The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon officially begins tomorrow!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we've been offering some bonus Boris clips leading up to the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here’s a Scared Silly bonus, or more precisely, an “horror-onable mention.” It’s a scene from the 1934 film “Gift of Gab,” a movie that doesn’t really qualify as a full-fledged horror-comedy, but is of major interest for this scene featuring an early teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (their second after "The Black Cat" earlier that same year) in a spoof of a murder mystery radio skit.
Well, technically the monster men are not "teamed" here, but they do appear in the same skit. And note Karloff's top hat and cape - a foreshadow of his later, similar get-up as the title fiend from "Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde."
In addition to the Karloff/Lugosi appearance, there are two other points of interest: this was once thought to be a “lost” film that was ultimately found within the last few years; and the Three Stooges were originally cast in the film but dropped when they signed with Columbia to do what would become a decades-long series of classic short subjects (reportedly they were replaced with look-alikes).
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site.
Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features. To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris singing, dancing and joking with funnyman Art Carney on "The Dinah Shore Show" - ENJOY:
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris singing and dancing as a guest on "The Dinah Shore Show" - ENJOY:
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris singing, dancing and yokking it up with Carol Burnett in 1964 on the popular variety show, "The Entertainers" - ENJOY:
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's newsreel footage of Boris and his fellow boogeyman Bela Lugosi judging a black cat contest to promote their classic 1934 film, "The Black Cat":
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris playing a friendly game of chess with fellow boogeyman Bela Lugosi in a 1934 edition of the theatrical newsreel series, "Screen Snapshots":
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris singing "We're Horrible, Horrible Men" from a 1938 radio broadcast with fellow boogeyman Bela Lugosi:
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site.
Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features. To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris really "cutting it up" as he endorses Comet razors in this classic TV commercial - ENJOY:
The 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon is set to begin on November 23rd!
Blogs all over the world will be posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. So far over 100 blogs have signed up – click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site. Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we'll be taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features.
To get you psyched for the festivities, we're offering some bonus Boris clips between now and the official blogathon launch - rarities including newsreel footage, TV commercials, variety show appearances and more!
Here's Boris singing "The Monster Mash" on the legendary pop and rock music show "Shindig" in 1965 (well, sort of - it's a marriage of surviving footage and surviving soundtrack recreated with some extra touches) - ENJOY:
During this week, over 100 blogs around the world are posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. Click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site.
Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we're taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features. Today we highlight…
RATING: ** & ¾ out of ****
PLOT: Prominent defense attorney Amos Strickland, about to publish his memoirs books a room in the Lost Caverns Hotel. The Hotel is a “gimmick” resort literally built on top of a cavern filled with dark shadows and an alleged bottomless pit. Also staying in the hotel are several disreputable characters who all received acquittals with Strickland defending them – now worried that his “tell-all” tome will expose their true guilt. Among the nefarious assemblage of assassins is Swami Talpur (Boris Karloff). Freddie (Lou Costello) is an earnest but clumsy bellboy at the hotel. His bumbling annoys Strickland so much that the attorney has him fired. Freddie vows revenge, which provides the murderous miscreants with a perfect scapegoat when Strickland ends up murdered. House detective Casey (Bud Abbott) believes Freddie is innocent and tries to help clear his name, but one circumstance after another (including the criminals trying to plant evidence on Freddie)… as well as one corpse after another… pops up to incriminate Freddie, as the criminal crew conspire to throw the white hot spotlight off their own trails. Will the real killer come to light before Freddie takes the rap?
REVIEW: As recounted in the seminal book on Bud & Lou, “Abbott & Costello in Hollywood” by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo, producer Robert Arthur is quoted as saying that “Lou always wanted to do a good detective film. But I could never get a real good script for him.” I guess he and Costello didn’t hold 1942’s "Who Done It" in the same high esteem that I do (it’s my all-time favorite Abbott & Costello movie) but I can’t imagine either found “Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff” a suitable improvement upon seeing the finished product.
It’s no surprise really given the film’s origins. Anyone with a passing knowledge of how mainstream Hollywood works could see this one coming a mile away. It’s not just in recent years that Tinsel Town execs labored under the notion that if they drew big bucks from a well one time, they could go back to that well for more. Universal Studios had already mined their classic monster franchises several times over with various “monster rally” films, culminating in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.”
Now understand when you read that (as reported in several books and blogs) “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” was a mammoth success that it is no exaggeration. The film grossed 3.2 million worldwide in 1948. For comparison’s sake, even adjusting numbers for inflation, “Meet Frankenstein” probably put more people in more seats than many of the higher-grossing endeavors of Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell!
Naturally the studio would want a repeat of that kind of success for Bud and Lou. With a mystery script already kicking around development-land for the duo (for several years in fact - it was originally conceived as a vehicle for Bob Hope), it was only natural for the suits to say, “Hey, how can we capitalize on the scares that ‘Meet Frankenstein’ delivered to audiences?”
The answer was simple – ramp up that mystery script with additional chills and make sure there’s a suitably spooky character for the studio to attach a big name boogeyman. As these things go, time is of the essence as well – you have to strike while the iron’s hot. “Meet the Killer’s” script had a phony mystic that reportedly was supposed to be a female character. The part was obviously hastily rewritten once the studio hired Karloff to play the role. On top of that, it is not a featured part as the script stuck to the “parlor room” mystery motif of having several suspects. Worst of all – and I’m not giving anything away here because if you didn’t read it here you’d inevitably read it in any review of this movie – Karloff isn’t even the killer as the title suggests! It is upon this shaky foundation of smoke and mirrors that “Meet the Killer” is built.
As usual when a movie just misses the mark, the biggest problem is the script. In addition to the issues cited above, the mystery itself is just not great. You have all these suspects with a motive to kill Strickland… but the motive is that they don’t want him to print his memoirs and expose them as killers! This is twisted (illogical) logic, as they risk being found out as murderers anyway if caught. Another case of twisted logic is the idea that patsy Freddie’s life should be endangered by the suspects. If a ready scapegoat has fallen into their laps, why would they want to kill him? Finally, the suspect who turns out to be the killer is a real surprise… so much so, that the resolution can be considered a “cheat.” And worse, it negates much of what has come before in the film, including a featured scene between Costello and Karloff.
Despite its shortcomings, there are several bright spots in the film which elevate it to more-than-above average status. This is definitely a case where the main performances rise above weak material and some clever set-pieces help, if only temporarily to disguise the mishmash of the whole.
It starts off quite promising with wonderfully animated opening titles. The cartoon Bud & Lou are painting their names (using paint from cans marked “blood”) while standing on a scaffold. Suddenly, a hail of machine gun fire spells out “Meet the Killer” in bullet holes. Costello mocks, “you didn’t dot the ‘I’” and then a knife is thrown right to that spot. The camera pans down where the paint drips to write “Boris Karloff” as Frank Skinner’s “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” music conspicuously plays. The Bud and Lou caricatures are spot-on, fully exploiting their Mutt & Jeff qualities of tall and lanky contrasted by short and stout. And Costello voices his own character – a lovely touch.
Karloff usually gets a lot of flack for his Abbott & Costello films (this one and “Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”) – accused of everything from “phoning in” to “sleepwalking through” his performances. I disagree. I think Boris did what he could with the horribly underwritten parts he was handed. To be fair, the mystery’s solution in “Meet the Killer” renders the majority of Karloff’s actions pointless. That’s not Karloff’s fault – that’s just lazy screenwriting. I think Karloff knew that the marketing department was behind his inclusion in this movie, so he delivered exactly what was mandated – a shadowy, sinister figure just a few diabolical plots away from being a UK cousin of Fu Manchu.
Karloff gets two “duet” scenes with Costello. First he tries to hypnotize Costello into killing himself in a scene that is either hysterical or in poor taste depending upon your outlook, or what mood you’re in. But one thing is certain, both Karloff and Costello play the scene with conviction, with Karloff doing all he can to make the threat palpable while Costello does all he can to make a farce out of the whole affair. When Karloff tries to get Costello to hang himself, Costello’s weight brings down the light fixture the noose hangs from. When Karloff tells Costello to jump from the window sill, he jumps into the room. When Karloff gives Costello a knife, Costello uses it to clean beneath his fingernails. This and other failed efforts by Karloff provide Boris with one of the film’s funniest lines: “Amazing, even under hypnosis the will of an idiot to cling to life!”
The other duet unfortunately is a throwaway. Costello tries to sell an incriminating handkerchief to Karloff. Defending the price he’s asking, Costello notes that “it’s really nothing to sneeze at” in the all-too-brief exchange. This scene was obviously tacked on – Karloff merely walks into the scene, trades some lines with Costello and then walks off again.
Despite other reviews (and in the case of Costello reports to the contrary), it seems Bud and Lou threw themselves into their roles. Especially Bud, who has a field day here as hotel detective (nee “dick”) Casey. Bud approaches this as a bravura character part, shading Casey with a bit more depth than the typical Abbott straight man/con man part he plays in most of the team’s films. The “hotel dick” was a standard of both stage plays and movies, and almost always depicted as a bowler-wearing, cigar-chomping, over-confident character. Tex Avery’s classic cartoon short “Who Killed Who?” featured quite a blustery hotel dick, ready to barge in first and ask questions later. Bud’s Casey follows suit.
For his part, Lou Costello, who was felled by a bad bout of rheumatic fever (a recurring condition) following filming of “Killer,” remarked that he just “didn’t have time for it” when interviewed by the Los Angeles Herald. But he is quite game in many of the scenes, rising to the challenge of the mayhem and chaotic situations the plot throws his character into. It is one of Costello’s most astute performances in terms of both his body language and his steady stream of quips, perfectly married to the black humor trappings, and marred only by one too many instances of whininess.
And what trappings they are! As people begin to die one-by-one and are innocently found by Freddie and Casey in various closets, it becomes a game of transporting dead bodies around to avoid suspicion to Freddie. A macabre comedy of errors ensues as circumstances lead to the pair ending up with bodies that they think they’ve already disposed of. There are countless puns revolving around killing, murder, and death; and lots of comic interplay between Casey and Freddie over how everyone is out to bump Freddie off. The Underground Caverns and “bottomless pit” are the gimmick that provides the spooky shadows, clanging gates out of nowhere and secret passages.
The film is reminiscent of Laurel & Hardy’s 1942 “A-Haunting We Will Go,” which itself took some cues from Abbott & Costello’s 1941 “Hold That Ghost,” but the material works much better in the hands of the brash Abbott and childlike but smart-alecky Costello than it does with the naively innocent men-children Stan and Ollie. Both “A-Haunting” and “Meet the Killer” are just barely horror-comedies, but the Abbott & Costello film has the slight edge. Both have men of mystery, but the Laurel & Hardy film’s Dante the Magician is a benevolent force. The Killer’s swami is sinister… and played by Boris Karloff, giving the film major horror cred. While both films feature macabre jockeying of murder victims, the Laurel & Hardy film never features a truly “spooky” setting, while “Meet the Killer” devotes its third act to the shadowy “Lost Cavern” sequence complete with mechanical yet still menacing glowing-eyed owl and marauding bear, as well as a mysterious hooded figure.
Abbott, Costello and Karloff are most of the show here, but there are a couple of supporting players of note. Roland Winters was the last actor to portray Charlie Chan in the original movie series begun by 20th Century Fox and carried on by Monogram. Winters started playing Chan two years before “Meet the Killer” and the series ended with “The Sky Dragon” in 1949. “Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer” was Roland’s very next film after the Chan series ended, and he must have felt on familiar ground with “Killer’s” script being very reminiscent of the stock Chan “roomful of suspects with motives” formula.
Another co-star who must have had déjà vu was dark-haired femme fatale Lenore Aubert, who made such an impression as Dracula’s right-hand ghoul… er… gal in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.” Apparently she made an impression on Bud and Lou, too who personally requested her for “Killer.” She has a great scene where she dictates a “confession” note to Costello, and asks him to sign it as “the witness,” to further frame him.
When all is said and done, “Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff” is really a 2&1/2 star movie but I’ve elevated it by a quarter star due to Abbott’s character actor turn, the interplay between sinister Boris and clueless Costello, a few choice comedy scenes, the spooky third act, and the general energy in some of the more farcical scenes. It is one of the blackest of the horror-comedies, and not for all tastes, but good for several laughs if you ignore the plot’s many lapses in logic.
BEST DIALOGUE EXCHANGES:
STRICKLAND (at wit’s end with Costello’s clumsiness): “I’ll have your job for this!”
COSTELLO: “Aren’t you a little old for it?”
ABBOTT (discounting Costello’s claim of a vanishing body): “Dead men don’t walk!”
COSTELLO: “This one did!”
INSPECTOR (explaining a blood stain on the carpet): “It could mean that Milford has been murdered; on the other hand it might be a red herring.”
COSTELLO: “Oh no, that’s not herring – that looks more like borscht!”
BEST GAGS: There are a couple of truly inspired set-pieces in this film. In the first, Abbott is convinced that Lenore Aubert has poisoned Costello, and runs in and out of the room pouring every kind of alcoholic beverage possible down Costello’s throat in hopes of diluting it before he succumbs… leaving Costello alive but quite pickled!
In the second, Abbott & Costello set up a bridge game with the corpses as a subterfuge to throw a hotel clerk off the trail. Additionally, Costello is in drag during this sequence. This scene actually foreshadows three movies: it’s use of propped-up corpses masquerading as live folks is reminiscent of Hitchcock’s “The Trouble with Harry” and the 1980s comedy, “Weekend at Bernie’s.” It also foreshadows the relationship between Joe E. Brown and Jack Lemmon in Billy Wilder’s “Some Like it Hot” as Abernathy the clerk is infatuated with the disguised Costello. “Things have been awfully dead around here tonight,” exclaims Abernathy, hoping for some smoochy time. “Much deader than you think!,” replies Costello.
SPOTTED IN THE CAST: James Flavin plays the Inspector, a role similar to one he played in another noted horror-comedy, “Francis in the Haunted House.” Some of Costello’s interplay with the Inspector is reminiscent of his run-ins with detective William Bendix in the team’s classic “Who Done It,” although the Inspector is much smarter than Costello, while Bendix was just about on the same level.
BUY THE FILM:
“Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff” has been released twice on DVD - once in a 2-disc collection with 7 other A&C movies, and once in a massive collection containing every film A&C made for Universal Studios. You can order both here:
FURTHER READING:
As previously mentioned, you’ll want to hunt down a copy of the indispensable book, Abbott & Costello in Hollywood by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo. Additionally, you can read reviews at the Film Palace blog and this brand-new review from Lightning Bug’s Lair, also created for the 2009 Karloff Blogathon.
I couldn’t find a trailer for this one, but here is fan-made montage of the scene where Karloff hypnotizes Costello:
During this week, over 100 blogs around the world are posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. Click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site.
Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we're taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features. Today we highlight…
**& 1/2 out of ****
PLOT: Winnie, a lively divorcee whose every step is dogged by her antsy, meddling ex-husband Bill buys a rustic inn from dotty Professor Billings (Boris Karloff)… and allows him and his servants to continue living on the premises. Which is a good thing, because the professor’s got a lot of bodies stashed in the basement, not to mention a “mad scientist” lab that would do Dr. Frankenstein proud. The professor is hard at work trying to perfect an army of indestructible supermen to fight the Axis powers (this being a film set and released during World War 2). Unfortunately, it appears all the traveling salesmen the professor experiments on end up as lifeless as a rose garden in winter. Meanwhile, after several unusual occurrences – a cupboard mysteriously falls on Winnie, a blood-curdling scream attributed to a ghost is heard, and the housekeeper roams the halls in the middle of the night spouting gibberish – Bill is convinced it’s all a racket to have Winnie sell back the place at a loss. When Bill wanders into the basement and discovers one of the stiffs, he calls in the town sheriff (and mayor, lawyer, justice of the peace, phony hair tonic hawker, etc.) Dr. Lorentz (Peter Lorre). But once Lorentz gets wise to Billings’ plans, he smells a potential financial windfall and wants in. Complications arise when a dim-witted, hard-headed peddler (“Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom) won’t respond to the experiments; a hotel guest turns out to be more than he seems; and a kamikaze bomber with his sights set on the nearby munitions plant invades the place. It all leads to a surprise ending that softens the edge of the black comedy that preceded it, while maintaining its wackiness and loopy charm.
REVIEW: “The Boogie Man Will Get You” is a classic example of a film with a wayward script and unevenly matched performers that somehow gets by on the sheer good will of its lead performers, in this case Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, with game support from “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom. They are the reasons this film gets an “above average” review from me rather than “average,” but it was a close call.
When you know the backstory of the film, it’s easy to see how it doesn’t quite hit the mark. The film is clearly inspired by the 1939 play “Arsenic & Old Lace.” The play was a farce involving little old ladies putting poor lonely souls out of their misery, with one straight-laced nephew trying to put the morbid pieces together, another nephew convinced he is Teddy Roosevelt while yet another nephew, butchered by plastic surgery to look like Boris Karloff, arrives unexpectedly with nefarious notions of his own. Karloff was a hit in the original Broadway version of this play, but the rights to a movie version were snapped up by Warner Brothers. The film adaptation didn’t hit screens until 1944, but since Columbia Pictures had Karloff under a five-picture contract, perhaps they thought they’d cash in on the play’s popularity and make a pre-emptive strike at the same time, beating Warner Brothers to the cinema with their own Arsenic-like lark. Like a photocopy of a photocopy, however, “Boogie Man” is Arsenic-light – highly diluted!
When I say diluted I mean it. The “horror” elements here are slight at best. It retains some horror-comedy trappings (a futuristic lab, secret passageways, bodies piling up… and the mere presence of Karloff and Lorre) but no real sense of terror as there are no dark shadows or “boo”-type scares as in many other horror-comedies. It is black comedy shot in bright lighting, very much the other side of the coin when compared to the film version of “Arsenic & Old Lace.”
What’s more the pity is that when Warner Brothers got around to filming “Arsenic & Old Lace” they were able to use some of the original Broadway players in the cast… except Boris, who was committed to touring with a road-show version of the play! So in place of Boris delightfully scheming with slimy Peter Lorre, the movie version of “Arsenic” serves up Raymond Massey playing off Lorre instead. Meanwhile “The Boogie Man Will Get You” offers a hint of what the “Arsenic” film could have been if Boris had been available, supplying as it does another teaming with Lorre (their second after “You’ll Find Out”), although Boris is playing a much more gentle character in “Boogie Man” than the truly vicious and unrepentant Jonathan Brewster of “Arsenic.”
In fact, it is a quite kindly Boris we find running the inn in “Boogie Man” – a foreshadow of his image as ambassador to all “monster kids” during the 1960s monster resurgence, not to mention a cousin to the “Baron Boris von Frankenstein” character he voiced in the stop-motion animation classic, "Mad Monster Party.” His character has more in common with Aunts Martha and Abby Brewster from “Arsenic” – like the altruistic aunts, he’s on a mission of mercy – he chooses door-to-door salesman for his experiments since “they never have any friends, poor fellows!” He’s completely convinced that his actions are justified and that he is not a murderer. In fact, he objects to violence in general, let alone murder! Case in point: a scene where Karloff and Lorre are contemplating experimenting on Bill. Lorre says they don’t need an anesthetic – rather they can just hit him over the head. In a brilliant line that works beautifully in a black comedy, Boris objects, saying that would be violent (never mind the collection of corpses in the wine closet)!
Peter Lorre counters cuddly Karloff with his usual sly performance as a master conman. Lorre is a master at portraying endearing scoundrels, and his Dr. Lorentz is no exception. The fact that one man in town is in control of so many things – being the mayor, sheriff, justice of the peace, etc. – yet also hawks phony hair tonic – clues the audience in that this world they’ve entered is an off-kilter one indeed, and there is no more reason to consider Lorre a legitimate town official than there is to consider him sane. He proves as much when he totally overlooks the moral and ethical issues inherent in Karloff’s experiments. On the surface it appears his desire to profit from any riches the successful execution of the experiments may provide are his driving motivation, but to look the other way also signals that he’s got as many screws loose as Karloff. “And to think I accused you – that I was under the impression that your experiment was harebrained,” Lorre assures Karloff.
Around the time the third act begins we are introduced to the powder puff salesman… which is a joke in itself, as this peddler is played by “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom, a hulking former boxer-turned-comic actor who specialized in punch-drunk characters (think Lenny from “Of Mice & Men”). There are some performers from classic comedies who are acquired tastes, rendering the ability of a person to enjoy a given film commensurate with their tolerance of said performers. Rosenbloom falls into that category along with Hugh Herbert, Shemp Howard (with whom Rosenbloom co-starred in another horror-comedy called “Crazy Knights”) and others. For me, I enjoy Rosenbloom when he’s being used correctly (in a way that makes sense to the plot) and in measured doses. I’m happy to report that is the case in “Boogie Man.” In fact, Rosenbloom’s scenes provide a few of the film’s highlights. He is ticklish on top of his head, so Boris can’t place his contraption’s helmet on him. He has sinus problems, so he can’t be knocked out by sniffing the anesthetic (this leads to two hilarious instances where he convinces others – first Karloff and Lorre and then the divorced couple – to take a sniff to see if the stuff is strong enough, effectively rendering them all unconscious)!
So the great to be had here comes courtesy of Boris, Peter & Maxie. Any time Karloff and Lorre are on the screen without the other performers the film is a delight. When Rosenbloom joins the daffy duo a rib-tickling trio is formed. These actors have an easy rapport with one another and it shows onscreen. Consequently, these are the scenes to which you’ll want to fast-forward should you decide to watch the film.
The dialogue in the Karloff/Lorre and Karloff/Lorre/Rosenbloom scenes seems better as well. Elsewhere the film’s dialogue causes the film to wear its stage origins like a badge – there is entirely too much exposition, and much of it is overwritten. Even the seasoned performers trip over some of it. Its dialogue that’s best suited to the stage, further backing up the notion that this film was written as a direct knockoff of Arsenic.
Despite the schizophrenic nature of the script, there is some choice dialogue given to Karloff, especially this passage that foreshadows fellow boogeyman Bela Lugosi’s famous speeches from “Bela Lugosi Meets a Brookyln Gorilla” (where he goes on about apes, evolution and embryonic metamorphosis) and “Bride of the Monster” (where Bela waxes rhapsodic about the race of atomic supermen that he wants to create):
“I who am revolutionizing evolution, circumambulating it at one fell swoop. Creating by inductive rays and biochemistry the ultimate specimen of human perfection. Eternally young, immune from disease – the super superman himself.”
There is a supporting cast who toils to diminishing returns with the roles the script hands them. The housekeeper Amelia (Maude Eburn) and groundskeeper Ebenezer (George McKay) come across as an off-kilter Ma & Pa Kettle, by way of the Addams Family. They are suitably bizarre, although not as endearing as the above description sounds. Rather they alternate between amusing and annoying, but thankfully delivered in small doses. Brampton, a guest who claims to be a choreographer (played by Don Beddoe, veteran of comedy films with The Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello plus the horror-comedies “Beware Spooks” with Joe E. Brown and “The Spook Speaks” with Buster Keaton) is flamboyant and genteel, played in exclamation points like a grand actor (and as we’ll find out, he is indeed acting). And of course what would a horror-comedy be without the requisite bit parts (here a couple of policemen and a trooper) deftly handled by character actors.
Unfortunately the film suffers from the romantic leads, the aforementioned divorced couple whose screen time nearly equals that of Karloff and Lugosi. Their constant bickering is meant to remind audiences of the snappy banter to be found in the screwball comedies of Preston Sturges and Frank Capra (who would go on to direct “Arsenic & Old Lace”) but it just comes off as annoying at best and wearying at worst. The fault really lies at the feet of a miscast Larry Parks playing Bill. Not hateful enough to outright despise but such a nagging worry wart as to be obnoxious, you wonder why Karloff and Lorre don’t start and end their experiments by altering Bill’s noggin. As Winnie, Miss Jeff Donnell is actually okay, but she’s lessened by being paired with Parks. Dragged down by having to spar with him, trading witless dialogue with a witless character.
So some bad dialogue more suited to the stage and an uneven supporting cast are clear demerits here, but more than anything the script is what keeps this from being better than it could (and should) be. In particular, what little of a plot there is falls completely off the rails once the fascist suicide bomber arrives on the scene, demanding to be taken to the nearby munitions plant. Even for a loopy black comedy, this is an outlandish, absurd turn that nearly causes the film to collapse completely.
Thankfully, the script makes a bit of a recovery at the end to send the audience out on a happier, if still slightly bewildered note.
SPOILER WARNING:
Normally I don’t like giving away the endings of the films as I’d prefer my readers to experience the endings for themselves, but after describing the pitfalls of this plot, I feel it is my duty to describe how this plummeting feline finally found its footing.
Faced with the prospect of being blown to smithereens by the mad bomber, Boris and Lorre knock out Rosenbloom for one final attempt at creating a “superman.” Once again, the experiment doesn’t work – Maxie’s lifeless body falls out of the machine.
Just then, some ghostly figures appear to frighten the bomber who is quickly dispatched. The “ghosts” turn out to be all the salesmen Boris previously “experimented” on, still covered in the sheets Boris placed over them when storing them in the wine closet.
Apparently, they weren’t dead after all… and neither is Slapsie Maxie, who soon rises to join the party. Lorre declares, “They must have been in a state of suspended animation. We invented a method to preserve life!”
Meanwhile, Brampton reveals that he’s not a choreographer after all, but actually works for the beureau of historic landmarks… and offers a sum for the inn many times over the price Winnie paid.
The police on the scene are having none of this – they threaten to put everyone in the building into an asylum, but Lorre, offering the final punchline says not to worry – he’s the chairman of the asylum’s board of directors!
BEST DIALOGUE EXCHANGES:
KARLOFF (after Bill asks him to confirm if a blood-curdling scream came from a ghost): “The pros and cons of survival after death are so confusing I prefer not to think about it.”
KARLOFF: “Doctor, you’re giving me just what I needed!”
LORRE: “Yes, a jab in the lassitude!”
BEST GAGS: This film is very dialogue and character-driven, without a lot of sight gags or slapstick. What there is of such tomfoolery comes primarily from the “Slapsie” Maxie scenes where he displays his ticklishness and accidentally knocks out others with the anesthesia that was meant for him
Other than that, the scenes in the lab provide overall comical visuals as opposed to any one standout sight gag. For example, it doesn’t take long to realize something completely wacked-out is going on in Boris’s basement. We see him conducting an experiment – a man sits in a contraption that looks like a cockpit, Boris flips a switch and all manner of electricity dances through the air as in a vintage Frankenstein film. When the light show is over and Boris opens the cockpit door, the man falls lifeless to the floor! “Cold as a mackerel,” the disappointed Karloff sighs. He removes a wrench from the man’s pocket, theorizing that it probably deflected his machine’s rays.
SPOTTED IN THE CAST: The trooper is played by James C. Morton, who appeared in many small but memorable parts in several Laurel & Hardy shorts and features and Three Stooges shorts (including the classic horror-comedy, “We Want Our Mummy”), as well as some W.C. Fields features and the classic Our Gang/Little Rascals short “Mike Fright” as the radio station manager.
BUY THE FILM: This film is part of a four-film DVD collection that also includes the Karloff horror classics “Before I Hang,” “The Black Room” and “The Man They Could Not Hang.” You can order the set here:
FURTHER READING: A couple of good blog reviews of this movie appear on the Mystery File and Spinning Image blogs.
I couldn’t find a trailer for this one, but here is an exemplary scene of Karloff and Lorre plotting to do away with Bill, and their attempt at the same:
BE SURE TO COME BACK TOMORROW FOR MY REVIEW OF “ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF!”
During this week, over 100 blogs around the world are posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. Click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site.
Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we're taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features. Today we highlight…
**** out of ****
NOTE: The following review has appeared previously as part of a larger essay on the films of Vincent Price and Peter Lorre which I wrote for the book MIDNIGHT MARQUEE ACTORS SERIES: VINCENT PRICE. The book is filled with entertaining and informative essays by several writers on Vincent Price’s career. It is highly recommended and you can order it by clicking here.
Please also note that while the following has been slightly revised for the purposes of this Scared Silly project, it doesn't follow the format of the previous Scared Silly reviews I have posted.
In 1962, AIP Studios released an anthology film called “Tales of Terror.” It featured three stories (very) loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe tales, all featuring Vincent Price. While the first and last tales were played straight, the middle story, based (extremely) loosely on “The Black Cat” co-starred Peter Lorre and was a riotous comic lark. In the story, Price plays a famous wine connoisseur challenged by a local drunk to a wine tasting duel.
Lorre’s is a lovable drunk, except at home, where he shows a nastier side. When the unemployed slacker demands money from his wife so he can go back out and drink some more, she claims they have no money to spare. But Lorre is convinced she’s got it stashed away.
“What about your sewing money?” Lorre asks.
“We need it for food,” she replies.
“Food? That’s exactly what I need it for—I drink my food!”
Exchanges such as this illustrate Lorre’s ability to be extremely funny while simultaneously having more than a hint of pathos about him. To be sure, this was a time in Lorre’s personal life when things were not going well — including substance, alcohol and diet abuse, so both his physical health and mental demeanor were affected. Don’t get me wrong — Lorre’s dialogue, whether scripted or ad-libbed, is delivered hysterically. However, you just can’t help but feel that he’s a pathetic character. It is this element that made Lorre so perfect for the type of lovable yet troubled sods that populated Richard Matheson’s comedic screenplays. In a way, these characters are a more lighthearted mirror image of the ones Vincent Price played in Matheson’s “serious” Poe films (which were the embodiment of the noble, perhaps romantic yet ultimately tortured soul with a skeleton or two in his closet and a dark spot in his heart). These conflicting emotions are also at the heart of Poe himself, so the spirit of Poe is there, if not always the content.
As it turns out, the Black Cat sequence proved to be the most popular of the three Tales of Terror. With that knowledge in hand, Matheson decided to dive head-first into comedy for the next Poe film, “The Raven,” and once again had the team of Price and Lorre at his disposal. Adding to the frivolity this time around were a young Jack Nicholson, a vampy Hazel Court, and one of the all-time horror greats, the inimitable Boris Karloff.
“The Raven’s” opening is rather serious and melodramatic, hardly hinting at the high jinks to come, as a dour Price laments the absence of his beloved Lenore. The tone shifts gears as Price opens the window to let the raven in. Believing the bird to be a “dark-winged messenger from beyond,” Price asks, “Shall I ever hold again that radiant beauty who the angels call Lenore?”
The solemnity is shattered by the bird’s unexpected reply, courtesy of Lorre’s voice-over: “How the hell should I know? What am I, a fortune teller?” Yes, folks, we’ve officially been launched into comedy—horror style, via Price and Lorre! This leads to a riotous scene where Lorre barrages Price with a series of insults and demands that would make Don Rickles proud as he implores Price, who we soon learn is a sorcerer, to change him back to his human form. Even in the midst of Price’s attempts to do just that, Lorre badgers him with sarcastic banter that is so fast and furious, it could very well take a whole book to record and analyze. Not to mention Lorre’s in-between stage, wherein his transformation’s only halfway complete, he helplessly—and-hilariously flaps the wings that remain on his human body!
One criticism that has been leveled at The Raven is that it contains only the barest of plots. But let’s face it, how many films featuring classic comedy teams were heavily plotted? They, like the television sitcoms which followed in their wake, existed on the simplest of premises, and The Raven is no exception: Lorre wants revenge on Karloff for turning him into a bird (which he claims would never have happened, ”If I was only sober, which I admit doesn’t happen often”); while Price is trying to win back his wife, whom Karloff stole (Lenore wasn’t dead after all!). Likewise, Karloff maintains a grudge against Price’s family, as Vincent’s father was always his chief rival in the brotherhood of sorcerers.
Once the unlikely duo decide to confront Karloff, an inspired bit of tomfoolery follows as Price encourages Lorre to dress warmly for their trip and offers him his choice of hat and cloak. For someone who has no wardrobe, Lorre sure is picky, and delivers his objections in quite a genteel fashion! There is such spontaneity and sparkle to this scene that it is hard to imagine it could ever have been scripted. It is likely that this was one of the famous Lorre ad-lib scenes, and it is also the sequence wherein Price’s persona starts loosening up a bit, as he tries to keep pace with Lorre’s clever improvisational inventions. Price allows himself to be overtaken by the comedy bug as his manservant becomes possessed and attacks him. Knocked out in a slapstick fight, he allows his eyes to roll back into his head. Once he’s made that turn, Price alternates from the character’s earlier serious leanings to one capable of quips and visual humor of his own.
Shades of Lorre’s Black Cat character emerge as his son, played by Nicholson, arrives to drive them (via horse and carriage, of course) to Karloff’s castle. Even before he becomes possessed himself, Nicholson is a lousy driver, resulting in more classic Lorre insults and exaggerated faces.
Arriving at Karloff’s castle, a wonderful set piece follows as the seemingly gracious Karloff treats his “guests” to dinner. Karloff’s beautifully understated performance, suggesting a kindly old, cultured gentleman, is nothing short of brilliant comedy itself. It is easy to see how the characters may be deceived by him, even as we the audience sense it’s an act from the start. But we’re not the only ones who see right through him: The irascible Lorre is suspicious as well! This inevitably leads to more Lorre gyrations, as he challenges Karloff on the spot. The fit of mayhem that unfolds, as Lorre attempts to awe the room with the magic he’s conjured, will make your sides burst. Incredibly, even at his advanced weight, Lorre was able to pull off not only facial but bodily distortions as well, with all the manic energy of rubber-limbed Jim Carrey! For his troubles, he ends up hocus pocusing himself right into thin air. We later learn it’s all a ruse—a literal smokescreen thrown for his cover, as we discover he’s really a rat who has sold Vincent out. The way the character is written makes you wonder if Matheson purposely injected personality traits which he knew Lorre would run off with, given his performance in The Black Cat segment of “Tales of Terror.” Namely, that of the crafty, conniving coward—a cousin to Daffy Duck, Bob Hope and George Costanza. Only pickled!
A recurring aspect of the Price/Lorre teamings is the contrast between them. Not only their height and weight differences, but the way they carry themselves and speak as well. In "The Raven" there are some wonderful verbal exchanges between them, that highlight not only their comedy chops, but really point out what fine, underrated actors they were. Witness Lorre deflating Price’s ponderous pontifications as if with a single pin prick:
“Instead of facing life, I turned my back on it. I know now why my father resisted Scarabus—because he knew that one cannot fight evil by hiding from it. Men like Scarabus thrive on the apathy of others—he thrived on mine, and that offends me. By avoiding contact with the brotherhood I’ve given him freedom to commit his atrocities unopposed,” laments Price.
“You sure have!” Lorre leaps in, in no uncertain terms. It is the perfect punctuation, reminiscent of the classic scene in Disney’s Pinocchio, wherein the blue fairy tries to explain why the little puppet’s woes have been mounting: “Perhaps you haven’t been telling the truth, Pinocchio!” Official conscience Jiminy Cricket, staring at the tree trunk that used to be Pinocchio’s nose, can only exclaim, “Perhaps?!?!”
The difference here is that Price rolls with the comedy punches, and with the same candor as Lorre, answers back: “I’m sorry!” But not as sorry as Lorre—who is soon turned back into a raven by Karloff!
Lorre’s earlier magic tricks were but a teaser for the comic delights yet to come: a magical duel to the death between Vincent and Boris! It is in this segment that Vincent’s goofy side shines once more, and the aging Karloff proves more than game for this test of not only their character’s powers, but for the actors’ abilities to make us laugh as well. In a modern day film, the actors might let the special effects wizards do all the work for them. But Price and Karloff come from a tradition of stage acting, and in Karloff’s case, the silent screen, so the special effects are only half the battle. They are accompanied by wild gesticulations and facial tics that involve the audience and invite them to take sides, while simultaneously entertaining with their clever wit and invention.
Having vanquished Karloff, the film ends in Price’s study, where Lorre is pushing his luck. Shooting off his wise mouth and offering his services (unsolicited, of course) as Price’s right-hand magician, he once again pleads to be restored to human form. Price says he’ll take it under advise¬ment, but can only tolerate so much of Lorre’s banter. With a wave of his hand, he commands, “Shut your beak!”
It is a fitting ending for what still remains a first-class romp to this day. It is a testament to the actors, writers and directors that material such as this, attacked by the principals with such understanding and passion, survives as an undated farce sure to entertain generations to come.
“The Raven” has been released twice on DVD - once in a stand-alone edition and once as part of a double-feature DVD with “The Comedy of Terrors.” Unfortunately, it appears that those DVD's are out of print and only available at expensive prices from collectors. However, you can rent or buy a digital download of the movie from Amazon by clicking here, and best of all, you can watch it for FREE at Hulu by clicking here.
The trailer shows that the studio really wasn’t sure whether to sell this as a horror film or the all-out horror-comedy it is. You can watch it here:
BE SURE TO JOIN US TOMORROW WHEN WE REVISIT KARLOFF, LORRE AND PRICE, JOINED BY BASIL RATHBONE IN “THE COMEDY OF TERRORS!”
During this week, over 100 blogs around the world are posting about the life and art of one of filmdom's most famous fiends, Boris Karloff. Click here to see a complete list of participating blogs at the Frankensteinia site.
Here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we're taking a look at some of "Uncle Boris"'s funniest features. Today we highlight…
RATING: *** out of ****
PLOT: The fictional manager of Kay Kyser’s real-life band arranges to have the group perform at his girlfriend Janis Bellacrest’s 21st birthday party. The party is being held at Bellacrest Manor, a rustic mansion filled with musty antiques and artifacts… and situated on its own island with just one bridge to the mainland. Things are odd from the start when the band meets Janis’s Aunt Margo, who appears to be in a trance. It soon becomes apparent that Aunt Margo is fascinated with contacting spirits, and has invested a great deal of time and money into one Prince Saliano (Bela Lugosi) to do the contacting. Her lawyer Judge Spencer Mainwaring (Boris Karloff) doesn’t seem to object. Only Professor Karl Fenninger (Peter Lorre), a skeptic and debunker of phony mediums seems to mind. Meanwhile, odd occurrences start to multiply – like poison darts being shot from seemingly nowhere, strangers appearing to stare through windows and eyes following people through the room as they peer through animal trophy heads. Not to mention the bridge mysteriously blowing up! These are all just warm-ups for the sights and sounds on display in the séance, including apparent visitations from apparitions like Janis’ ancestor Elmer, and culminating in a crashing chandelier that almost kills Janis, who faints and falls out of her chair before she can be hit. A clue from band member Ish Kabibble’s dog leads Kay to a hidden underground lair where the secrets of the séance are revealed to be nothing more than mechanically-activated contrivances. Kay also learns the reasons behind the murder attempts on Janis, and the identities of those responsible for the murderous mayhem. Can Kay save Janis, his band, the guests and the Bellacrest family from the foul fiends before their dastardly scheme is accomplished?
REVIEW: This movie’s alternate titles include “Here Come the Boogie Men” and “Wild Wild Spook House,” but I can’t resist referring to it as “Babbit & Kabibble Meet the Trio of Terror.”
Or “The Boogie Men meet the Boogeymen!”
This movie is noteworthy for two reasons: it contains the earliest “horror men” team-up in a feature film, in this case offering Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre; and it is one of the few horror-comedies that doesn’t have standard comic performers as its protagonists. Instead, we get a “comedic musical group.”
Comedy and music have a long history of going together, and comedy combined with jazz has a particularly long history – just pick up the CD “Laughter from the Hip: 24 Jazz Comedy Classics” for proof. Famous bands that mixed comedy into their lyrics, orchestrations, musical sounds and even sometimes added humorous skits and costumes to their performances included those led by such legends as Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Don Redman, Fats Waller, Louis Prima, Spike Jones and the subject of today’s review, Kay Kyser.
Kyser and his band were wildly popular. Their radio show ran for 11 years and was only canceled reportedly due to a dispute with a sponsor, their records were hits and their concerts sell-outs. While the group offered many straight-ahead songs to their fans, they are probably more well-known today for the comedic, novelty-tinged numbers they performed utilizing effects such as those made by the “Sonovox” (and highlighted in “You’ll Find Out”) was well as the antics of band member Ish Kabibble, a rather odd character given to spouting bad puns that only he would laugh at. The more serious numbers were usually handled by Ginny Simms, a favorite among Abbott & Costello fans for her role in 1943’s “Hit the Ice.” Harry Babbitt straddled the line, doing both novelty and standard numbers with equal ease. The band scored a silver screen hit in their 1939 debut film, “That’s Right – You’re Wrong” so a follow-up was quickly arranged. To add some icing to the cake, movie execs insisted on the inclusion of chills to the already heady mix of comedy and music.
As other reviewers have noted, it can be difficult for some modern viewers to get through the quiz show opening without getting the urge to turn the movie off. There are a couple reasons for this. One is that the movie literally opens in the middle of a contestant agonizing over how to answer a quiz question (a question we the viewers never hear) on Kay Kyser’s “Kollege of Musical Knowledge” radio show. The other is Kyser’s brash, over-exaggerated dialogue as the radio show’s host, punctuated by goofy faces that would have been more well known to listeners at home and the studio audience but can be jarring to first-time viewers of this film. My advice: stick with it because Kyser’s performance in the rest of the movie is much more restrained and engaging. Even surprising! And we are talking about a dose of Karloff, Lugosi and Lorre here, which always brings a certain entertainment value.
In many ways, “You’ll Find Out” is a prototypical model for the later Abbott & Costello horror spoofs. Consider first the casting of the villains: like the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and the Wolf Man in Abbott & Costello’s most famous horror comedy, the mere presence of the film fiends in “You’ll Find Out” provided a shorthand for movie audiences. They were already familiar with these titans of terror from their previous hits and from being caricatured in animated cartoon shorts of the day. This brings an extra dimension to the film that the script alone can’t provide. For their parts, Karloff and Lugosi mostly maintain their villainous visages (particularly Karloff, who is quite sinister and menacing here) while Lorre runs away with his role adding several deft comic touches. His introduction in particular is a delight. He holds a huge cigarette holder and wears an expression of self-importance as a flash of lightning from the window illuminates him. In addition to the two major monster men (Boris and Bela) playing it straight, the séance scenes with numerous objects flying through the air, disembodied heads and scary voices are also quite frightening, just as the scare scenes in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” are handled in straight horror fashion.
There are other touches that foreshadow Bud & Lou’s fright frolics to come. Opening and closing a window opens and closes a secret fireplace entrance leading to a spooky underground lair. There is a revolving bookcase, creepy antiquities adorn the mansion, stuffed and mounted animals are everywhere, etc. While the Three Stooges and Little Rascals tread similar ground in their 1930s horror-comedies, this 1940 film with its swing-era energy really looks ahead to some of the similar situations Abbott & Costello get into in their films with Karloff, “Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer” and “Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.” One scene in particular, in which Kay grabs what he thinks is the hand of his manager as he walks through a dimly lit passageway, only to learn he’s pulling along a full-sized taxidermist’s trophy of a gorilla is pure Lou Costello. In certain scenes (particularly when Ish sees an ax levitate) the spooky background music reminds one of Frank Skinner’s later “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” score.
While many of the trappings will be familiar to Abbott & Costello fans, Kay and his band are of course a far cry from Bud & Lou in the comedy department. Ish looks funny (think of Moe Howard combined with Jim Carrey’s Lloyd character from “Dumb & Dumber”) and has a funny name, but the script hands him several bad puns that he delivers in such a low-key deadpan that any notion that he’d be the funniest thing in this film is soon dispelled. He also has a wheezing laugh that is supposed to cause giggles in audience members, but it didn’t for me. It’s actually Lorre and Kyser who handle the comedy best, although Ish does figure in a few sight gags that go over well, particularly when his hair literally stands on end upon seeing a floating ax, and a bit where he criticizes the craftsmanship of what he thinks is a taxidermist’s stuffed bird (pointing out that the tail looks like it was put on crooked and the eyes don’t fit the sockets) – only to have the bird squawk and fly away!
Most of the other band members are pleasant at best, but uneven in the acting department. The same can be said for the musical numbers they perform in the film. It’s actually the “straight” songs that come off best. “The Bad Humor Man” is more compelling as an oddity than as a good novelty tune or interesting musical orchestration. The closing number, performed with the use of a “Sonovox” – a device that when held to the vocal chords produces a sound akin to “instruments singing” but that just sounds creepy (hence the use of the device in the film’s phony séance scenes) wears out its welcome half a minute into the song.
As I mentioned above, it is Kay Kyser himself who shines in this and provides the majority of good will this film generates (in addition to the bad guys, of course). Kyser has a relaxed, easy-going Dean Martin air about him (at least the amiable version of Dino seen on his 1960s TV variety show – but without the implied inebriety) coupled with a Harold Lloyd-like everyman countenance. He’s very likable and his gentle humor really goes over. He’s also quite resourceful in taking out both Bela and Boris – for example, when Boris demands Kyser hand over an incriminating document, Kay points beyond Karloff’s shoulder saying “you mean that one,” effectively distracting him and knocking his gun away. The last third of the movie, relying on both Kay’s wits and the intuition of Ish’s dog Prince to route the bad guys is particularly exciting.
This film must have particularly tickled its horror stars, as all of them went on to appear in several horror-comedies. In fact, Karloff and Lorre would co-star in three more films together… and all of them were horror-comedies! (NOTE: They also will all be reviewed here this week during the Boris Karloff Blogathon – so be sure to keep logging on for my reviews of “The Boogie Man Will Get You,” “The Raven” and “The Comedy of Terrors”).
The film has an unexpected coda but one that seals the enjoyment of the audience, in my opinion. After the final musical number is performed, Kay is seen on stage in front of the curtain, all by his lonesome. Like a concerned father figure, Kay assures his audience that Boris, Bela and Peter are really “…nice fellas, and really good friends of mine. Things like this don’t really happen – it’s just in fun!” In the end, it is Kyser’s engaging personality and earnest desire to please his audience that is likely to win the hearts of modern-day viewers.
BEST DIALOGUE EXCHANGES:
Ish (as the band bus approaches the mansion): “What a beautiful spot for a murder!”
Kay (imploring his men that they can’t rest until they thwart the villains): “Now what would you rather do? Take a chance on being strangled in bed or dying like men?”
Ish: “Well I’m tired. If I have to die I’d just as soon die in bed.”
Peter Lorre (after meeting the inquisitive Kyser): Who is this fellow Kyser?
Boris Karloff: Some bandleader – we have nothing to fear from him – he’s perfectly harmless!
BEST GAGS: Ish dissing a stuffed bird that turns out to be real, Ish having a hair-raising encounter with a levitating ax, Kay leading the stuffed gorilla by the hand, Kay riding an elevator lift from the secret passage below into the séance tent above.
SPOTTED IN THE CAST: Frank Mills, who plays the cabbie in “You’ll Find Out” had a lengthy career consisting mostly of uncredited but memorable little spots in many classic comedy shorts and features, as well as in several mystery series entries and other film genres. He often played cab drivers, bartenders, carnival barkers and the like. His credits include playing Dr. Bright in The Three Stooges’ 1937 short “Dizzy Doctors” and other Stooges efforts, as well as appearances in several Wheeler & Woolsey features. In addition to “You’ll Find Out, he also had a main role in another horror-comedy, the 1941 short “Host to a Ghost” teamed with Andy Clyde and Dudley Dickerson.
BUY THE FILM: “You’ll Find Out” is available on DVD in a box set called “Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics” that also includes the chillers “The Walking Dead” and “Frankenstein 1970” and another classic horror-comedy, “Zombies on Broadway.” You can order it here:
FURTHER READING: An extensive review of this film including some background information on the performers appears on the Horror-Wood site, while the Greenbriar Picture Show’s entry on “You’ll Find Out” provides in-depth insights and info on the conception and marketing aspects of filmmaking that readers of John McElwee’s essential blog have come to expect.
In addition to these links, there’s lots of interesting trivia about both Ish Kabibble (his name means “What, me worry?” in Yiddish and he was the band’s manager for many years) and Kay Kyser (he went into early retirement for which several theories are cited) to be found on the internet.
Watch the trailer here:
BE SURE TO JOIN US TOMORROW AS BORIS TEAMS WITH LORRE ONCE AGAIN IN “THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU!”
I was absolutely thrilled to be part of over 110 blogs worldwide who participated in the event. If you haven’t checked out my posts made during the blogathon, I encourage you to do so (just go to the sidebar and click on November 2009 - all my entries between November 14th through the 30th relate to the blogathon - or you can simply click here).
I also encourage you to check out the posts of the other participating bloggers. You can find them by perusing Pierre Fournier’s posts of the past week at his Frankensteinia blog or by directly accessing his archive here.
While you're at it, check out MonsterKid.com - where today's wonderful photo of Boris originated.
So after 17 straight days of posting and 21 posts altogether in November, and the big Christmas holiday fast approaching, your old horror-comedy-meister has decided to take it a little easier in December. I will try to get at least two reviews posted this month, and supplement with some fun clips… like this one (the live-action sequence from "Daffy Duck & Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies"):
STAY TUNED FOR MORE HORROR-COMEDY FUN HERE AT SCARED SILLY!
Well fans, I promised a big announcement and here it is: the SCARED SILLY blog will be taking part in the 2009 Boris Karloff blogathon!
Beginning on November 23 — Karloff’s 122nd birthday — and on through the 29th, bloggers the world over will be posting about Boris, his life and his wide-ranging career. As of this writing, there are over 85 participating blogs.
Of course, Boris made several notable horror-comedies (including a couple with Abbott & Costello) and we'll take a look at them all here at SCARED SILLY.
But that's not all... in the week leading up to the blogathon, I'll also be offering up a special countdown featuring rare clips of "Uncle Boris" singing and dancing on TV variety shows, appearing in newsreel clips with his horror movie colleague Bela Lugosi, starring in TV commercials and more.
Before we get to the blogathon, be sure to join us for a review of Laurel & Hardy's classic short, "The Live Ghost" right here on Friday the 13th of November.
Hey, what gives? The banner indicates that yesterday was the 7th and final day of the 2009 Boris Karloff Blogathon!
So it does. But here at SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES, we've decided to extend the blogathon by a day to bring you this special post.
Today we take a look at a movie that falls outside the parameters of SCARED SILLY’S criteria for inclusion in the upcoming book of the same name, as it was released the year after our cutoff date AND it is animated, not live-action.
Still, this film is such a huge part of the “monster kid” era and such a big influence on my love of horror-comedies in general that today I’ve decided to highlight…
*** & ½ out of ****
I’m not going to write a full-fledged review here nor follow the ususal SCARED SILLY blog format, but rather I’ll give you a brief overview of this film and point you to some sources where you can learn more about this wonderful film.
The story: Dr. Frankenstein is ready to retire, and invites all the monsters to his castle to break this news (and possibly reveal his successor as ruler of all monsters), as well as his discovery of a new anti-matter potion.
The voice-over by Karloff as Dr. Frankenstein is the kindly old “Uncle Boris” persona that monster kids had come to know and love in the 1960s – at least through the majority of the movie (until circumstances force him to get his ire up that is).
Included on the guest-list are the most famous monsters from classic horror-movies: Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, the monster’s Bride (here a caricature of comedienne Phyllis Diller), the Werewolf, the Hunchback of Notre Dame (who seems to have inspired Disney's later version), the Invisible Man, a sea creature (like the Gill Man from the “Creature from the Black Lagoon”), the Mummy, an Igor-like character called Yetch (whose appearance and voice are patterned after Peter Lorre), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and an army of zombie soldiers (the “White Zombie” kind of zombies, not the brain-eating George Romero zombies).
Also invited: Frankenstein’s nebbishy, nervous, allergy-prone nephew Felix Flanken.
Not invited, but sure to cause trouble is “It,” a giant gorilla of Kong-sized proportions.
There is a lot of scheming, back-biting and double-crossing going on here as Dracula thinks he deserves to be the next ruler of the monsters, while the Bride thinks the Monster should be next in line.
Of course, the doctor is considering keeping things in the family with Flanken, so that puts Felix’s life in jeopardy.
An interesting added-attraction of this movie is the character Francesca. The knockout redhead must surely be an inspiration for the Jessica Rabbit character from 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Voiced by popular singer Gale Garnett, she even gets to sing a sultry number, a rousing anthem and the film’s love song.
In the New York City area, WOR Channel 9 used to run this film a lot (you can read a great blog posting about the movie and its NY airings here). In fact, for years it used to run it in a beat-up old print and whenever I came across it, I was sure to tune in. In later years the film was restored and ran on AMC (when that station’s initials still meant they showed American Movie Classics, not Any Moving Crap as appears to be its current state).
The best thing about the film is that it comes from a time when many animated films and TV shows were designed to appeal to both children and adults at the same time, with smart humor that didn't "talk down" to kids. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since two Mad Magazine alum were involved – writer Harvey Kurtzman helped pen the script and artist Jack Davis did character designs as well as the art for the movie poster. (NOTE ADDED MAY 12: In the wake of the passing of legendary artist Frank Frazetta, it appears I erred in giving Davis credit for this poster - it has been cited by numerous sources as actually being the work of Frazetta).
The film really captured my imagination and I’m sure it will capture yours, too.
I’d venture to guess this film captured Tim Burton’s imagination, too.
You can buy the original “Mad Monster Party“ on DVD here:
The film even spawned a sequel – actually a prequel called “Mad Mad Monsters” which ran on ABC’s Saturday Superstar Movie. Unlike its predecessor, it utilized hand-drawn cel animation instead of the stop-motion “Animagic” style, but it did retain some of Jack Davis’ wonderful character designs. The plot was almost identical, except this time all the monsters were invited to the castle to attend the wedding of the Monster and his Bride.
The Retro Junk site has an excellent article detailing both the original movie and the prequel which you can read here.
This blog is a companion piece to Paul Castiglia's forthcoming book of the same name, all about horror-comedy films like the classic features "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein," the Bowery Boys’ “Master Minds” and Bob Hope's "The Ghost Breakers;" plus short subject spook-spoofs by comedy legends including Laurel & Hardy, the Little Rascals and the 3 Stooges; and such low-budget gems as "Zombies on Broadway" and "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla."
Paul Castiglia is a veteran comic book creator, having written and edited several comic books as well as compiling trade paperback collections. He has also written pop culture articles and essays for magazine and book publications, and done research for special projects related to vintage entertainment.
His past forays into horror-comedy include providing a chapter to the book MIDNIGHT MARQUEE ACTOR SERIES: VINCENT PRICE about the comedic horror films that Mr. Price co-starred in with Peter Lorre, and writing the comic book series ARCHIE'S WEIRD MYSTERIES for several years (based on the animated cartoon show of the same name and recently collected in paperback form).
Oh yeah, Paul's dad is the godfather of The Misfits' Jerry Only, further cementing his "horror business" credentials. :)
