorization of One Night in the Tropics opens up a film that was designed around warmth and movement. The shipboard sequences gain from period-accurate costume colour — the evening gowns, the officers’ uniforms and the travel wear of a 1940 ocean liner — while the tropical island passages finally look the way the title promises, with saturated skies, greenery and water that the original black and white could only suggest. This colourised restoration also brings out the detail in the ship’s interiors and the island sets, revealing décor and staging that tend to blur in monochrome. Most importantly, the colour serves the performances: the comic timing of Abbott and Costello reads differently when you can see the expressions and the visual gags in full, and the romantic scenes between Allan Jones and Nancy Kelly carry a warmth that black and white flattens. For anyone who has only seen this film in grey, the colorized version is a genuinely different experience. Buy it now for €15.00 and start watching with an instant DRM-free MP4 download.

Historical Significance

One Night in the Tropics holds a firm place in film history as the feature debut of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The comedy team had already built a following in burlesque, radio and on Broadway, and this film brought their act to cinema audiences for the first time. They were not yet the headliners — the romantic leads carried the picture — but their scenes were strong enough that Universal quickly moved them into starring vehicles, and within a few years they were among the studio’s biggest box-office draws. Seen today, the film is a document of a comedy partnership at the moment it crossed over into film.

The film also belongs to the wave of romantic comedies and musical travel pictures that Hollywood produced in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Director A. Edward Sutherland had a long career in comedy and worked steadily across the studio system, and here he keeps the tone light and the pace brisk. Allan Jones, already known as a singing lead, anchors the romantic side, while Nancy Kelly and Robert Cummings handle the central misunderstanding. William Frawley, later familiar to television audiences, appears in support, and the ensemble gives the film a busy, good-natured energy typical of its era.

For modern viewers, the film matters for two reasons: it is the first Abbott and Costello movie, and it is a well-preserved example of the studio romantic comedy at its most relaxed. Colorization brings it to new audiences who might otherwise pass over a black-and-white 1940 comedy, letting the shipboard glamour and the tropical finale register the way contemporary audiences would have imagined them.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 / MKV digital download
• Resolution: HD 720p
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: English original mono
• Runtime: 82 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00 (token, rendered by the site)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Is One Night in the Tropics the first Abbott and Costello film?
A: Yes. It was the comedy team’s feature film debut, released in 1940. They appear in supporting roles rather than as the leads, but their routines are a major part of the film’s appeal and helped launch their starring career at Universal.

Q: Was One Night in the Tropics originally filmed in colour?
A: No. The film was shot in black and white, as was standard for most studio releases of 1940. This page offers a later professional colorized restoration, not a studio colour release, so the colour you see here is a modern enhancement of the original monochrome photography.

Q: Who plays the romantic leads, and who directed the film?
A: Allan Jones and Nancy Kelly play the central romantic pair, with Robert Cummings as Jim Moore. The film was directed by A. Edward Sutherland for Universal, and it runs 82 minutes.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as MP4 and MKV files that play on virtually any device.
Q: Is there DRM on the file?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free so you can watch it on any device without restrictions.
Q: How quickly can I watch after purchase?
A: Your download link is available instantly after payment, so you can start watching within minutes.

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