Review Bud Abbott and Lou Costello

Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Just loved it when they bumped up against the universal monsters in their films.

One I keep meaning to see is this solo effort of Lou Costello's....


 
Salzmank

Salzmank

Member: Rank 2
I just saw Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein for my annual October viewing—definitely my effort A&C effort, still an absolute classic. I wrote some words on it here:

I loved this movie as a kid, I still love it—it’s the only A&C flick I like unreservedly. (I find Lou Costello’s schtick so annoying and tiring—while, heretically, I think Bud Abbott was one of the greatest “straight-men” in the business, and the better of the duo.)

But Meet Frankenstein somehow manages to give us a funny A&C comedy and a respectful send-off to the Uni monsters without cheapening either one. It’s a surprising accomplishment, but the humor works completely, yet the monsters still retain their dignity. (Dracula even gets to bite someone [not Lou, unfortunately], and it’s played seriously!) While Lou grates as usual, he’s given some really very funny lines, and the Abbott-Costello rapport, thankfully shorn of their tired old routines, is hilarious. (“Why don’t you light that cigarette, put on those shoes, and take a walk for yourself?”)

Junior is his usual whiny self, and poor Béla Lugosi is wearing more make-up than the girls in cosmetics commercials, but Béla is very good in this, dripping with menace. After two whole movies spent lying on a slab, Glenn Strange finally gets some actual screen time to do Frankenstein Monster-y stuff, and he’s a properly imposing Monster. (Curiously, it’s his visage, not Karloff’s, that has become the definitive interpretation of Frankie.)

And the girls are gorgeous and the special-effects are impressive, and Lou Costello isn’t as annoying as usual, and the final gag is uproarious. What more could one want? One of my favorite movies to watch around Hallowe’en.
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