Dracula (Bela Lugosi) hypnotizes Wilbur (Lou Costello) (rue-morgue.com)
Back in 1948, horror films had just about reached their peak. After so many low-budget sequels starring the likes of Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Frankenstein Monster, and the Mummy, Universal Pictures decided on a revival strategy of reuniting its patented movie monsters with their most successful comedy duo. Thus, the engaging romp known as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein came into being. Co-starring Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Lenore Aubert, Glenn Strange, Jane Randolph, Charles Bradstreet, Frank Ferguson, and the voice of Vincent Price, this hilarious creature feature became Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s most financially lucrative venture.
The plot involves two zany railway porters, Chick Young (Abbott) and Wilbur Gray (Costello), finding Count Dracula (Lugosi) and the Frankenstein Monster (Strange) alive and well and living (?) in the state of Florida. Dracula is intent on reviving the weakened Monster for his own fiendish purposes. Toward that end, he enlists the aid of sexy scientist Dr. Sandra Mornay (Aubert) as an all-too willing accomplice in his scheme. Their plan: to put Wilbur’s brain in the Monster’s body (yikes!). Before this laughable nightmare can begin to take place, Wilbur is rescued by his pal Chick and the always-twitchy Lawrence Talbot (Chaney), who chooses that inopportune moment to transform into (you guessed it) the hirsute Wolf Man. Oh, and there’s also a surprise “visit” by the Invisible Man (Price) at the end.
Lou & Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) (ebay.com)
Riotous farce with great special effects for the period (thanks to makeup artists Bud Westmore and Jack Kevan) amid the studio-bound sets, the film’s script underwent multiple changes to story line and plot, until finally arriving at a pleasing balance between slapstick comedy and out-and-out horror. It may have been funny to their fans, but Costello himself remained unconvinced of its worth — until an inducement of a $50,000 bonus made Lou see the “light,” so to speak.
The opening animated sequence where skeletal versions of A & C appear alongside cartoon silhouettes of the film’s monsters and Dr. Mornay, as well as the scenes where Dracula transforms into a bat (and vice versa), were all done by Walter Lantz, who was most well known as the animator of Woody Woodpecker.
The boys share a fine rapport with their guests — in particular Lugosi, who was nearing the end of his black caped career. It’s hard to tell if his pasty-faced countenance was due to makeup or his debilitating drug habit (well documented in Tim Burton’s equally worthy Ed Wood). The rapport, however, was plainly one-sided. According to Charles Barton, who oversaw many of the boys’ Hollywood forays and was Lou’s favorite director, Lugosi was not at all amused by the on-set antics, which included all-night card games, pie throwing, exploding cigars, practical jokes, and general mayhem throughout.
Chick Young (Bud Abbott) & Wilbur (cinema.ucla.edu)
The appropriately eerie music score by Frank Skinner, a hands-down classic, was reused innumerable times for Universal’s subsequent monster pix. Abbott and Costello regulars Bobby Barber and Joe Kirk also appear in small bits. Film fans should keep their ears cocked for Lou’s flubbing of a line (“I’m telling you, Abbott,” instead of “Chick”) as they look for Dracula in the cellar.
Be sure to catch this one when it’s shown on Turner Classic Movies during Halloween season. Our favorite scene from among so many comic highlights: a worried Chaney confesses to the boys that, when the full moon rises, he’ll turn into a wolf. To which Costello innocently replies, “You and 20 million other guys.” Laugh it up, fuzzball.
Copyright © 2013 by Josmar F. Lopes