# Please ID this old comedy movie scene **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917 "2014-09-30T00:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [September 30, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/1 "2014-09-30T00:03:38Z")
A boxer is about to get a pre-fight rubdown from some dense, out-of-his-element character. (Maybe Lou Costello? Or Stan Laurel?) Perusing the unfamiliar bottles on the trainer’s table, the dense character asks, “Should I use rubbing alcohol, or wood alcohol?” The fighter shrugs. “Use either.” The dense character dutifully picks up the bottle labeled, “Ether”. The fighter is knocked out before leaving the locker room. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/2 "2014-09-30T00:10:39Z")
Ether in a boxing match figured into a [M_A_S\*H](http://reggiestake.com/2012/04/24/requiem-for-a-lightweight/)episode, but I don’t think it’s what you’re thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/3 "2014-09-30T03:00:01Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > A boxer is about to get a pre-fight rubdown from some dense, out-of-his-element character. (Maybe Lou Costello? Or Stan Laurel?) For sure not Stan Laurel. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/4 "2014-09-30T03:16:06Z")
really sounds like 3 stooges material, but the bowery boys would qualify, too. ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/5 "2014-09-30T14:36:49Z")
Maybe The Bowery Boys “No Hold Barred”? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/6 "2014-10-02T14:27:34Z")
I’ve seen this, and I think it’s a Bowery Boys movie. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/7 "2014-10-02T15:11:19Z")
I DEFINITELY remember an old episode of Abbott and Costello’s TV show with Lou Costello giving Bud Abbott a massage while llistening to a recording giving instructions how to do so. The recording says, “First, sterilize your hands with rubbing alcohol or witch hazel.” Costello asks Abbott which one to choose, and Abbott says, “Oh, just use either.” Costello gets a bottle of ether, which knocks Abbott out. Next, the recording says, “You’ll need a bottle of liniment.” Costello doesn’t have any, so he leaves the room to get it. While he’s away, someone turns off the recording and puts on a radio show explaining how to fix dents in your car! When Costello returns, the recording tells him, “Now, put everything away and get some sandpaper…” Costello has no idea that the recording has changed, so he follows all the new instructions. He starts sanding the unconscious Abbott, hammering him, and then painting him. Abbott and COstello used a lot of their old movie routines in the TV show, so it’s possible that same routine was done in one of their movies. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/8 "2014-10-02T15:14:35Z")
IF boxing was relevant to the plot, the movie MAY have been _ **Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.** _ The boys play a pair of boxing trainers in that one- the boxer they work with is framed for murder, and becomes invisible to find the real killers. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/9 "2014-10-02T15:19:00Z")
Here’s the routine I remember: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1oc-aRkxPgc/hqdefault.jpg "Abbott & Costello") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc-aRkxPgc) ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/10 "2014-10-03T02:08:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Here’s the routine I remember: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc-aRkxPgc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc-aRkxPgc) Bingo! ---
**Author:** ![Amagi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9d8465/32.png) [@Amagi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amagi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/11 "2015-04-23T23:49:00Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Here’s the routine I remember: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc-aRkxPgc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc-aRkxPgc) I remember this episode from when I was very young, maybe 4-6. I actually got some sandpaper and rubbed it on my stomach and gave myself a nice brush burn. I purchased some Abbott & Costello TV Show DVDs a few years back hoping I would find the scene, but no luck. Then I just did a search on the internet and found this page and the scene from my memory. LOL. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-old-comedy-movie-scene/699917/12 "2015-04-24T03:05:27Z")
Just reading the description by astorian made me laugh. It sounds like a skit that I’ve seen boy scouts do at a campout lately. Either someone saw the movie or it’s in a book of funny skits, and it’s silly enough (and clean humor).