Monsters! Comedy! Classics!

 A Great Comedy Duo Takes on THREE Monster Icons!

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) – A naïve porter is targeted in a plot to steal his brain!  Even worse, he is fighting Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster with only the Wolf Man to help him.

Directed by Charles Barton

Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Glenn Strange

Why I Liked It – Classic Abbott and Costello comedy in what may be their best movie.

Younger movie fans may know Abbott and Costello only from the classic baseball routine “Who’s On First?”  Some may not know who made the routine famous (It is part of the display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY), but it is the quintessential Abbott and Costello bit.  My bet is that most fans under the age of 40 don’t know the comedy duo at all.  That’s a deficit that requires immediate correction. 

Bud Abbott (the tall one) and Lou Costello (the short one) were the highest paid entertainers in the world during the Second World War.  They were also the most popular comedians of the 1940s and ‘50s.  The act was Abbott’s not quite as clever as he thinks con-man character, and Costello’s not quite as smart as he thinks man-child character.  The “patter” between the two is rapid-fire miscommunication.  Bud’s character never believes Lou’s and Lou is reduced to comic incoherence.  This movie is the first of a series where the two comedians run into the classic movie monsters of the day and other popular characters from fiction.  It was also a revival for their careers, which had hit a downturn.  Abbott and Costello would remain the top comedy duo in the world until Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis hit the stage in the early ‘50s.

Here, Bud and Lou are baggage porters at a train station.  A mysterious call from London tells them not to deliver to large boxes to a local horror attraction.  The caller is none other than Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man himself (Lon Chaney Jr.).  Inside the boxes are Dracula’s (Lugosi) casket, and the Monster (Strange). As per usual with the duo’s movies, Lou’s character is under constant threat and Bud never believes him till the end.  The only classic bit missing here is a version of “Slowly I Turned”, which is a vaudeville routine used by many comedians of the day.

 

It’s pure silliness, with the classic monsters of the day playing out their traditional roles.  Perfect for the whole family.  This movie is sometimes listed as “Abbott and Costello Meet The Monsters”

Rating – **** Recommended