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Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I found a few nice trivia items on IMDB. The first two items are related, so I put them together.
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The scene in which Wilbur (Lou Costello) is unknowingly sitting on the lap of Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) required multiple takes. The scene allowed Costello to improvise wildly, which caused Strange to constantly break up laughing during the takes.

When Wilbur (Lou Costello) sits on the lap of the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) in the basement of Dracula's castle, you can see that, when Wilbur has seen the Monster and he is sliding down his lap, the Monster is almost smiling. This is because Costello was ad-libbing different reactions to meeting the Monster in the basement and Strange would start laughing.


Note from me: A pity that these shots weren't preserved. We'd all like to see them.

Bobby Barber was employed for the film as a "court jester". It was his job to keep the energy level up through a series of practical jokes and deliberately blown takes. Often when Lou Costello expected Lon Chaney Jr. to come through the door, Barber would run in wearing a hat and cape and immediately run back out. Bela Lugosi enjoyed Barber's antics as long as he was not the victim. On one particular occasion while filming a scene in which the solemn and sinister Dracula descends a staircase, he was followed by Barber, who imitated his every move. After the cast and crew burst into laughter Lugosi glared at Barber and yelled in his thick Hungarian accent, "We should not be playing while we are working!" and then stormed off the set.

Note from me: And these outtakes would also be wonderful to see! Very Happy

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948) was shooting near this movie on the lot. Tourists were shocked to see Glenn Strange's Frankenstein Monster having lunch with Ann Blyth in her fishtail costume. Both Strange and Lon Chaney Jr. in his Wolfman make-up were invited to the "Mr. Peabody" wrap party, where they hammed it up in make-up.

Note from me: "Coming soon to a theater nears you! Frankenstein Meets and Mermaid . . . for Lunch!" Laughing

Glenn Strange was playing the Frankenstein monster, but during shooting one day he tripped over a camera cable and broke his ankle. Lon Chaney Jr. (playing the Wolf Man) wasn't working that day, so he put on the Frankenstein makeup/outfit and filled in for Strange, in the scene where Dr. Mornay gets thrown through the window. So Chaney wound up playing two monsters in this movie.

Note from me: As I stated in a post above, I've always thought it would be cool if the Frankenstein monster had been turned into a werewolf by a bite he received in the fight during Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman.

Then the next movie could have been Frankenstein IS the Wolfman ??? and Chaney could play both monsters in that one. too!

As it turns out, that actually (sort of) happened in the scene from THIS movie! Very Happy

During the final chase scene, when Wilbur and Chick are standing in front of a door and the Frankenstein monster punches through it, Lou Costello deliberately went off his mark and got hit on the jaw. Director Charles Barton liked his reaction, so he decided to keep it in the film.

Note from me: Abbott and Costello never shied away from anything that provided a good "punch line"! (Ouch . . . sorry! Embarassed)

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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Frankey dumps Drac!

I love how while the Frankenstein Monster battles with Bud & Lou, or should I say Chick & Wilbur, in the castle hallway, the monster ignores his master, Count Dracula, who is himself fighting the Wolf Man in the same area.

You'd think that given the monster's last encounter with the Wolf Man in Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman that the monster might give up on Bud & Lou & go after Talbot?

Actually I get why the monster payed no attention to Dracula's predicament. Once restored to his full power the monster felt he owed no loyalty to anyone.

In fact, he might have gone after the Count himself.


Last edited by Pow on Sat Oct 15, 2022 12:41 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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It's been a while since I've seen this great movie, and I'd forgotten about the double battle in the climax until you mentioned it. The battle is an amazing example of comedy/action. Very Happy

The show-stopping scene that I've always loved is when Dracula tries to escape by turning into a bat and flying off a balcony. The Wolf Man dives over the stone handrail, grabs the bat's wings, and plummets to the ocean below!

Amazing!

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some of the bloopers are on YouTube here :

______ Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein Bloopers


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There is also a short documentary on "The Making Of..."

_ The Making of Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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DailyMotion has a nice download of Abott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!

Bulldogtrekker and I are planning to watch it tomorrow evening, on Halloween, in the chat room starting at 6:30 pm EASTERN STANDARD TIME.

Hopefully a few other folks will join us. Here's the link to the chat room.

All Sci-Fi's Chatzy room
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___________________ A&C Meet Frankenstein


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:04 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just saw this wonderful film last week on MeTV's Svengoolie show.

I love how they really pack in plenty of monster scenes. We see my fave,the Wolf-Man transform in London,in his apartment room in the America,in the woods at the masquerade ball,& the finale in the castle.

Count Dracula does the fantastic looking transformation via animation into/from a giant bat 4 times.

So many comedy/horror movies think that they are clever by holding the majority of the film back from the horror scenes.

"Ghost Breakers"is a entertaining movie with Bob Hope but the characters don't reach the island castle until the last 20-minutes of the film.

Martin & Lewis remade "GB"with their "Scared Stiff'' & repeated the exact same deal of reaching the island in the very last scenes of the movie.

With Abbott & Costello they jump right in & keep the pace moving. That's how it should be done.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Your comment reminded me why I dislike the way horror movies have gone from "scary in a fun way" to "scary in a deeply disturbing way".

There was a line they never crossed in the classics, the line between offering scary situations that were frightening in the darkened movie theater (but easy to shake off in the light of day), and scary situations that troubled the viewer for days afterwards.

After horror became truly horrific in the 1960s and beyond, people grew up watching the disturbing films that crossed that line, and eventually they became so hardened to the suffering of fictional characters that even the comedy in films would routinely use cruel situations as humor!

Going back to your comment, Pow, we grew up in a kinder era when mildly scary moments in a movie needed to be balanced with a bit of humor, thereby making the movie enjoyable . . . instead of unpleasant.

Sadly, those days are gone now. Sad

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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
There was a line they never crossed in the classics, the line between offering scary situations that were frightening in the darkened movie theater (but easy to shake off in the light of day), and scary situations that troubled the viewer for days afterwards.

For me that line was crossed with The Exorcist (1973).
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
For me that line was crossed with The Exorcist (1973).

By gum, I actually thought of The Exorcists while writing my post above.

Even though I've never watched it!
Shocked
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 5:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That "frightening in the darkened movie theater (but easy to shake off in the light of day)" effect you mentioned was the same way I thought of "scary" movies until The Exorcist. I was still unsettled the next day in full daylight.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Always found it interesting that in the wild finale we see Bud & Lou battling (more like running away from) the Monster, while at the same time the Wolf Man battles Count Dracula.

The monster must have seen Dracula in trouble when they were all in the castle's hallways, yet he never goes to help him out. He ditches Drac!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Interesting point. Does the Frankenstein monster obey Dracula because he's loyal to him, or just because he's given hypnotic commands by the evil count?

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trivia } Original title was ''The Brain Of Frankenstein.''

Budgeted at $759,524, final cost was $792,270. It was Universal's second least expensive picture that year.

Glenn Strange fractured his ankle on the set. When the monster throws Dr. Mornay out of the laboratory window the stunt went wrong.

The window frame failed to break away, which sent the stunt woman flying back to Glenn & knocking him down.

Lon Chaney donned the make-up for the monster & it is he who does the scene where Mornay is thrown through the window.

The ''Moving Candle Gag'' used in the movie was first done by Lou in their earlier haunted house film "Hold That Ghost.''

Costello originally did not want to do the scene where he sits on the monster's lap by accident.

In the scene where the monster smashes his fist through the door with Abbott & Costello on the other side, Lou really did get hit in the nose by Glenn. Lou was off his mark & not standing exactly where he should have been.

Fans all note the scene where Count Dracula is biting Dr. Mornay on the neck & we can see the vampire's reflection in the mirror.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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If you've run out of things to say about this movie, find out what other folks are saying by consulting our MULTI-BOARD ALPHABETICAL INDEX! Very Happy

Guys, this is why I've spent years creating the MULTI-BOARD ALPHABETICAL INDEX — so that we could get new ideas to share here on All Sci-Fi and find people we'd like to invite to join us.

Message boards are dying because people don't care enough to post new and well-written comments, and they don't have the courage to promote other boards on the ones they're members of! Sad

Don't stand by and let message boards die an ignoble death. Help me keep them alive. Join the board below, post your own comments, and then tell them about All Sci-Fi! Shocked
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* Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein @ All Sci-Fi

Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein @ CHFB

Russell Baker and "A&C" @ CHFB

if you were to restore A&C Meet Frankenstein @ CHFB

Rating the Abbott and Costello Meet the Monster Films @ CHFB

A & C MEET FRANK tribute @ CHFB

Glenn Strange As The Monster @ CHFB

#2 Abbott & Costello Meet... @ CHFB

The Brain of Frankenstein @ CHFB

Since when did DRACULA learn how to operate a boat? @ CHFB

Abbott & Costello Meet Harold Lloyd @ CHFB

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
I wonder if instead of doing these classic horror characters, Universal should have had Abbott & Costello meet up with them all together in one picture as they had done with A&CMF? Of course at the heart of it they would require a strong script.

Coming soon to a theater or drive-in near you! Don't miss —

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Phantom of the Opera, the Metaluna Mutant, Tarantula, the Deadly Mantis, the Incredible Shrinking Man, and the Monolith Monsters!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
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