As in this film's immediate predecessor, Little Giant, Abbott and Costello do not play friends or any kind of partners, but are simply individual members of the cast. Also as in the previous movie, Costello's character is largely the hero, while Abbott plays a somewhat unsympathetic dual role. The two comics' trademark vaudeville routines are absent, and in fact they speak directly to each other only during one scene at the beginning of the film. (This loosening of the comics' onscreen partnership was reportedly due to personal tensions that briefly broke up the act in 1945.)