One of Bud and Lou's most
popular films, then
and now, in which they tangle with the Frankenstein Monster, Count
Dracula and The Wolf Man. That all three monsters also
happened to
be under contract to Universal Studios is surely a coincidence.
The antics of the team, more
of a part of the
story than usual, play against a straight plot that has Dracula looking
for a new brain to tame the Monster, while Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man)
attempts to stop the Count. Lon Chaney Jr. is his usual
sympathetic self as the chronically depressed Talbot. Glenn
Strange, who played the Monster in the two HOUSE OF films, finally gets
some lengthier screen time. The real treat of the film is the
return of Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, although, with 17 years passing
since he first played the role, he seems to have almost as much makeup
on as Chaney or Strange. A&C, who loved to play
practical
jokes and have fun on the sets of their films, took care to treat
Lugosi with respect and he responded with one of his loosest, most
natural performances.
The production values of
A&C MEET
FRANKENSTEIN are sufficiently creepy and dusty, are as good as those
found in any of the Universal monster series. The story doesn't allow
for many of Abbott and Costello's patented verbal routines, but there
are plenty of jokes as well as a return to the "haunted house" humor
(including the moving candle routine) of HOLD THAT GHOST, to which this
entire film has a familiar resemblance. Occasionally, the
monsters themselves will be involved in some gags, but always in
character, such as when The Monster takes his first look at Lou and
howls in fright.
Lou Costello, who like Bud
Abbott, preferred
gags and jokes (the older the better) over stories, didn't think much
of this film, until his mother told him it was the best thing the team
had ever done. Something of a comeback for the team, ABBOTT
AND
COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN also hamstrung Bud and Lou through the end
of their movie career, as Universal quickly formulized the idea into
a series of quasi-sequels (...MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN/ THE MUMMY/ DR.
JEKYLL, etc.) that were sometimes amusing but never as good as
A&C
MEET FRANKENSTEIN.
Some horror fans decry this
film as a sorry
conclusion to the Monster Cycle, but really, ever since GHOST OF
FRANKENSTEIN and THE MUMMY'S HAND, with each film getting sillier and
sillier, it was heading this way anyway. I see ABBOTT AND
COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN as a joint celebration of two of Universal's
greatest contributions to the movies. ½ - JB