While actors Bud Abbott and Lou Costello receive above-the-title listings in the opening credits, they were billed third and fourth respectively in the closing credits. Radio announcer Mike Frankovich's name was misspelled in the credits as "Frankovitch." According to Universal publicity materials, this was the first film to deal with the new peace-time military draft, signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on 16 Sep 1940. In Oct 1940, HR reported that Universal had assigned writer Harold Shumate to write an untitled "military conscription comedy," similar to one planned at Columbia. Then, in Nov 1940, HR reported that Universal contract players Richard Arlen and Andy Devine had been cast in Buck Privates, a "story dealing with life in the present day army camps," which was to be written by Maxwell Shane and produced by Ben Pivar. It has not been determined if any material from these writers was used in this film.
       The Andrews Sisters were signed by Universal to appear in the film in mid-Nov 1940, based on an eight-week commitment. According to HR, Abbott and Costello, along with the Andrews Sisters and Universal contract player Hugh Herbert, performed in a USO show at Camp Elliott, the U.S. Marine Corps Base in San Diego, CA, just prior to beginning work on this film. In Nov 1940, director Arthur Lubin signed a seven-year contract with Universal. HR news items indicate that dance director Nick Castle was borrowed from Twentieth Century-Fox for work on this film, while actor Lee Bowman was borrowed from M-G-M. HR production charts indicate that actress Nell O'Day was cast in the picture, but her appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Actress Maria Montez also appeared in HR production charts for the picture in early Jan 1941, but she did not appear in the released film. New items also state that Lou Levy, the head of Leeds Music Publishing and the manager of the Andrews Sisters, was allowed to select the music for this film, though he was not credited in any official capacity by Universal. HR also stated that a sneak preview of the film was held in late Jan 1941 for soldiers stationed at Fort MacArthur, CA.
       Buck Privates was the first film produced by Alex Gottlieb, who had previously worked at Universal as a screenwriter. HR reported in Jan 1941 that Gottlieb had been permanently promoted to associate producer by the studio based on a rough cut of this film. Then, based on outstanding preview cards and reviews, Gottlieb was assigned to a second Abbott and Costello film. According to modern sources, seventeen other writers had turned down this job before it was offered to Gottlieb. In late Feb 1941, Abbott and Costello themselves were rewarded for their work in the film with a four-picture deal by Universal. HR stated in mid-Apr 1941 that the film was so popular in some portions of the country that there was a shortage of prints, so Universal was forced to "bicycle" prints between theaters in the same town.
       Because of the tremendous success of this film, Universal delayed the release of Abbott and Costello's next film, Hold That Ghost (See Entry), in order to upgrade the production values of that film and to capitalize on the military comedy elements of their third film of 1941, In the Navy (See Entry). Abbott and Costello's fourth released film of 1941 was also a military comedy, entitled Keep 'Em Flying (See Entry). According to modern sources, after the failure of Abbott and Costello's first film, One Night in the Tropics (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.3271), Buck Privates was given a "B-film" budget of $180,000, with a twenty-day shooting schedule on standing sets. These sources also state that Abbott and Costello ad-libbed much of their dialogue, including the drill routine, which ran only two and a half minutes in the script, but was allotted five minutes of screen time. Modern sources also indicate that director Lubin shot the Abbott and Costello sequences using two or three cameras simultaneously to capture their spontaneity. Pat Costello worked as a stunt double for his brother in the film's boxing sequence, according to modern sources. Modern sources report that, by Mar 1941, the film had grossed $1,000,000 domestically, with final grosses over $4,000,000. Charles Previn received an Academy Award nomination for his musical scoring of the picture, and Hugh Prince and Don Raye's song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" was also nominated for an Oscar. Bud Abbott starred with Lou Costello in a 13 Oct 1941 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast of the story. In 1947, Universal made a sequel to this film, entitled Buck Privates Come Home (See Entry).