Abbott & Costello Meet Frankentein commentary podcast

[Earth 2 Chris]

Our own Rob Kelly and I discuss the classic Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein on this special team-up episode of the Fire and Water and Super Mates podcasts. Who needs real film historians when you have comic geeks to listen to?

Check it out here:

http://www.namtab.com/aquablog2/Abbott%20And%20Costello%20Meet%20Frankenstein%20Audio%20Commentary.mp3

Chris

[MIB41]

I grew up watching Abbott & Costello every Sunday afternoon on Channel 41, before they became Fox 41. My aunt actually delivered the 6 o'clock news on that channel, so we had a family connection to that studio. 'Abbott & Costello meets Frankenstein' probably saw the highest rotation of any of the A&C movies. It was a staple for many years and probably saw more air time than any of the classic Universal monster movies. I think it was a little more family friendly and appealed to a vaster audience with Bud and Lou in those days. As a kid, I took the movie quite seriously. Yes, it was definitely funny, but that seem to enhance the chills that much more. I always thought Glenn Strange played a terrifyingly perfect Frankenstein monster. It was difficult to see a human being behind that iconic face that had been so embellished on countless covers of Famous Monsters and costumes for Halloween. As a little kid, I think I found Strange more threatening than Karloff. And my skin would just crawl every time I would see Lou back into Frankenstein's lap while he sat in that dark basement. That was truly an unnerving moment for me as a little kid. I would have screamed just like Lou.

But what I loved most about this film was the wonderful screen time given to the Wolfman. We got to see no less than three changes in one film. We got to see him hunt in the forest, fight monsters, and even trash a hotel room like your classic 70's rock band. It was a great profile on Lon Chaney Jr.'s finest monster and no film gave him better props. And I just loved the predatory nature of how he grabbed Bela as a bat and plunged into the ocean below. If ever the Wolfman truly had a incredible moment showing off his skills as a wolf, this was it.

I thought Bela played an excellent Dracula, although I was always perplexed why we were allowed to see his reflection in the mirror when he was biting the female doctor. This movie also reminded me of how much better I enjoyed Legosi when he was in ensemble pieces. I think his greatest strengths were playing off the performances of others. And that's not to say he couldn't carry a picture by himself, but I thought he brought more dimension to a story when he was a support player, like the movies where he played Igor.

With regards to Bud and Lou, I think this is by far their best picture. It amazes me to have read later in life how much they hated this film. I guess I could see where this film didn't look terribly impressive on paper. There's nothing about the general script that could have foreshadowed the legacy of the film that was made. Perhaps the fact they disliked the material so much encouraged them to pull every trick out of their hat of gags, because the whole film feels like a beautiful adlib. Nothing ever feels forced or awkward. They play to the material effortlessly.

The one great irony to this film is it seems to be the last big hurray for most of those horror actors. This was definitely Legosi's last A movie before he fell into the low budget Ed Wood movies and died in 1956. Chaney also seem to fade from view soon after although he did appear in allot of television and movie features in lesser roles and survived to enjoy the Universal Monster resurgence in the 50's and 60's. It was also hard to believe that the ever energetic Lou Costello would lose his life a little over ten years later. So this movie is really a final love letter to so many greats that came together for this one project that no one seem to like. Amazing how that worked out. I think if you could pull them from their respective graves and show them the legacy of this film, it would blow their minds.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Well said Tom. In fact, you need a blog, my friend! Your posts are always very eloquently written and well-thought out. "Random Geek Thoughts from Tom" is a blog I'd read daily.

Chris

[MIB41]

Well thank you bro. Your podcasts are a fun trip down memory lane. I couldn't write much of anything if I didn't have your inspiration to get me there. Keep up the great work! They make my days better when I can hear a familiar voice on a slew of my favorite topics. And they're always great topics. Keep knocking them out!

[kingdom warrior]

How the heck did I miss this post....this is soooo awesome! I'm a huge A&C fan, and I totally love this movie. I've watched this movie since I was a kid know it like the back of my hand. I'm enjoying the podcast as I write this. Great job! love hearing personal stories about the movie....and yes Chris, the Wolfman transformation scared the crud out of me as a kid and the scene that he has with Costello....great stuff!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Hey, thanks for listening Steve! I'm not joking, that Wolf Man transformation really unnerved me. I was scared to death of anything to do with monsters...particularly werewolves for years afterwards. I was such a wiener!

Chris