Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

 Diabolique Magazine #17 Aug/Sept 3013 we have an issue on The Evolution of Horror Comedy so the films are a lot of fun the third article "Side Splitting: The Evolution of the Horror Comedy" by Ken Hanley is a nice look at the evolution of the subgenre. I am going to review a few of the films he mentions in the article starting with this one.

Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

  The Abbot and Costello schtick is well established by 1948, Bud Abbott the over bearing straight man to the silly slapstick of Lou Costello. This act has been duplicated time and again through movie history but just when their popularity was waning someone at Universal Studios got the idea to refresh then by pairing them up with another popular genre, the Universal Monsters and boy does it work.

Bud Abbott plays Chick Young supervising a mail depot and bossing around Lou Costello's Wilber Gray. The bit are sharp and witty and we quickly get into the comedy with Wilber retreiving a woman suitcase from a cart of delivered boxes, and as expected bring the pile down on his head. The physical humor is great but the conversation between Wilber's georgous girlfriend Sandra (Lenore Aubert) and Chick is snappy and smart.

The bits are funny here and not only do we get Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr as the wolfman as well as the titled Frankenstein this time played by Glenn Strange. We get a plot where Dracula wants to revive Frankenstein with a new more simple minded brain so he is not dangerous. When the boxes Dracula and Frankenstein disappear the insurance company send the lovely Joan (Jane Randolph) arrives to find them. She and Sandra are showing interest in Wilber because he appears to be a simpleton and honestly his character is. So much goes on in this film and not laugh out loud funny but super amusing. The convoluted plaot plays out through some wonderful comedy bits.  I am not going to give away the plot to this 70 year old movie because watching it is so enjoyable and I think you should all do it.

So if you are interested in a magazine with this content, read updates here soresportmovies.blogspot.com, or on Letterboxd.com to learn how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews and comment on the films. I still have a mail connected to my blog movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on blog entries.

My Letterboxd.com handle is @Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it. If no one wants it well it will probably end up on a magazine rack at the library or something.

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