Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

From my favorite movies..

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Actually, among my least favorite Abbott and Costello(A&C) films, and I've seen them all, saving this most popular one for last. On the other hand, I can see where it might appeal to children of a certain age group(not too young), who are scared seeing people with strange, intimidating, attributes. A film that includes Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster, sometimes interacting with each other, does provide more interest than a film with only one of these. However, the Wolf Man was very slow and clumsy in chasing Costello. Frankenstein's monster, as expected, walked stiff legged and armed, rather like a subpar mechanical robot of latter times. He was quite inaccurate in throwing multiple barrels at A&C near the end. I'd rather face any of these monsters, as shown, than an angry mother bear, for example. I found the typical A&C humor minimal. As typical in their monster movies, for most of the film, Costello has occasional interactions with the monsters, but they disappear every time Costello drags Abbott to see them, and Abbott remains a Doubting Thomas. This gets tiresome after a while.

Copyright 8 September 1949 (in notice: 1948) by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York release at Loew's Criterion: 28 July 1948. U.S. release: July 1948. U.K. release (through J. Arthur Rank's General Film Distributors): 7 November 1949. Australian release: 25 November 1948. U.S. length: 83 minutes. U.K. length: 79 minutes. Australian length: 5,642 feet. 63 minutes. U.K. and Australian release title: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE GHOSTS.SYNOPSIS: Two bungling shipping clerks (helped? by the Wolf Man) tangle with Count Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster.NOTES: Negative cost: $800,000. Some sources cite the U.S. running time as 92 minutes. This is incorrect. The TV print which seems in every way complete runs 83 minutes. The film was cut in both the U.K. and Australia by their Film Censors, both of whom also insisted on the title change. "Frankenstein" was a dirty word in Australia in 1948 as all so-called "Horror films" at that time were completely banned. COMMENT: It's amazing how few contemporary critics appreciated Abbott and Costello. They were generally dismissed with a sneer. The fact that some of their films had quite novel plots ("The Little Giant", "The Time of Their Lives") as well as a high level of verbal and visual wit was usually overlooked or disregarded. Abbott and Costello were irredeemably "lowbrow". Even at the conclusion of an otherwise favorable review of "Meet Frankenstein", a contemporary critic, Lionel Collier, can sum up that the comedians provide plenty of entertainment "if you are unsophisticated enough to enjoy them."Fortunately, very few movie-goers took any notice at all of critics back in the 1940's. "Meet Frankenstein" actually restored Abbott and Costello's flagging careers, putting them right back with the top ten money-making stars.Today "Meet Frankenstein" is justly regarded as one of their best films — if not their masterpiece. For once director Charles T. Barton (a longtime friend and former assistant of William A. Wellman) has really risen to the occasion, handling both the comedy and the horror so effectively as to rouse the ire of both the U.K. and Australian censors. Exactly twenty minutes were lopped from Australian prints. "Meet Frankenstein" must hold the record for the most mutilated Hollywood film ever put into Australian theatrical release.Today, many critics regard "Meet Frankenstein" as one of the best satires on horror movies ever made. I agree!Production values are absolutely first-class. It is not only Barton's deft direction that keeps the laughs and the thrills coming at a marvelous pace, but the skilled film editing, atmospheric photography, creepy sets, and the mood-enhancing music score by Frank Skinne. Abd even by today's standards, the make-up and special effects are often stunning.For another fascinating Abbott and Costello offering, I recommend "Hold That Ghost".

This line is already a cliché, but here we go again - for it's time and genre this movie is real gem. Once again we have Lugosi as Dracula, Chaney as Wolfman and Frankenstein monster all together in one movie, but this time, instead of horror classic, we have Abbott and Costello comedy, and I must say I prefer this approach. It's not Oscar material, but it's 80 minutes of pure fun.8/10

Originally to be titled "The Brain of Frankenstein". A high-budget film with an an almost flawless script and some of the best dialog and performance of Lou Costello's entire film career. Here, the monsters play it straight, not for laughs. The Wolfman tries to be the hero, but his curse prevents it. Only the second time that Bela Lugosi played Dracula for Universal Pictures. (He has even played "Frankenstein's Monster".) They did such a terrific job with Glen Strange as the monster and he played it very well. He was 6-ft.-six. He often was cast in westerns, and he was Sam the Bartender in the "Gunsmoke" TV series. Look for the "goofs" next time you watch it: Dracula's reflection. "Frankie" stumbles a few times. An operating table starts to fall before it is pushed over by the monster. Pretty-good effects animation by Walter Lantz Productions (Famous for Woody Woodpecker) Great sets, crisp photography. A legendary film score. (Too bad they re-used it at least 3 other times.) On the AFI's list of the 100 best comedies of all time. A film never equaled and it never will be. What a cast! When I was a kid, the brain operation scene scared me to death, even on a TV! What a startling, nasty sound the electricity makes! The monster that burns up at the finale has a cast-wax head, from the original "mask". I had the opportunity to see this film on a big screen, at a Saturday matinée in the 1950's. I was 5. Of course, Vincent Price is the famous voice of the cigarette smoking Invisible Man. Best quote of the film is by Lou Costello: "The next time I tell you that I saw it, you believe me that I saw it" Next best: Wolfman: During a full moon, I turn into a wolf... Lou: "Yeah, you and 20 million other guys". A bit of flicker on the opening titles, but otherwise a great copy in the 2015 re-issue.