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Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Movie Comedy Teams by Leonard Maltin.

Their next film, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was one of their most disappointing efforts. It has good special effects, with transformation scenes of man-into-monster that rival any of Universal's earlier horror films, but the laughs are few and the 'straight' plot involving mad doctor Boris Karloff is rather limp.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 2:19 pm    Post subject: Re: A Great Team Fading Away Reply with quote

Phantom wrote:
Abbott and Costello were on the downside by the time they made this one. The presence of Karloff and the Jekyll-Hyde theme elevates it above their encounter with The Invisible Man (I may be in the minority on that one) and their last monster mash-up with The Mummy.

Most of the time Eddie Parker subbed for Karloff as Hyde, particularly in the more strenuous scenes.

That's one advantage to monster makeup that completely hides the face of the actor — it doesn't require the big-name actor to be behind the mask! Very Happy
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Critics and fans were disappointed that Bud & Lou didn't perform any of their classic, or new, wordplay routines for this movie.

Turns out Abbott & Costello felt that they needed to give their verbal schtick a rest. Not only were they seen in most of their feature films, they were performing them on their TV series, as well as during their guest hosting The Colgate Comedy Hour.

While I can understand Bud & Lou's reasoning, I think they made an error by not having any of their funny wordplay in the film. True, all of their old stuff was now seen in re-release of their motion pictures, and now on their half-hour comedy TV show, and the Colgate variety show. So those old standby bits did need a rest.

The answer is, don't perform one of their standard routines for this movie. Have their talented writers create a couple of fresh, new routines for 'em to do. Abbott & Costello were famous for doing these kind of routines, to not have any in a film of theirs is a mistake. As well as a big letdown for the audience.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alas, I think that they were so into doing their standard variety of schticks that they had little new to offer. The writers they did possibly have contributed very little new material other than the slap stick and physical attempts at humor!
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe there were a few other factors involved as to why Bud & Lou resisted doing new material.

They had honed the famous classic routines that they had performed for years in vaudeville to perfection. The routines were sure-fired laugh getters and they knew it. Having confidence in these routines made Bud & Lou want to use them over and over again. New material wasn't a guarantee for them with an audience, so they rarely would use fresh routines.

The problem with that is that there was a way to test out the material on audiences. MGM Producer Irving Thalberg had the Marx Brothers go on the road in order to try out the scripted routines they were planning to use in their next film. That way they could see how a live audience reacted to the comedy material first hand. If some jokes fell flat, or only received mild chuckles, the writers could rework the script. That could mean punching up the routines, or dropping them entirely and creating new ones. Obviously if a routine bombed completely it could be eliminated.

When it came time to shoot the film in question the routines were then money in the bank as to getting a positive response from the audience.
Universal Pictures could have followed this formula with Abbott & Costello since MGM had first done it with the Marx Brothers five years before Bud & Lou made their first motion picture.
The other factor playing into all of this might have been that Bud & Lou were lazy. I say this with respect & admiration for both men. However, it's always easier to use a routine that you know backwards and forwards, then learning an entirely new one that may take weeks to get down pat.
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that another letdown for this movie was the makeup. In the Barrymore, March, and Tracy films where they all played the classic Robert Louis Stevenson' character, they all wore prosthetic makeup. And the makeup was impressive for their respective eras.

In Bud & Lou's film it's a mask worn by stuntman Eddie Parker. Scary looking, but it is still a full mask like you'd see at a Halloween party. I feel that makeup appliances on an actor's face makes Mr. Hyde more real. A mask is a mask.

I suppose that the marvelous Boris Karloff was at an age where having him wear makeup and perform physical feats as Hyde was not realistic. So the answer would have been to cast an actor that would have been younger and fit enough to pull off the action scenes with Eddie doing the trickier stunts.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2024 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Since Bud has kindly placed this movie on one of our group chat's to watch, thought I'd see just what author Bill Warren thought about the film in his terrific book Keep Watching the Skies!
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After Abbott and Costello met Frankenstein and the Invisible Man, meeting the doctor with double lives was probably inevitable. It wasn't auspicious, having the weakest storyline of any of the comedy teams "meet" films. (Meet the Mummy was a worse movie, however.) It's also not very funny, but isn't the disaster that Jim Mulholland claims in The Abbott and Costello Book.

The plot is elementary and unimaginative. In this version, Jekyll himself is as evil as Hyde. Karloff is smooth and professional as Jekyll; even in circumstances like these, Karloff gave his best efforts. At one point in the film, Lou drinks a potion lying around in Jekyll's laboratory, and later in a pub turns into a huge mouse in a tweed suit and derby. The mouse mask is extremely elaborate and much better articulated than the stiff Hyde mask.

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is no worse than most of their later films, and does have several amusing sequences. But the vogue for Bud and Lou had passed.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 26, 2024 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I've never seen this movie, so I'm looking forward to watching it in the chat room with our regular group. Very Happy

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