Saturday, October 31, 2009

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)

Abbott Costello Frankenstein Dracula Wolf Man

RATING: **** out of ****

PLOT: A crate containing the remains of Dracula and the Frankenstein monster is shipped from Europe to the owner of an amusement exhibit (“McDougal’s House of Horrors”) in La Mirada, Florida. Working for the courier service are Chick Young (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur Gray (Lou Costello). Chick is puzzled that such a beautiful, dark-haired and statuesque beauty as Sandra would want to be Wilbur’s girlfriend… but she is in league with Dracula for a nefarious purpose: transplant the simple, pliable brain of Wilbur into the brutish body of Frankenstein’s monster! Also arriving from Europe is Larry Talbot, determined to stop Dracula’s evil plan… but he has a secret of his own: when the moon is full, he transforms into the Wolf Man! Can Chick and Wilbur survive this frightful encounter with not one but three infamous movie monsters?!

REVIEW: What can I possibly say about “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” that hasn’t already been said many times over? Its status as both the ultimate horror-comedy and a classic comedy in general is both deserved and set in stone. How could it not be? Sometimes all the pieces of a project fall together “just right,” and this is one of those cases.

Its been suggested that this film would be considered the greatest horror-comedy of all time merely due to the fact that it actually contains the flagship monster movie characters from the first two decades of talking pictures. And this is partially true – from the time “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” first made audiences gasp in terror in 1931 through the monster mash-ups of the 1940s like “House of Dracula” and “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” the ghoulish gang at Universal Studios were the most popular of film fiends.

Likewise, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello had already shown in their classic feature “Hold that Ghost” as well as in a brief bit in a spooky carnival funhouse from "Keep 'em Flying" that Lou Costello being scared equaled big belly laughs for audiences. The more he squirmed in fear, the more viewers squealed with laughter.

But having Abbott & Costello actually meet the classic movie monsters was something else altogether. There’s an overused expression, “like catching lightning in a bottle.” If there can be a concrete definition of that expression, “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” is it. And not just because Dracula uses electricity to revive the Frankenstein monster!

Abbott Costello Frankenstein Dracula Wolf Man

To claim this is a classic due to the dynamite combo alone does an injustice to three very important facts, however.

First, we must consider the script. As David J. Hogan mentions in his excellent essay on the film in MIDNIGHT MARQUEE ACTORS SERIES: BELA LUGOSI, the screenplay for this movie is one of the best conceived ever. The construction is iron-clad – everything happens for a reason, time passes in believable ways, and any exposition used to convey information is appropriate. There is nothing extraneous in this script.

Second, the supporting cast is top-notch. The fourth actor to don the famous neck bolts, Glenn Strange had been essaying the Frankenstein monster since 1944’s “House of Frankenstein.” While Karloff’s monster is the beloved classic that brings tears to the eyes, it is Glenn Strange’s version of the monster that is the most recognizable. It was the most merchandised and became the favorite to feature on monster magazine covers like “Famous Monsters of Filmland” and “Castle of Frankenstein.” It also inspired the look of TV’s classic sitcom (monster) dad, Herman Munster. To a generation of “monster kids” who grew up with these magazines as well as “The Munsters” and the Universal horror movies rerun on TV’s “Shock Theater,” Glenn Strange’s monster was the most definitive in appearance.

Next came Lon Chaney, Jr. as the cursed Larry Talbot, aka the Wolf Man. Chaney was the only actor to play this character in the Universal movies, so having him reprise the role here gave the film a definite shot of legitimacy. Not to mention heart and pathos for the laughs and thrills to play off of. Outside of the Frankenstein monster, was there ever a more sympathetic monster than the Wolf Man? Heck, he wasn’t even dead like the Frankenstein monster. He was only dead inside.

The coup de gras in casting was getting Bela Lugosi to don the cape once more as Dracula. While he played both real and fake vampires and a variety of fiends in other films, Lugosi had not played Dracula on film since the original 1931 classic. He played the role countless times on stage, but when it came time to bring the Count back to movies, Universal turned to Chaney, Jr. and John Carradine instead… and there are all sorts of theories as to why. This time, for whatever reason, Universal decided to bring back the original Count, and Lugosi rose to the occasion with an energetic performance that put many younger actors to shame.

Rounding out the cast are some key supporting players. Frank Ferguson as Mr. McDougal, owner and proprietor of McDougal’s House of Horrors, is spot-on perfect as someone who is looking to get a big return on his investment – in this case, the remains of the original Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster. This makes him all the more testy when couriers Bud and Lou don’t handle his exhibits with care. This film also has a terrific pair of beautiful female leads: blonde Jane Randolph as the insurance investigator with an eye for Costello and brunette Lenore Aubert as Dracula’s co-surgeon with an eye for Costello’s brain! These gals are no mere eye candy, however – the actresses do a formidable job fleshing out their characters as strong, resourceful women.

But what makes this film truly legendary has to be the dynamic that straight man Bud Abbott brings to the table. While Laurel & Hardy, the Three Stooges, the Bowery Boys and others all made outstanding horror-comedies, containing wonderful scare-takes from comic geniuses like Stan Laurel, Curly Howard and Huntz Hall, they don’t have the acerbic Bud Abbott to play off of. When Lou’s eyes bug out and he stammers and stutters, desperately trying to convince his partner that the candle really is moving, there really is a secret passageway, and Dracula and the Wolf Man really do exist and want to do them harm, Bud’s dismissive agitation makes Lou’s fear all the more funny. In a massive hamburger already loaded with delicious ingredients, Bud Abbott is the “special sauce” that elevates the film from savory snack to exquisite entrĂ©e!

The success of this film ensured that Abbott & Costello would go on to make more horror-comedies, both feature films and on TV, where they reprised haunted house routines from “Hold that Ghost” on their TV show and even met the Creature from the Back Lagoon on an episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour. While all contained varying degrees of fun, none reached the heights of “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.” That lightning flashing through the sunroof of Count Dracula’s lab? Yep, for this movie, they bottled it!

BEST DIALOUGE EXCHANGE:

Lon Chaney (as Larry Talbot): When the moon is full, I become a wolf.

Lou Costello (as Wilbur Grey): You and 20 million other guys!

BEST GAGS: The moving candle routine, Costello unknowingly sitting on the monster’s lap, the rotating door… and much, much more!

SPOTTED IN THE CAST (well, really heard): Vincent Price, who does a great cameo as the voice of the Invisible Man for the film’s closing gag. Price had previously played the role in 1940’s “The Invisible Man Returns.” What most viewers don’t realize is that in 1948, Price had not yet been established as a reigning horror star! Outside of “Invisible Man Returns,” Price had appeared in a couple of period films and a noir with slight horror overtones, but his outright horror career was still to come with his 1950s pair of fright films, “House of Wax” and “The Fly.” So the use of Price’s voice in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” was not a nod to Price’s horror career, but a foreshadow of things to come!

BUY THE FILM: “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” has been released on DVD not once, not twice, but three times - once as a stand-alone 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. The stand-alone edition has some great extras that repeat on the massive collection, but DO NOT repeat on the 2-disc collection. You can buy these DVDs here:





FURTHER READING: There are countless blog posts about the making of this film, many containing great behind-the-scenes stories. The best of these comes from the Frankensteinia blog which you can read by clicking here. You’ll also want to hunt down a copy of the indispensable book, Abbott & Costello in Hollywood by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo. If you want to fully immerse yourself in the story, you can also buy the script which has been collected into book form by MagicImage Books. There is also a book called The Horror Spoofs of Abbott & Costello by Jeffrey S. Miller but I haven’t read it yet so I can’t offer an opinion on it.

Watch the trailer here:



BE SURE TO JOIN US AGAIN IN TWO WEEKS WHEN WE TAKE A LOOK AT LAUREL & HARDY'S "THE LIVE GHOST!"

8 comments:

  1. Paul, you picked the PERFECT film for your first entry! "A&C Meet Frankenstein" isn't just one of the all-time best match-ups of monsters and comedy, it's also one of the best monster rally films. (It's ironic that this script made SO much more sense than some of the previous "serious" entries.)

    Congrats on the new blog, Paul!

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  2. Thank you Chris - coming from you that means a lot!

    For my readers who may be unfamiliar with Chris, he has a great blog called "Giant Monsters on Loose" that you should read - it's for fans of classic giant monsters and monster-fighters from the movies, TV, and comics! Check it out at www.giantmonstersontheloose.blogspot.com

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  3. Paul,
    Thank you! "Me an 20 million other guys" owe you a debt for a spectacular post; what a way to officially launch this 'wonder-blog.'
    I believe my friend that you "have captured lightning in a bottle" too.
    best of Halloween,
    r/e

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  4. This is my ultimate Halloween movie. Funny and spooky are what Halloween is all about.

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  5. Thanks for pointing out the invaluable contribution to the success of this movie and the team that was Bud Abbott. As a youngster I, naturally, gravitated to the comedic fun house that was Lou Costello, but on closer examination, I was able to learn what a brilliant actor Mr. Abbott was. In Meet Frankenstein, just watch the scene he shares with Chaney the morning after the costume party. The shock and process he goes through to rationalize what he has just learned shows the kind of acting chops of any of the finest of Hollywood's character men. Check out the two films, Little Giant and The Time of Their Lives, where he and Costello played it not as a team. He has moments of brilliance in both. I so wish after the breakup with his partner he had more than just the one occasion in The Jokes On Me to explore the kind of opportunities that Dean Martin had, and which resulted in his completely reinventing himself.

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  6. I agree wholeheartedly! Bud was fantastic in the fabulous "Time of Their Lives," and provided some of the better moments in the less-than-fabulous "Little Giant."

    I also think Bud did an amazing character turn as the house detective in "Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff" (a review of which you can read at this blog) and actually allowed himself to be the clown with pratfalls and punchlines in the movie he produced, "Abbott & Costello Meet Captain Kidd." It is an underappreciated movie - in fact it is much maligned, unfairly I think. I had an opportunity to see a screening of a restored print a few years ago - I think if that is ever released to DVD the film will be up for the reevaluation it deserves.

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  7. Have the ↯Bud Abbott Lou Costello
    MEET FRANKENSTEIN↯ Universal Script
    in bO-Ok form & must say it really
    gives you not only the movie script
    insights, but also behind-the-scenes
    stuff, & other goodies & am glad I
    got it!

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  8. Abbott: "Dracula must return to his coffin at sunrise, where he lies helpless during the day". That's the bunk!

    Costello: "That's what I'm trying to tell you - that's HIS BUNK!!!"

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