NFR Project: 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein' (1948)

 

NFR Project: “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”

Dir: Charles Barton

Scr: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant

Pho: Charles Van Enge

Ed: Frank Gross

Premiere: June 1948

82 min.

It’s not their best film, but it’s their most memorable. It contains none of the wordplay routines for which they were famous. The duo was hostile to the whole concept of the film. They had just completed their 17^th film in six years; the country was seemingly tired of them.

But this film made an enormous amount of money for Universal; supposedly it “saved” the studio. The combination of horror and comedy proved to be a potent concoction. People went nuts about Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were the best-known comedy duo between the reigns of Laurel and Hardy and Martin and Lewis. Lou was the roly-poly, mischievous little comedian; Bud was the tall, thin straight man. They had impeccable timing together, and rose to fame in 1938, when they did their famous “Who’s on First?” routine on the radio. Soon they had their own radio show, and a lucrative film contract.

By 1948, their humor was wearing thin. Their radio show was canceled and it looked like they were going to stop making movies. Then this film came along and revived their fortunes, leading to more movies, a TV show, and general renown.

In the film, Lou and Bud are Wilbur and Chick, two baggage clerks in Florida. A museum owner ships two crates through them – crates that contain Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein’s Monster (Glenn Strange). Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) tries to persuade the duo that Dracula plans to control Frankenstein a take over the world, and that he must be stopped.

Chick is skeptical, but Wilbur is exposed to the monsters and reacts in humorous panic. “Ch-Ch-Ch-CHIIIIIIIICK!” he exclaims frequently. By the time Chick shows up, the monsters are gone. This continues throughout the film. Meanwhile, a sexy surgeon (Lenore Aubert) plans to take Wilbur’s brain and put it into the Monster to make him more docile. Wilbur, being a moron, has a perfectly susceptible brain.

What follows is an up-and-down story of chases and close calls. Chick and Larry set out to save Wilbur. The good guys go up against the bad guys and defeat them – Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein are all destroyed. A final gag featuring the Invisible Man (voiced by Vincent Price) closes things out. It is rather sad to see the Universal monsters used as punch lines.

If you are an Abbott and Costello fan, this film’s for you. If not . . . this film will not change your mind about them. The duo would go on to create many more “Meets” films; Lou’s stammering cowardice and Bud’s cynical pragmatism would carry them through these increasingly poor films.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Force of Evil.

NFR Project: Cab Calloway's home movies (1948-1951)

 

NFR Project: Cab Calloway’s home movies

1948-1951

Once again, an entry for which I have practically no data, and no footage I can find to review. Evidently the famous bandleader took both black-and-white and color home movies of his home in Long Beach, New York and of his travels around the Western hemisphere during the 1948-1951 period. These film undoubtedly shed light on the life of a Black performer in the mid-20^th Century.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

NFR Project: 'The Way of Peace' (1947)

 

NFR Project: “The Way of Peace”

Dir: Frank Tashlin

Scr: Frank Tashlin

Pho: Wah Ming Chang

Ed: Stuart O’Brien

Premiere: April 23, 1947

18 min.

This short puppet animation was commissioned by the American Lutheran Church. It sought to inculcate Christian values in its viewers. Frank Tashlin, its director, started out as an animator; he would shortly move into making live-action comedy features, many starring Jerry Lewis.

The movie tells a theological pocket story of mankind – how man was once one with God, and how that relationship has been destroyed by people putting up walls between themselves and Godlike attributes such as justice and mercy. It retails the story of man exploiting and mistreating his fellow man.

The movie ends with a prolonged sequence showing the world destroyed by atomic missiles. This pessimistic conclusion is meant to serve as a warning. The dangers of atomic combat were just beginning to sink into the collective consciousness, and the anxiety-provoking spectacle of cities destroyed forms an unsettling coda to the project.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Cab Calloway’s home movies.