Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein-Bluray-
Digital HD Release Universal Studios
The first time I saw this wonderful excursion of fantasy I was somewhere between 8- 10 years old. That put’s it somewhere between 1970–72. A friend of mine, Tom McCoy and myself went to see it at R.L. Thomas-our local high school. They an amazing auditorium with great plush theater seating. Excellent sound system too. It proved to be a kids delight with an incredible mixture of genres filled with just the right amount of scares and of course cracker jack comedic timing from Bud and Lou. This was a time when Saturday Morning was still king with Scooby Doo,
Hardy Boys and HR Pufnstuf,
Chiller Theater on TV presenting the classic Horror films and Famous Monsters magazine at the newsstands and Kiddie Matinees for $1.00-Godzilla reigned supreme at the majestic Rivera Theater. Basically monsters, especially the classic ones were not only in every media type including print comics- Boris Karloff Tales for one, but also it was a proving ground to us “kids” that monsters could be funny and scary. And so it was one of my very good friends — Steve and myself got wind of this double feature playing at our local High School that up upcoming Saturday morning. We grew anxious as the magical day approached. Mind you we were constantly reminded during the week long wait due to local stations running commercials. But finally the day arrived. Good old R.L. Thomas-they had an awesome auditorium/theater and every student knew it … the place was packed.
On the bill was of course the Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and it was paired with this crazy film called The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters (which is a fantastic tribute to The Bowery Boys by the late Ray Dennis Steckler who passed away on 2009 which both are articles destined to be in the future).
Below- Trailer
Lemon Grove played first and was pure escapism and if you have ever seen a Bowery Boy flick this was right on the money like a Monkees episode without the songs …getting us psyched in anticipation for the main attraction.
The audience went crazy when the lights when down and the opening titles appeared, it couldn’t have been more appropriate and fitting that the titles were animated and just like their real life counterparts with A and C it’s like watching a cartoon at times. So it was again when watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein on Bluray, time for me to relive that experience all over again.
The film opens with pure classic style as Lou is trying as best he can to accommodate a customer at baggage pick-up for a train station and answering a phone at the same time, we all know Lou is not capable of multi-tasking and with Bud on his case, this scene is loaded with one liners, pratfalls and sheer tomfoolery, especially when Lou attempts to retrieve a womans’ handbag from a dolly loaded with other assorted luggage and guess where her handbag is, right smack in the middle of the dolly…everything ends up on top of Lou.
The main story revolves around Wilbur (Lou Costello) and his wonderful, childlike brain. And you guess who wants it none other than Dracula (played by Bela Lugosi for only the 2nd time in his career). Dracula (Bela Lugosi) needs Wilburs’ brain for the Frankenstein Monster this time played by Glenn Strange (Strange had started out as a stuntman and then progressed to playing screen villains). Well it’s up to Chick (Bud Abbott) and Lawrence Talbot/ Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr was the only actor to ever have played all of Universals classic monsters) to stop them and save Wilbur.
The movie features some excellent sets and special effects including Dracula morphing into a bat, a castle complete with secret passages, a dungeon and a mad scientists’ lab and all in glorious black and white and on Bluray it has never looked better. Universal had a major hit on its’ hands and due to the great box office success of this film it lead to several Abbott and Costello encounters with monsters including Boris Karloff as Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde, the Mummy and the Invisible Man.
The extras include an audio commentary, a making of -with guests galore among them Bob Burns, Chris Costello (Lou’s daughter) and hosted by David J. Skal — Film Historian and I always stress to watch the making of documentaries and audio commentaries when they are available because there is so much to learn from and this release is no exception, example — Abbott and Costello did not want to make this film and to keep the energy level up on the production there were many practical jokes and pie fights. Much to the dismay of Bela Lugosi who it is said to have a great sense of humor, although not when the pie was on him…literally. Remember Bela was a very professional actor and took his craft seriously Also this has a digital HD copy which means you can watch it on your designated ultra-violet carrier i.e Vudo, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Fandango and Cinema Now.
Additional bit of trivia regarding the film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, it is ranked the # 1 movie from Alamo Drafthouse top 100 films.
Well I’m not going to spoil your time in discovery this masterpiece that blends scares, chills, and comedy other than to say this is a great movie to introduce your kids to monsters without the graphic blood- letting and you will all be laughing thru a great big bowl of popcorn.
Bluray is available via
Universal Studios Home Enteratinment.com
and from these other fine busineses — Amazom.com, DVD Planet, Deep Discount and FYE.
