ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN - DVD review

The year must have been around 1950. I was six or seven and my dad took me to see it in re-release because it had been made several years before. It scared me to death and made me laugh till I cried. Most of my childhood fancies seem dated now, silly and juvenile, but not this one. Ever since I first saw it, I have harbored a not-so-secret and not-so-guilty delight in the minor comedy classic, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."

In the 1930s, Universal was the king of the hill so far as monster movies went. They had struck it rich with the initial "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" films in 1931 and followed them with a roster of equally notorious creature sequels--vampires, werewolves, mummies, you name it. But by the 1940s the public's interest in movie monsters was beginning to wane, especially given the real-life horrors of World War II. By the mid 40s, Universal had resorted to doubling and tripling up its most famous monsters in films like "House of Dracula" and "House of Frankenstein"; then, when Universal became Universal International and a new studio chief took over who wanted to make classier movies, the death knell for the old brutes had sounded. By the 1950s the world was looking toward atomic mutants and outer-space aliens in films like "Them," "The Thing From Another World," and "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers."

But in 1948 the old demons would have the last laugh, literally and figuratively. The comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were enormously popular on stage, radio, and screen at the time, among the biggest stars in Hollywood, and needed a new vehicle for their antics. Universal thought, why not round up all of our ancient ogres and put them together for one last shot? The result was so successful that Abbott and Costello would go on to do a whole series of such ventures: "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer," "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy."

Today, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," featuring three of the screen's most famous monsters--Frankenstein's creation, Dracula, and the Wolfman--is considered the team's best picture and one of the most enduring comedies of all time. The flick may have marked the end of serious, old-fashioned monster making for Universal, but the same creatures would be back bigger and scarier than ever in the late fifties and sixties thanks to Hammer Films, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee. And, of course, archfiends, especially vampires and slashers, have been popping up ever since. You can't keep a good monster down.

Ironically, Abbott and Costello at first didn't want to do the horror spoof. The script didn't have enough of the team's usual standup routines and verbal patter, and, besides, they might be upstaged by the ghouls. So Universal played the dirtiest, most underhanded trick of all; they offered the boys more money. The next step was to secure the actors who would play the creatures. Lon Chaney, Jr., was a natural for the part of the Wolfman. He had been the only actor to have played the role previously and was already under contract to Universal. The Frankenstein monster was slightly more difficult. Karloff was the obvious first choice, but he had long since given up the role, he was sixty-five at the time, and he thought the whole idea of a monster parody was demeaning to the creatures. So the part went to Glenn Strange (wonderful name!), who had played the monster in two prior films.

The final part, Dracula, should have been a no-brainer, too, but, believe it or not, Bela Lugosi was not the studio's first choice! How could that be? They really wanted John Carradine, who had been their vampire most recently, but he was unavailable. After several others were considered, Lugosi's name came up. Surprisingly, Lugosi, the man most identified with Dracula, had actually only played the part on screen once before, in the original movie. The Abbott and Costello film would be his second and final undertaking of the role.

The movie's plot is unpretentious. Dracula has found the remains of Frankenstein's creature and with the help of a disreputable scientist, Dr. Sandra Mornay (Leonore Aubert), wants to bring it back to life. But now he wants a creature with a less volatile brain. Needless to say, they choose Costello as their "brainy" subject. "This time," says Dracula, "the monster must have no will of his own, no fiendish intellect to oppose his master." "There, my dear Count," replies Dr. Mornay, "I feel I have exceeded your fondest wishes. The new brain I have chosen for the monster is so simple, so pliable, he will obey you like a trained dog." Opposing Dracula's plans is Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.), whose only personality flaw is that during a full moon he turns into a wolf. "Yeah," says Costello, "you and about twenty million other guys."

The comedy duo play Chick Young and Wilbur Grey, a couple of baggage handlers who are accused of mislaying the creatures when they are shipped into the country as attractions for McDougal's House of Horrors. McDougal is played by the familiar character actor Frank Ferguson. The heroine of the picture is a beautiful insurance investigator, Joan Raymond (Jane Randolph), and a minor hero is Dr. Mornay's assistant, Prof. Stevens (Charles Bradstreet), who knows nothing of his boss's real intentions. Vincent Price puts in a nonappearance at the very end as the voice of the Invisible Man.

Most of the action takes place in and about a creepy old castle in Florida (Florida?!), during the evening of a masquerade ball. A few of the jokes may seem familiar; if they do, it's because some of them were recycled from earlier Abbott and Costello pictures. For instance, the moving-candle gag is a replay of a bit the pair did for "Hold That Ghost" in 1941. Costello keeps seeing the monsters, but Abbott doesn't, another stock routine. A big part of the film's success lies in the fact that the monsters play it so seriously. We can laugh at the behavior and reactions of the comedians, but we never laugh at the monsters. A variation of the gimmick would be used to great advantage years later in the "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" movies, where much of the fun consists of the tough-guy actors playing the comedy straight.

Director Charles Barton keeps things moving at a healthy clip, having worked with the comedy team before, and the music of Frank Skinner has become almost as familiar to movie buffs as the film itself. "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" was the second-least-expensive film Universal made in 1948 and it became their second-biggest-grossing film of the year. They got their money's worth.

Video:
The black-and-white print, over half a century old, is not as pristine as it may have once been, but it still looks attractive. It's generally free of age marks, and the various dark shades are well contrasted with the lighter areas. There is some grain apparent, probably a part of the master copy.

Audio:
The monaural sound, remastered in Dolby Digital 2.0, also holds up well. It has a slight background hiss and is understandably limited in terms of frequency range and dynamics, but, otherwise, it conveys good presence.

Extras:
Universal continue their policy of providing good value one's money by including a number of useful bonuses. The most beneficial is a full-feature audio commentary by film historian Gregory W. Mank. The man is a treasure-trove of information. Because I don't usually have time to watch a movie a second time for the commentary, I generally listen only momentarily and forego the rest of the opportunity; but this is one of the few movies with such a commentary that I did watch again, Mank is so fascinating to listen to. The second major bonus item is a brand-new, thirty-three-minute documentary on the making of the film called "Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters." It's hosted by David J. Skal and provides a pile of behind-the-scenes information, as well as recent interviews of surviving crew members and actors' offspring. Then there are production photographs, production notes, cast and filmmaker biographies, further Universal film recommendations, Web links to Universal Studios, eighteen scene selections, and a theatrical trailer. English is the only spoken language, but English and French are included as subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
If you've never seen "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," you might think it wouldn't hold up as well as it does. Just try it. Of course, much of it is silly, but I think you'll find it as entertaining now as I did fifty years ago. I strongly recommend it for the child in all of us.