Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Directed by Charles Barton
Uncredited Co-Director (Animated Sequences) Walter Lantz
Screenplay by Charles Barton & Walter Lantz
Original Screenplay by Robert Lees & Frederic I. Rinaldo & John Grant
Universal Pictures 1hr 23min / Not Rated
CAST: Bud Abbott (Chick), Lou Costello (Wilbur), Lon Chaney Jr. (Lawrence Talbot/The Wolf Man), Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula/Dr. Layhos), Glenn Strange (The Frankenstein Monster), Lenore Aubert (Sandra Mornay), Jane Randolph (Joan Raymond), Frank Ferguson (Mr. McDougal), Charles Bradstreet (Dr. Stevens), and Vincent Price (The Invisible Man’s voice/Uncredited)
Certainly one of the best known horror comedies of all time, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein holds a special place in the hearts of those that love both the Universal Monsters as well as the antics of Bud Abbot & Lou Costello. Surprisingly, the comedy team was not eager to do the film. They preferred scripts that were built around their routines. Lou Costello was blunt in his estimation of the proposed story, “My little girl could write something better than this!” The studio enticed them with an upfront payment of fifty thousand dollars and the addition of their favorite director to the project. Shot for an estimated $800,000.00 it turned out to be their most successful film. It also was a wise investment on the studio’s side; the team once again saved the studio from bankruptcy just as they had in 1941 with Buck Privates.
ABOVE: Lobby Card for Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949); Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and William Frawley in Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951); Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, and Marie Windsor in Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
Sadly, the film marked the end of the Universal Monsters reign with the exception of The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), and its two sequels. The film did boost the comedy teams popularity; they went on to meet other monsters in other films, but none of them would live up to this near perfect horror/comedy. Even bringing Boris Karloff on board and putting his name in the title (Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff), although a box office success, couldn’t rekindle the magic. Karloff met the duo once more in 1953’s Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Abbott & Costello were supported by an astonishingly talented cast when they met Frankenstein. Lon Chaney Jr. was at his most conflicted, Bela Lugosi was pure evil with a haunting smile, and Glenn Strange’s Frankenstein is still only second to Karloff’s. Lenore Aubert (who was also in Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff), is a standout as Dr. Mornay with her calm reserve and ironic delivery. She is most powerfully in character when challenging the infamously evil Count Dracula, refusing to perform an operation to give the Monster a new brain. It is in this scene that a minor gaff may be observed; the pair are standing in front of a mirror–and–the Count is casting a reflection!
The film opens moving through a foggy London night and finally to a building where window blinds open and Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is staring out as the moon rises. It all happens accompanied by Frank Skinner’s excellent score (many of his music cues from the film were re-used in Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Skinner’s scoring foreshadows the script’s seamless blending of horror and comedy. The monsters lend themselves to slapstick with an aplomb that exceeds expectation. The villains behave much as they do in their own films and Abbott & Costello are at their very best as their foils.
The film’s simple plot begins when Wilbur (Costello) takes a call at the shipping company from Talbot. With extreme fear and frustration, he tries to warn Wilbur about two crates that they will be receiving for McDougal’s House of Horrors. Transforming into the Werewolf during the call, his speech is reduced to growls and snarls that cause Wilbur to hang up. Moments later, Mr. McDougal shows up at the counter demanding his shipping crates. He is not a patient man, and Lou’s confusion infuriates him. Ferguson was born to play this role and quickly becomes a potent adversary.
Lou’s girlfriend, Sandra (Lenore Aubert) shows up and is not impressed by Mr. Ferguson as he complains about Wibur and then excitedly explains what is in the crates that he is checking on. Sandra goes to Wilbur and tells him that something has come up and she has to cancel their date. Once she reassures Wilbur that it is not another man that is the cause, she takes her leave.
Now having no faith in the shipping company, Ferguson demands that the crates be delivered to his House of Horrors to be reviewed with the insurance agent present. When they deliver the crates, the confusion begins as Wilbur sees both Dracula and Frankenstein are not only in the crates–they are alive–but naturally, Chick is always gone or looking the wrong way.
The duo incorporate some of their well know bits including the moving candle routine from Hold That Ghost (1941). The twist is that it is Dracula slowly opening the coffin that makes the candle move and it perfectly highlights the scene. Dracula & Frankenstein get out of the coffins before McDougal arrives with the insurance agent. Not being able to produce the Monster & Dracula, Wibur and Chick are arrested and hauled off to jail by McDougal and the insurance agent. Dracula and the Monster then take Dracula’s coffin and leave.
If you have seen the film, you know the rest. If not, or if you haven’t seen it for a long time, you will need to schedule a viewing. The film is both an important high point in Abbott & Costello’s career and a fitting farewell to the age of Gods and Monsters.
Facts, Rumors, and Hearsay
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was banned in Finland for many years.
Bela Lugosi would play similar vampires in other films, but Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein would be only the second, and last, time that he would play Dracula in a feature film.
The film is included in the American film Institute’s 2000 list of the Top 100 Funniest American Movies & in 2001 the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
The scene in which Wilbur unwittingly sits on the lap the Monster required multiple takes. Costello improvised broadly, which caused Strange to keep losing it and laughing, ruining the takes.
The voice of the Invisible Man in the final shot of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is provided by Vincent Price; when Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man in 1951, Vincent Price is no where to be seen.
