Dracula is Dracula. And Sandra’s gonna use my brain to make a bigger dummy out of the other dummy
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
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Today’s film is hilarious. I defy you to watch in and not laugh out loud a few times. iMDB.com rates this movie at a decent 7.4[1]. On Rottentomatoes.com, the movie has an 89 percent on the Tomatometer and 85 percent audience approval[2]. So, not too shabby.
In a July 29, 1948, review, New York Times film critic B.C. stated:
Most of the comic invention in “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” is embraced in the idea and the title. The notion of having these two clowns run afoul of the famous screen monster is a good laugh in itself. But take this gentle warning: get the most out of that one laugh while you can, because the picture, at Loew’s Criterion, does not contain many more. That is to say, the situations which the wags at Universal have contrived for their two untiring comedians in this assembly-line comedy are the obvious complications that would occur in a house of horrors. Costello, the roly-poly and completely susceptible one, shudders and shakes in standard terror to behold the assembly of ghouls—which includes not only the monster but Count Dracula and the Wolfman. Abbott, prevented from seeing the creatures until near the end, scoffs and snorts at his partner from behaving so curiously. After a thorough exhaustion of this play on frustration and fright, the story is brought to a climax with the intended transference of a brain. Whose brain is tagged for what monster we leave you to surmise.
That One Laugh[3]
This film was the only time Bela Lugosi reprised his Dracula (1931) role. Boris Karloff liked the project but turned down the part of the monster.
Actors – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Returning
The one and only Wolf Man, Lon Chaney Jr., was Lawrence Talbot AKA the Wolf Man. Chaney was first covered in The Wolf Man (1941).
Bela Lugosi was in Dracula’s role, but he was using the name Dr. Lejos for most of the film. Lugosi was first covered in The Wolf Man (1941) also.
Glenn Strange, the bartender from “Gunsmoke,” played the Monster or Frankenstein’s monster. Strange had played the monster before and was covered in House of Frankenstein (1944).
New
Bud Abbott, one half of the comedy team, played Chick. Abbot was born in New Jersey in 1895. Both of his parents had worked for “Barnum and Bailey Circus.” While growing up, he worked in carnivals and left school before finishing in 1909.
Bud worked in theater management and also played the straight man in comedy in burlesque and vaudeville. In 1931, he replaced the straight man for Lou Costello. A lightning bolt must have struck because they were perfect as a team.
They began playing a variety of venues working on their comedy act. In 1938, they were featured on “The Kate Smith Hour” and shown to a national audience. In 1939, they signed a contract with Universal.
Their first film was One Night in the Tropics (1940). Based on their performance, they were allowed to star in Buck Privates (1941). This movie, which also featured The Andrew Sisters, grossed over 10-million dollars.
The pair of comedians became famous movie stars. They had a radio show from 1941—1949 and a television show in 1952. As we know from the Film Noir story, American cinema taste was changing. The duo’s popularity fell off until the starred in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). The movie did so well that Universal began pairing them with various film monsters. They worked with most of the top monsters, with the most crucial omission being The Creature from the Black Lagoon or Gill Man as we called him.
When the duos film career ended, that pair broke up in 1957. Lou continued to work until 1966 when he became too ill to work. He died in 1974.
Lou Costello, the other half of the comedy team, played Wilbur. Lou was born in 1906 in New Jersey. Lou won 32 straight amateur boxing matches in Paterson, New Jersey. Lou dropped out of high school and went west to become a star.
He worked as a carpenter for MGM and Warner. He also spent time working as a stuntman before returning to comedy in vaudeville. He had a few uncredited film appearances in the 1920s. In 1931, he began working with Bud Abbott and had the same career as Lou, who is listed above until 1957 when the team split-up.
He made a movie and tried another tour with a different partner, but it was not well received. He tried to mention Paterson, New Jersey, in each film, and he was also a perennial 4th wall breaker. Lou died in 1959.
Lenore Aubert played mad scientist Sandra Mornay. She was born in 1918 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in what is now Slovenia. Her father was an Army general, and she grew up mostly in Vienna. During this time, she worked as an extra in some films.
She married a Jewish man and left for America when those damn Nazis started acting up. Lenore began modeling in New York. She eventually left for California to take a theater role. A talent scout saw her on stage in Los Angeles and she was signed by Samuel Goldwyn for the film They Got Me Covered (1943).
Next, she was in Action in Arabia (1944) but got little attention. She went to Republic, where she was in The Catman of Paris (1946). She continued to work in B-movies, never quite making it to A-movies. Some of her films include; I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (1947), The Return of the Whistler (1948), and Barbary Pirate (1949).
Lenore is best known for two horror-comedies, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) and Bud Abbot and Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949).
The 1950s saw her move to New York to live with her second husband, who was working in the garment industry. She has a few European films but mostly worked in charitable causes and for the United Nations. Lenore died in 1993.
Jane Randolph played insurance investigator Joan Raymond. Randolph was born in Ohio in 1914. Jane graduated from high school and attended DePauw University in Indiana. In 1939, her interest in acting led her to Hollywood.
She attended acting school at Max Reinhardt’s. Jane eventually landed a contract with Warner Bros. She was a World War II pin-up girl, and the company used her in small roles and B-movies like Manpower (1941), Dive Bomber (1941), and Male Animal (1942).
In 1942, Jane went to RKO and had two B-leads, Highways by Night (1942) and The Falcon’s Brother (1942). She was in the classic horror film Cat People (1942), and it’s inferior sequel The Curse of the Cat People (1944).
She continued through the war years in films such as The Falcon Strikes Back (1943), In the Meantime, Darling (1944); in the Film Noir Jealousy (1945); In Fast Company (1946), The Mysterious Mr. M (1946), and Fool’s Gold (1946).
She ended her career with three Film Noirs Railroaded! (1947), T-Men (1947), and Open Secret (1948). These were followed by Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
In 1949, she married her second husband and moved to Spain. She spent a leisure life before dying at 94 in 2009.
Frank Ferguson played Mr. McDougal, the owner of the wax museum. Ferguson was born in 1906 in California. He worked in theater, performing and directing at the Pasadena Community Playhouse.
Ferguson had his first three film roles in 1940. His best-known films are This Gun for Hire (1942), They Won’t Believe Me (1947), Rancho Notorious (1952), Johnny Guitar (1954), The Violent Men (1955), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Ferguson had an amazing 320 film and television credits, with most of the being television roles. I remember him most from “My Friend Flicka” 1955-1956. But you will definitely recognize Ferguson when you see him. Ferguson retired in 1972 and died in 1978.
Charles Bradstreet played the naive Dr. Stevens. Bradstreet was born in 1918 in Maine. He began acting in Los Angeles theater. Bradstreet received a contract with MGM and didn’t do that much. He had a total of 10 film and television credits. His films include The Unfinished Dance (1947), Parole, Inc. (1948), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). After leaving the film industry, he got into real estate. Bradstreet died in 2004.
Story – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
This film begins with animated credits showing monsters and introducing the actors.
The scene changes to a foggy London street with Big Ben in the background. It is 8:00 pm. A bobby walks the streets. Above, Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) looks out the window and then paces the room before picking up the phone to check on his long-distance call to Lamorada, Florida.
It is daytime in the Florida train station where Chick Young (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello) work as baggage handlers. Chick is continually yelling at Wilbur to undertake tasks. The phone rings at the same time as a woman comes in looking for her bag. Wilbur puts the call on hold. Chick sends Wilber out to get the suitcase. Of course, it is on the bottom. He dumps the pile of bags on himself. For this, he gets yelled at by Chick.
A beautiful woman, Sandra (Lenore Aubert), comes in and calls him Wilbur darling. He tells her in baby talk that he hurt his head. Sandra is very concerned about the injury. She examines him and then kisses him. Chick can’t believe Sandra is dating Wilbur.
The phone rings again, and it is Lawrence Talbot calling from London. He asks about two crates that are to be delivered to “McDougal’s House of Horrors.” Talbot tells that the moon will be rising soon, and he will be leaving London in the morning. He warns Wilbur not to open the crates until he arrives.
Hair begins to grow on Talbot’s hand as he begins the werewolf process. Wilbur hears growling on the line and thinks Talbot, who he believes is McDougal, is gargling or had a dog near. Talbot turns fully into the Wolf Man. Wilbur hangs up the phone.
McDougal (Frank Ferguson) comes in and wants his two crates. Wilbur thinks the man has come from London in a few seconds. McDougal screams at Wilbur to get him the crates. Chick goes to look up the crates as Sandra comes back in.
While the two baggage handlers are in the back, McDougal tells Sandra that the two crates contain the original bodies of Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein (Glenn Strange). She says it doesn’t scare her. Sandra breaks her date with Wilbur but says everything is fine.
McDougal watches as Chick and Wilbur almost wreck the crates. McDougal says that Chick and Wilbur must deliver the crates so his insurance inspector can examine the contents.
That night, a lightning storm is brewing. They arrive at the back door of McDougal’s wax museum. As soon as Wilbur opens the door, he is not happy with what he sees as there are statues of killers and executioners. They take one crate inside, and Wilbur is as nervous as a prostitute in church.
Wilbur is left to open the crate while Chick goes outside. Inside of the crate is a coffin with Dracula’s crest on the outside. Wilbur reads the legend of Dracula as the coffin begins to open and close. Wilbur finally sees Dracula and screams for Chick. Wilbur has a few more Dracula sightings and keeps calling Chick into the room. When Chick comes in with the second crate, Dracula leaves the coffin and hides in the shadows of the museum, like he is made of wax. Chick checks the coffin and sees that it is empty.
Wilbur and Chick begin unboxing Frankenstein’s Monster. Dracula gets back in his coffin. Wilbur freaks out when he sees the face of Frankenstein’s Monster. Chick goes outside to talk to McDougal, and Dracula hypnotizes Wilber. Dracula gives the Monster a small electrical charge to wake him. Frankenstein’s Monster is calling Dracula master.
Wilbur wakes to see the two creatures leaving together. Frankenstein’s Monster is scared by Wilbur’s face.
When Chick, McDougal, and the insurance inspector come in, Wilbur tries to explain but cannot talk. McDougal calls the police to have Wilbur and Chick arrested for stealing the monsters. Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster come back, and Frankenstein’s Monster cares Dracula’s coffin away.
Dracula flies like a bat to a castle on a small island in Florida. Humm. At the front door of the castle, Dracula turns back into human form. Wilbur’s girlfriend, Sandra, answers the door as Dr. Mornay. She is on close terms with Dracula, who is traveling under the name Dr. Lejos. He says he doesn’t want to scare her laboratory assistant Dr. Stevens (Charles Bradstreet).
The two docs go to retrieve Frankenstein’s Monster from the cove. Sandra confirms that she has studied Dr. Frankenstein’s notes and can give the monster a new brain. Dracula tells Sandra that he doesn’t want to repeat Dr. Frankenstein’s mistake and give the Monster a bad brain. Sandra says she has found the most simple and pliable brain possible, the brain of Wilbur.
Chick and Wilber spend a day and a night in jail before someone mysteriously bailed them out. Back in their room, Wilbur is still trying to convince Chick of what he has seen. Chick shines him on.
Talbot knocks on the door and meets the two guys. He says that the bodies were alive. Talbot is trying to stop Dracula from reviving the monster. Talbot can’t go to the police because he is a werewolf. Talbot has Wilbur lock him in another room so he can turn into a werewolf. Of course, Wilbur keeps going back and opening the door. Talbot has changed into the Wolf Man and plays cat and mouse with Wilbur.
McDougal rages on the insurance investigator until it is revealed that a top investigator Joan Raymond (Jane Randolph), bailed them out of jail. She thinks she can trick Wilbur into showing her the location of the stolen monsters.
Sandra comes by in the morning to see Wilbur, and the boys find out that she didn’t bail them out. She tells Wilbur to pick her up at the castle, alone, at sunset for that night’s masquerade ball. I am sure it is supposed to be a bow, but the design on the back of Sandra’s jacket looks like a bat.
Sandra leaves, and there is a knock on the door. He thinks it Sandra and puckers up. Joan kisses him as she walks into the room. Chick is amazed, and Wilbur is stunned. She says she is in love with Wilbur, as in love at first sight. Joan invites herself as Wilbur’s date to the masquerade ball. Wilbur doesn’t want to share either date with Chick.
Wilbur finally remembers Talbot and opens his room. The place is wrecked, and they think he has been on a drinking bender. Talbot explains that he is a werewolf. Talbot gets upset when Wilbur makes fun of him. Wilbur says Chick can help with the monsters.
That night, Chick, Wilbur, and Joan boat over to castle island. Eventually, the trio goes to the castle. Dr. Stevens opens the door. Sandra is upset that Wilbur did not come alone. Sandra wants to get rid of Chick and Joan. She takes Joan away to powder her nose. Chick is still trying to get one of the dates.
Wilbur answers the phone, and it is Talbot. Talbot says that Dr. Lejos/Dracula has been receiving a lot of electrical equipment. Wilbur tries to run out when he finds he may be in the house with Dracula. Chick forces Wilbur to help him search the castle. They go through a door that leads down some dark stairs to an interior boat dock.
Falling through a secret revolving door, Wilbur sees the monster and Dracula. Chick never sees either. Wilbur has a few close calls, including sitting on the monsters’ lap. They do the bit with the trick wall where Chick and Wilbur and the monsters’ are on opposite sides. Then Wilbur ends up with the monsters. These exchanges were done to great effect in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), except with Nazis.
Joan dress as a gypsy, which I assume is an homage to The Wolf Man (1941). Joan finds “The Secrets of Life and Death” by Dr. Frankenstein. Sandra sees Joan looking through the book and discovers that she is an insurance investigator.
The two couples are in the foyer, and Wilbur tries to tell Sandra what he saw in the basement. Dracula comes down the stairs in a robe. He is very interested in Wilbur, saying what they need is young blood and brains.
Dr. Stevens comes and asks Dracula about the equipment. Dracula encourages Dr. Stevens to go to the party. He likes Joan and says he will. Dracula says Chick, Joan, and Stevens will go on the first run, and Wilbur and Sandra will follow. Sandra says she cannot go to the party because she has a headache.
Upstairs, Sandra tells Lejos/Dracula about everything she has found out. She wants to wait for the operation, but Dracula tries to bluff her. Sandra cannot be bluffed easily. She says her will is as strong as his, but Dracula easily hypnotizes her before biting her neck. Dracula’s reflection incorrectly shows in the mirror.
Joan and Stevens go to dance at the party while Chick and Wilbur go to put on their costumes. They run into McDougal, who is wearing a devil outfit. He is still angry, thinking they stole his monster’s bodies.
Talbot is in the changing room when Chick and Wilbur come in. Wilbur has a ghoul mask, and Chick has a werewolf mask. Dracula and Sandra arrive at the party. She is entirely under Dracula’s control. Talbot calls Dracula by his real name.
Dracula takes Joan to the dance floor. Sandra leaves with Wilbur. Sandra is already a vampire and tries to bite Wilbur. Of course, that would take three days for her to turn. Wilbur sees a flying bat in her eyes. Chick and Talbot arrive and stop the killing.
The three men go in the woods looking for Joan. At moonrise, Talbot transforms into the Wolf Man. He begins trying to bite Wilbur, and Wilbur keeps thinking it is Chick in his mask. Wilbur escapes the attack. Talbot instead attacks McDougal, who thinks he was bitten by Chick wearing the wolf costume.
The mob of party goers chases Wilbur into the woods. He sees Dr. Lajos/Dracula turn into a bat. He runs and finds a hypnotized Joan sitting in the boat. Chick also escapes the mob and sees Dracula hypnotize Wilbur. Chick passes out. Dracula, Joan, and Wilbur, and I guess Sandra head back to the castle.
Later Chick wakes to the sound of barking dogs as an armed band of men hunt for him in the woods. Talbot, who is also hiding, finds Chick in the woods and tells him he is a werewolf. Talbot and Chick hide until the hunting party has passed.
In the castle, Wilbur is in a pillory, Sandra is hypnotized, and the monster is waiting patiently. At sunset, Dracula awakes and has Sandra begin the operation on the weakening monster. She tells Wilbur she is going to put his brain in the monster’s body.
Dr. Stevens storms into the laboratory where Dr. Lajos/Dracula is charging the electrical machines for the monster. Stevens is mad because he found Joan in Sandra’s room. He has also seen the book by Dr. Frankenstein. Sandra clunks him on the head with a tube.
Talbot and Chick arrive in a rowboat near the cave entrance to the castle.
Dracula and Sandra take Stevens to the basement. They have the monster get on a gurney.
Talbot and Chick free Wilbur and wake Stevens. Stevens is concerned with freeing Joan, so he, Talbot, and Chick go to free her. They leave Wilbur in the boat.
Dracula and Sandra find that the victims have escaped. He sends Sandra to tend the monster, and he uses mind power to bring Wilbur back to him.
Joan and the three men return to the boat and find Wilbur missing. They see flashing in the laboratory. Chick and Talbot head there to rescue Wilbur.
Wilbur is strapped to a gurney next to the monster who is being charged up. Sandra is preparing to operate, and Dracula is in the background. Talbot rushes in and grabs Sandra, while Chick faces off against Dracula using a chair. Sandra is knocked out before Chick flees.
Before he can disconnect Wilbur, Talbot turns into the Wolf Man. Of course, the werewolf starts breaking things. Dracula comes in, and he and the Wolf Man have a push-me/pull-me fight with Wilbur’s gurney.
Finally, Dracula realizes that the Wolf Man is too strong, and he flees. The now charged up monster escapes from his table. Sandra wakes and tries to stop the monster, but he picks her up and throws her out the window. As a note for later, actor Glenn Strange broke his ankle during the window, throwing stunt.
Chick and Wilbur run away as the monster gives chase. They do things like barricade doors that open out and play duck and hide in rooms where Dracula and the Wolf Man are fighting.
Dracula tries to escape the Wolf Man by turning into a bat. The Wolf Man jumps on the bat, and both creatures fall to their death on the rocks.
Joan comes out of the trance. McDougal and another man arrive to capture Chick and Wilbur. When they see the monster coming, they jump in the water. Joan and Stevens get gas. The monster is in the pier throwing things at Chick and Wilber in the rowboat. Stevens sets the dock on fire using the gas. The monster, who traditionally hated flames, walks right into the fire and dies. Since Glenn Strange had a broken ankle, Lon Chaney Jr. took over the monster’s role, something he had done in other movies. A stuntman was used for the fire scene. [4]
In the boat, Wilbur is jawing at Chick for not believing him about the monsters. Chick says there are no monsters left to scare them. Then an unseen voice states, “Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping to get in on the excitement. Allow me to introduce myself—I’m the Invisible Man!” A cigarette is lit in the air and the voice, uncredited by Vincent Price, begins to laugh. Chick and Wilbur jump into the water. The credits roll as they swim away.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Abbott and Costello conducted a grueling 78 city tour in a little over a month during World War II. They raised a staggering 85 million dollars for the war effort by purchasing war bonds and stamps.
In 1959, following Costello’s death, the IRS demanded that the remaining partner, Abbott, pay the over $750,000 of back taxes. The IRS declared the money as personal income that was donated to the government.
Abbott had to sell his estate, his 200-acre ranch, his wife’s furs, and jewels for the debt. He also had to sell off his rights to profits from his Universal films. The IRS’s position was that is how the law was written. That’s a real Nuremberg defense. [5]
Abbott and Costello were not alone in this tax trouble. Boxer Joe Louis, called “The Brown Bomber,” was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937—1949[6]. When World War II broke out, Louis volunteered for the Army. He donated around 1.2 million dollars in today’s funds for the war effort[7]. The IRS attached Louis for back taxes, forcing the aging fighter to return to the ring.
World-Famous Short Summary – A four dates a ten and ends up in trouble
Beware the moors.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040068/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abbott_and_costello
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/29/archives/the-screen-that-one-laugh.html
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_and_Costello_Meet_Frankenstein
[5] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0007941/bio
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Louis
[7] https://nmaahc.si.edu/stories/collection/joe-louis
