# Help me ID this Abbott and Costello movie/TV scene I saw as a kid

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-abbott-and-costello-movie-tv-scene-i-saw-as-a-kid/1018315>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [May 13, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-abbott-and-costello-movie-tv-scene-i-saw-as-a-kid/1018315 "2025-05-13T02:04:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-abbott-and-costello-movie-tv-scene-i-saw-as-a-kid/1018315/1 "2025-05-13T02:04:12Z")

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It’s based on the O. Henry short story “The Anthem and the Cop”, in which a guy is trying to get thrown in jail.

To that end, Bud orders Lou to “insult that lady”. Lou tries gamely, addressing her as “Toots”.

But the lady answers, in a terrifying, raspy voice and body language, that she’s “on the lam” and will kill him if anyone finds out that her _actual_ name is Toots.

Lou reports back to Bud who asks him if he insulted the lady.

"No. _She’s one of the boys!"_

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-abbott-and-costello-movie-tv-scene-i-saw-as-a-kid/1018315/2 "2025-05-13T06:31:43Z")

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Googling this

“toots” “abbott” “costello”

(each word in quotes just like that)

gives this.

- [Tommy Hinchcliffe](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0182579/?ref_=ttqu_qu): Hiya, toots.
- [Woman on Street](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0042453/?ref_=ttqu_qu): Don’t you dare call me toots, see. I quit the mob 10 years ago and I’m trying to go straight, see. If you guys don’t let me alone, I’ll get one-eyed Pitsie after you!

> **[The Noose Hangs High (1948) - Quotes - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040652/quotes/)**
>
> The Noose Hangs High: Directed by Charles Barton. With Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joseph Calleia, Leon Errol. Two window washers mistakenly receive, and lose, $50,000 belonging to a shady bookie, and have only forty-eight hours to retrieve the money.

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-abbott-and-costello-movie-tv-scene-i-saw-as-a-kid/1018315/3 "2025-05-13T12:37:11Z")

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Thanks!

I remember the threat to get “one-eyed” somebody after him.

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-abbott-and-costello-movie-tv-scene-i-saw-as-a-kid/1018315/4 "2025-05-16T20:30:58Z")

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Here’s the clip: ["Hiya, toots. Don't you dare call me toots, see. I quit the mob 10 years ago and I'm..." - The Noose Hangs High quote](https://clip.cafe/the-noose-hangs-high-1948/hiya-toots-toots/)

Apparently they did variations on the gag. The version I remember has the same dialog as in the IMDb entry that Darren\_Garrison posted (in which the lady is still in the mob, but on the lam). And it was a different actress, who had that unforgettable raspy voice.