Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein |
| Original title | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 82 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Charles Barton |
| script |
Robert Lee's Frederic I. Rinaldo John Grant |
| production | Robert Arthur |
| music | Frank Skinner |
| camera | Charles Van Enger |
| cut | Frank Gross |
| occupation | |
| |
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (original title Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ) is an American comedy film directed by Charles Barton from 1948. The German premiere was on August 22, 1958. The re-release title was Mein Gott, Frankenstein . It was shown for the first time in Austria on February 16, 1951.
action
Chick and Wilbur work as porters in LaMiranda, Florida . Wilbur accidentally damages two boxes destined for MacDougal's House of Horrors . Mr. MacDougal requests that the boxes be delivered in person and examined in the presence of an insurance agent. MacDougal tells Wilbur's friend Dr. Sandra Mornay that the boxes contain the remains of the original Count Dracula and the body of Frankenstein's monster.
Dracula wakes up, hypnotizes Wilbur, makes his own coffin and the resurrected monster disappear before anyone can see him. MacDougal and the insurance agent find the boxes empty, accuse Wilbur and Chick of theft, and have them arrested.
Meanwhile, Sandra receives Dracula and the monster at her island castle. Sandra, a talented surgeon, has studied Frankenstein's notes. She and Dracula have come up with a plan to endow the monster with an easily manipulated human brain, namely Wilburs. Wilbur and Chick are released from prison. They mistakenly assume that Sandra vouched for them. In fact, Joan Raymond, who likes Wilbur, was the benefactress. Joan works undercover for the company that pays for MacDougal's insurance, hoping Wilbur finds the lost exhibits.
Larry Talbot has now moved into an apartment across from MacDougal. Talbot has followed Dracula and the monster across Europe and knows that both are alive. He asks Wilbur and Chick for help in catching and eliminating the two monsters. While Wilbur agrees, Chick believes Talbot and his friend are insane. Talbot's desperate demand to be locked in his room before the moon rises does not impress Chick.
The following evening, Wilbur, Chick and Joan pick Sandra up for a fancy dress ball. Sandra wanted Wilbur to come alone, so the reception for the other two is frosty. The ladies powder their noses. In the meantime, Wilbur takes a phone call asking someone to call a Dr. Lejos demands. The caller is Talbot, who tells him that he is in Dracula's house. Reluctantly, Wilbur searches the castle with Chick, and they come across a cave, complete with dock and jetty. Behind a wall, Wilbur meets Dracula and the monster, but is able to escape. Wilbur's attempts to convince Chick of the monsters' existence fail because Chick couldn't see them because of the wall. Meanwhile, Joan comes across Frankenstein's notebook while Sandra discovers Joan's company ID.
Sandra makes Dracula, for others Dr. Lejos, paying attention to Wilbur, Chick and Joan. The naive Dr. Stevens. Stevens is irritated by some of the special equipment that is being delivered to the castle. Dracula evades his questions by introducing Stevens to Joan and sending them both to the ball. Sandra gets a severe headache. Stevens' questions, Joan's identity, and Wilbur's research have made her so nervous that she wants to postpone the experiment. Dracula gets impatient, hypnotizes Sandra and bites her neck.
At the ball, Wilbur and Chick meet Talbot and MacDougal. Dracula appears with Sandra who is under his control. Talbot accuses Dracula, but is portrayed by him as disturbed. Dracula asks Joan to dance while Sandra walks to a lonely place with Wilbur. Just before Sandra can bite Wilbur's neck, she is disturbed by Chick and Talbot, who want to check on Joan. Talbot transforms into a wolf man. Wilbur escapes, but MacDougal is injured by Talbot. Since Chick disguised himself as a werewolf and looks exactly like Talbot in his wolf form, MacDougal decides to stick to Chick in revenge. Chick escapes MacDougal when he notices Dracula hypnotizing Wilbur. Wilbur and Joan are taken to the castle while Chick hypnotizes himself for protection. Chick meets Talbot, who confesses his attack on MacDougal. Now Chick is ready to save Wilbur and Joan with Talbot.
Sandra reveals to Wilbur, who is tied to a stake, her plan to implant his brain into the monster. You and Dracula prepare the monster for the operation. Meanwhile, Chick and Talbot free Wilbur. Now they want to free Joan, but the hypnotized Wilbur goes back to Dracula's castle.
The operation on Wilbur is about to begin, when Talbot storms in and pushes Sandra aside. Chick fights Dracula with a chair. He wants the vampire k. o. hit, but hits Sandra. When Talbot tries to free Wilbur from his shackles, he turns back into a wolf man. Dracula and the Wolfman fight, Chick unties Wilbur. Dracula flees, the restored monster breaks out. Sandra tries to lure it back, but she is thrown out the window.
Dr. Stevens finds Joan while Dracula turns into a bat and tries to escape. But the Wolf Man seizes him. Both fall from a balcony into the lake below. Joan wakes up from her trance. Wilbur and Chick flee the castle with the monster on their heels. You meet MacDougal, who insists on the publication of his exhibits. When he sees the monster, he also jumps into the lake. Wilbur and Chick want to flee in a rowboat that is firmly moored. While the monster is throwing barrels at the two, Wilbur manages to loosen the boat. Stevens and Joan reach the boat and set the pier on fire. The monster stomps into the flames and falls into the water with the collapsing pier.
Sitting exhausted in the boat, Wilbur and Chick hear a voice that introduces itself as "The Invisible One". They both see a cigarette floating in the air and jump out of the boat.
Reviews
"Over-the-top film grotesque, which, as a parody of Hollywood horror films, offers entertaining entertainment in places."
“The horror parody turns out to be by far the funniest and most original episode in the series of Abbott and Costello films [...] This parody draws its joke mainly from the fact that famous horror stars like Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. . To be seen in their well-known roles and not take themselves too seriously. "
"It was precisely these scenes (with Lugosi - author's note) that turned out to be the funniest of the best of all Abbott and Costello films."
“A crazy, dizzy show that combines tension, horror and laughter. Abbott and Costello pulled out all the stops of their skills and sparked an effective horror vortex. "
background
- Originally, Ian Keith , who was actually supposed to play Count in Dracula (1931) at the time, was intended for the role of Dracula because the studio bosses thought Bela Lugosi had already passed away. However, when it turned out that Lugosi was very much alive, his agent asked Universal to give him the role.
- Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein was Universal's second highest-grossing film in 1948.
- In the original English version, Vincent Price lends his voice to the invisible , as in The Invisible Returns (1940).
- While filming, Glenn Strange tripped over a cable and broke his ankle. So Lon Chaney Jr. jumped in the scene where Dr. Mornay is thrown out the window for him as a monster.
- Boris Karloff was again offered his star role as a monster, but turned it down, but did publicity work for the film. For example, Karloff posed for advertising shots with a ticket for the film in front of the cinema.
- For Abbott & Costello meet Frankenstein , make-up artist Jack Pierce ' was the first to do without make-up artist Jack Pierce's effective but very time-consuming make-up process for Frankenstein make-up. Bud Westmore , who was, among other things, head of the mask in the series The Munsters in the 1960s , used a rubber mask part that was said to be so tightly attached that when Glenn Strange shook his head under the hot spotlights after several hours, you could hear water splashing.
- In Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein , the Frankenstein monster speaks for the first time since Frankenstein Returns (1942).
- At Abbott & Costello meet Frankenstein , apart from Glenn Strange, three actors were involved who had previously played the role of the Frankenstein monster: Lon Chaney junior in 1942, Bela Lugosi in 1943 and indirectly also the original monster Boris Karloff, who only had publicity for the Film made in 1931, 1935 and 1939.
- Art director Hilyard M. Brown received an Oscar in 1964 , sound engineer Leslie I. Carey in 1955, set decorator Oliver Emert in 1963. His colleague Russel A. Gausman came to the set with an Oscar award. He won his Oscar in 1944 and received a second in 1961.
- In 2001 the film was entered into the National Film Registry .
Web links
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website of Abbott and Costello (English)
- US reviews of Channel 4, New York Times and Empire Magazine (English)
- Review by David Conner from Movieguide.com (English) ( Memento from February 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- German movie poster
Individual evidence
- ↑ World premieres according to IMDb
- ↑ Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Das Große TV Spielfilm Filmlexikon, Volume 1, area Verlag, ISBN 3-89996-578-7 .
- ^ The new lexicon of horror films by Ronald M. Hahn and Rolf Giesen. Lexikon Imprint Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89602-507-4 .
- ↑ Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein (1948) - Trivia. In: IMDb.com. Retrieved May 8, 2016 .