Monday, April 14, 2008

Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein


Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (onscreen title: Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein) is a 1948 comedy/horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.

This is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's film stable. In the film, they encounter Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolf Man. Subsequent films pair the duo with the Mummy, the Keystone Kops, and the Invisible Man. On a TV special in the early 1950s, the comedy duo did a sketch where they interacted with the latest original Universal Studios monster being promoted at the time, the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The film is considered the swan song for the "Big Three" Universal horror monsters – Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster – although it does not appear to fit within the loose continuity of the earlier films.

The film was re-released in 1956 along with Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.

In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

In September 2007, Reader’s Digest selected the movie as one of the top 100 funniest films of all time.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a really nice painting which faithfully captures the spirit and fun of the original movie.
The vampire bat hiding in the smoky background is a nice touch and I LOVE the glazed look on Lou Costello's face.
Bela also looks appropriately menacing.
A Masterful job!!

Anonymous said...

Daniel, Thank You for the very kind Comment, as always you're a boulder among rocks sir.
Jim

Anonymous said...

okay, mr.mcdermott, my therapist told me three sessions ago that i should be more truthful. i remember it because i was sitting on the couch trying to tell her a lie about something that happened the week before involving my 72 year old neighbor, and she caught me straight-up lying. truth; this was not one of your better days when you decided to stumble out of bed and paint this picture. don't get me wrong, it's not entirely a waste of your time. you did a nice job rendering the milkman hat. i don't want to get into all the different aspects of what is wrong with this illustration because, quite frankly, i don't have the time (and yes, it would take a considerable amount of time). i will point out, however, the part of this picture that bothers me the most; is that some kind of gigantic flying chocolate pastry above them in the background? what ever it is,...it's very distracting. truth; (again) you should lay off the ring-dings, scooter-pies and chocolate cake and spend a little more time learning how to draw a,...oh, i don't know,...A GOD DAMNED BAT!!!