ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:27 pm    Post subject: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) Reply with quote




One A & C's best comic efforts, with superior special effects by David Horsely (who later supervised the effects for This Island Earth). Bud and Lou play detectives tangled up in a case involving a prizefighter who uses an invisibility formula to get the goods on a gangster.

Arthur Franz (Flight to Mars, Invaders from Mars) is the prizefighter. William Frawley (I Love Lucy) and Sheldon Leonard lend their comedic talents to the proceedings. Directed by Charles Lamont.

_________________
____________
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 Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:33 pm; edited 3 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________

I was hoping Art Gilmore narrated this trailer, but unfortunately he doesn't. However, it does put me in the mood to watch the movie. Very Happy
__________________________________


_____ Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man


_________

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The Spike
Astral Engineer


Joined: 23 Sep 2014
Posts: 266
Location: Birmingham. Great Britain.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2020 9:55 pm    Post subject: Certainly one of the best in the series. Reply with quote

Our intrepid bumbling duo deliver the goods in one of the better offerings on their considerable CV. Here they are freshly qualified Private Investigators thrust into a murder investigation with an invisible man. That alone should tell you that the fun flows at a very decent clip, so with that I just need to say that some of the sequences here are comedy gold. Like a scene at a restaurant that is excellent, or Costello pretending to work the ball in the gym, and a final reel of a boxing match that really gets the laughter flowing. Watching these guys act as if with a real invisible man is wonderful, and of course the effects team also deserve praise for doing such a damn fine job with the invisible man of the piece.

Not quite as good as...Meet Frankenstein, but it's darn near close. 8/10

_________________
The quality of mercy is not strnen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sun Jul 05, 2020 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trivia } "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man'' was released on March 19, 1951 and has a running time of 82 minutes.

Budgeted at $697,000 with Bud & Lou receiving $150,000 plus 10% of the profit. $50,000 was required for the visual/special effects.

Arthur Franz plays professional boxer Tommy Nelson who becomes the Invisible Man in this film.

Franz would go on to star in two other sf films : "Monster on the Campus" (1958) and "The Atomic Submarine" (1959).

Franz read most of his lines off-camera but would do all the scenes on-camera when his character was wrapped in gauze.

Under the hot studio lights and wrapped up in the bandages it was extremely hot for Franz. To help him a flat flask filled with ice water was strapped to his waist and had a long straw that reached up to his mouth.

At this time in their careers Abbott & Costello had a strained relationship during the shooting of the film.

Some of the memorable music score from "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" was used in this film.

In one scene Lou refers to Frankenstein.

In another scene, Lou thinks he sees the silhouette of a bat but it turns out to only be a moth on his flashlight.
A nod to Count Dracula in his transformation scenes from "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein."

Dr.Phillip Gray administers the invisibility serum to Tommy in his laboratory. At one point in a nifty touch to the original Invisible Man film we see Dr.Gray point to a picture on his wall of Dr. John Griffin and we see it is a photo of Claude Rains who originated the role in the classic Invisible Man Universal movie.

Film footage from "The Invisible Man Returns'' was used in the scene where Lou is in the woods.

Lou Costello's character in the film of Lou Francis has to pretend he's a boxer. Lou Costello was an amateur boxer earlier in his life and boxed under the name of Lou King.

He fought 12 times with 11 wins and one draw. When his father discovered what Lou was doing that was the end of the boxing career for Costello.

I find that interesting about Lou being a boxer. In his films he's always playing the poor patsy being shoved and smacked around by Abbott and various guest stars.

Turns out that in real life Lou could probably dish it out just as well or even better if he had to do so.

Jesse White was originally cast in the role of Detective Roberts for the film but it would be William Frawley who would end up performing the part.

Abbott & Costello used their real first and middle names for their characters in the movie.

The movie was generally well received by critics and audiences and did well at the box office.

Of all their films where they encounter a classic Universal monster I would rate this one the best Abbott & Costello film after the classic "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein."

No other of their monster movies touches Frankenstein.

However, their Invisible Man movie is darn fun and entertaining and has wonderful sight gags and very fine visual effects.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In 1948, Hugh Wedlock & Howard Snyder had written a serious sequel to the last Invisible Man movie that was called "The Invisible Man Strikes Back.''

Their screenplay was going to be used as the basic format for the Abbott and Costello comedy. Later on, Russell Rouse & Clarence Green would write a new script.

Robert Lees & Fred Rinaldo then rewrote that screenplay and it was the one ultimately used.

In all of the Invisible Man films, the title character is a different one from the previous film, and little or no connection is made between them.

Supposedly, Bud & Lou were constantly arguing during filming of TIM. Lou's daughter, Paddy, said that as a child, and later as a young adult, she never witnessed Bud and her father argue or not get along at all.

Whatever their beefs were, they never let it spill over and into their personal lives, ever, reported Paddy.

She went on to say that Bud was a great guy and he was the mild mannered of the two comics. Bud was more of a bend with the breeze kind of guy, whereas Lou could be volatile.

Bud & Lou officially met the Invisible Man in the finale of their classic comedy-horror film "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." However, this film does not play upon that scene and is in no way connected to their Frankenstein movie.

When Dr. Gray demonstrates to Tommy just how the invisibility serum works, he injects a caged guinea pig in his laboratory. The guinea pig then does become invisible; this footage was was taken from "The Invisible Man Returns."

When Tommy becomes invisible, he kicks Bud a couple of times for having double-crossed him. Fans enjoyed this scene after watching Bud slap around Lou for years in their movies together.

The scene of the invisible Tommy moving through the woods was also lifted from "The Invisible Man Returns."

The world premiere of this film would be a gala event to benefit the Los Angeles Examiner's Fund for Wounded Veterans of the Korean War.

The stage show accompanying the film included Bud & Lou, of course, and guests Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Danny Thomas, Lena Horne, among others.

The film was met with positive reviews and was a success with the public.

Lou Costello and Dean Martin had a history.

At one point early in his career, Dean Martin signed a contract for Lou to manage his career. One of the first thing's Lou did was have Martin receive cosmetic surgery for his nose.

While touring various nightclubs, Martin charged Costello quite a sum of money. Lou decided he was no longer interested in having Dean under contract and got rid of him.

Later on, in 1946, Dean teamed up with Jerry Lewis and they became the hottest comedy team in show business since Abbott & Costello.

Lou was happy for his former protege's success.

When Martin & Lewis opened up at Ciro's in Hollywood, Lou reserved a front row table for ten.

At the conclusion of the act, Jerry rushed to the table to greet Lou. Martin never even said hello.

Costello, naturally enough, was enraged.

Lou launched a lawsuit against Martin over the contract Dean had had with Lou due to Martin snubbing Lou at the nightclub. Lou won.

About a year later, there was a benefit for the Lou Costello, Jr., Youth Foundation in L.A.

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis appeared.

Showing no bitterness, the two most famous comedy movie teams switched partners. Dean played straight man to Lou while Bud performed the classic routine of "Who's on First?" with Jerry.

Man, I wish there existed film footage from that historical moment with the comedy teams of Abbott & Lewis and Martin & Costello. It'd be something to behold.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
At one point early in his career, Dean Martin signed a contract for Lou to manage his career. One of the first thing's Lou did was have Martin receive cosmetic surgery for his nose.

While touring various nightclubs, Martin charged Costello quite a sum of money. Lou decided he was no longer interested in having Dean under contract and got rid of him.

I'm a bit puzzled, Mike. Who was having their career managed, Dean or Lou? It sounds like Lou was managing Dean, since he told Dean to get a nose job.

But if that's the case, what was Dean charging his manager for? The client pays the manager, not the other way around.

Straighten me out, Mike.
Confused
_________________
____________
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 Mon Oct 03, 2022 5:32 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lou Costello had Dean Martin under contract prior to Martin ever teaming up with Jerry Lewis.

Funny how Martin & Lewis became the hot comedy team as Abbott & Costello were fading.

Someone once said that comedians are popular when they first appear on the scene. They are new and their routines are new as well.

Over time though, the audience becomes familiar with a comic's schtick. So the surprises aren't really there anymore.

Martin & Lewis were younger and brand new to the public, whereas Bud & Lou were older, and their comedy style well known. Bud & Lou repeated the classic burlesque routines---which they had honed to perfection on stage---in their movies too many times.

They were insecure regarding learning new, fresh material and always wanted to perform their standard gags.

Also, they were somewhat lazy about learning original material, as well as arrogant that they did not need to because they were so great.

I always preferred Abbott & Costello over Martin & Lewis.

And I think history is indicating that Bud & Lou remain quite popular with new generations...more than Martin & Lewis.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Wow! Lou Costello was Dean Martin's agent.

Hey . . . who knew, eh? Shocked

But I'm still puzzled about this statement.

"While touring various nightclubs, Martin charged Costello quite a sum of money."

You mean the client was sending bills to his manager? That seems odd. Was there something in their contract about how Lou was responsible for Dean's expenses? If so, I don't blame poor Lou for gettin' outta that deal! Shocked

As for Martin & Lewis compared to Abbott & Costello, I agree with you completely! One of the best comedies movies of all time is Who Was that Lady?, which starred Dean Martin . . . and Tony Curtis!

However, I can't think of a single Martin & Lewis movie I've ever liked. Rolling Eyes

The only Jerry Lewis movie I do like is Visit to a Small Planet, because it's science fiction, and I saw it when I was twelve years old.

Here's what IMDB says about that movie.

Gore Vidal, who wrote the original play, was extremely upset with the choice of Jerry Lewis as the lead in the movie version.

On Broadway, Vidal's play ran for 388 performances between Feb 7, 1957 and Jan 11, 1958. It won Cyril Ritchard — the originator of the Kreton character — a 1957 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in Play.

However, Lewis was a star, 12 times named to the Top Ten list of Box Office Stars, and six times with partner Dean Martin (with whom he was the top star of 1952), and six times solo (ranking as high as #3 in 1958).

He got the part.


I'm sure the folks in France — who regard Lewis as a Hollywood legend — love his performance in the movie version. But after I got over being twelve years old, all I have now are nostalgic memories of being impressed with this sci-fi comedy.

I treasure those memories . . . but I know the difference between nostalgia and a love for quality film making. Wink

_________________
____________
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 Mon Oct 03, 2022 5:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lou was not Dean Martin's agent.

Lou had Dean under contract and represented by someone else who was a professional manager/agent.

I don't know exactly what the "incidentals'' were that Martin was charging Lou, but apparently Costello felt Dean was taking unfair advantage of the contract.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jerry Lewis was a big star....BUT a really shitty person!

I was about 12 years old when I saw him after a showing of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. (In those days it was a standard plan to have the star do a bunch of personal appearances to promote their films.)

After a mattine (Early afternoon) showing the red curtain rose and Jerry and a 5 piece band took the stage! There had to be....10 to 15 pre-teen and early teen age boys in the audience of a huge theatre. Otherwise a dark and empty house!

Jerry looked like he was nursing a WEEK LONG HANGOVER and the band was no better. Jerry began a song....stopped....looked disgusted at the empty house...and walked off the stage.

The band sat there for a minute...looked around in a confused daze and then one at a time walked off stage.

We guessed the show was over!

The one time I got to see him in person...and I realized what a total A-hole he really was.

_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.


Last edited by Gord Green on Wed Nov 25, 2020 3:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I realize Lewis did a tremendous job raising a fortune for the MDA every Labor Day for years.

But you're right, Gord, because almost everything I've read about the man confirms he was a major schmuck of a human being.

Some years back they did a biopic TV-movie about Dean & Jerry and it seemed pretty darn faithful to the truth about both men.

Strangely, I've found some of Jerry's interviews quite perceptive about his showbiz experiences.

I believe he was a bright man (he created the video-assist system that is still used today), and had to plow through a lot of Hollywood crapola in order to attain what he got with his career.

However, there are those that deal with the same nonsense and are not vile people. Jerry was vile.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From author Bill Warren:

This was a characteristically elementary but funny movie.

The comedy is fast and funny, the invisible man effects are generally good, and the finale is mostly satisfying if weird.

The scripts for Abbott & Costello wouldn't seem to have involved much effort, since a good deal of their comedy material came directly their vaudeville routines, but Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man had no fewer than five credited writers (and probably more, uncredited), giving indications of plentiful rewrites.

The verbal gags are more than usually lame, since the situation didn't allow for many of the vaudeville routines, the the sight gags are inventive and still funny.

Abbott & Costello are an acquired taste (I have it), but Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man is funny enough for all but their most rabid detractors.

~ I think Bill Warren summed this movie up beautifully. It is the best Abbott & Costello horror film after their phenomenal Frankenstein movie.

~ Their Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde film had moments here ant there but just did not come together smoothly as whole for me.
Bud & Lou's Mummy movie is the weakest of the bunch. The Mummy makeup is amateurish in that film. While the Universal Mummy monster movies are, as a whole, entertaining, the Mummy never did have much of a persona compared to the other classic monsters.

The Horror Spoofs of Abbott and Costello by Jeffrey S. Miller:
The world premiere of the film was a gala benefit for the Los Angeles Examiner's Fund for Wounded Veterans of the Korean War. The stage shoe accompanying the picture included Bud, Lou, Martin & Lewis, Danny Thomas, Lena Horne, Jerry Colona.

In truth, the picture is primarily a gangster-spoof set in the world of boxing. Many feel the film is not even a typical Abbott and Costello comedy. James L. Neibaur thought the film was more mature than their earlier World War II films, and the boys show more restraint here than usual.

Miller could see Neibur's points, but Miller went on as just how this film of Bud & Lou's did fit their formula for meeting the classic monsters as first seen in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.

The titular monster menace is played straight.

As usual, Lou is the first to "meet" the film's monster; and when he tries to tell people what he has seen, he is never believed, especially by Bud.

Also common to these monster spoofs is a complex plot enacted by the film's villains.

In each film, Bud & Lou stumble onto the plot, never really initiating any of the action.

One other interesting feature in the spoofs is that at one point in the film either Bud or Lou "become" the monster.
Bud is thought by the crowd at the masquerade dance to be the Wolf Man in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Lou fools the monster into thinking, momentarily, that he is Count Dracula.
Lou does become a monster after being accidentally pushed onto a hypodermic needle in Abbott & Costello Meet Dr, Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
Finally, Bud dresses up in a disguise so as to appear to be Klaris in Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy.

This film plays on the classic theme of appearance versus reality---in this case, the ability to see not only what is not there but to see the truth underneath the false front.

One fact no one in the film sees is that, at one point or another, each character is a double-crosser. The constant presence and threat of betrayal also adds a minor noirish touch to the film.

All the characters are manipulating appearance, often unknowingly, to hide the reality and remain invisible.

Reviews of the film at the time were mostly favorable.

The Motion Picture Daily thought the film to be one of A&C's best all-around efforts.

The Los Angeles Examiner admonished, "You're nuttier than a fruitcake if you miss this mirthquake that would shake anybody out of the blues.

The New York Times found the fight scene was one of the funniest bits done by Abbott & Costello in a long time.
The Times also said that the boys tried hard but the "efforts [were] not always rewarding."

Variety, who felt the comedians' routines were wearing thin, said they redeemed themselves with this movie.

~ I'd agree with these reviews. Bud & Lou's insistence to recycle their well-honed vaudeville verbal routines in their pictures hurt the team's standing. By refusing to venture out into fresh, new wordplay they were becoming somewhat tiresome. Someone once wrote that great comedy is the unexpected. Bud & Lou were becoming predictable over the years.

Their clever verbal pitter-patter was the iconic hallmark of the team that separated them from most other movie comedy teams. All these teams resorted to physical stunts, but Abbott & Costello (and the Marx Brothers) gave us funny word banter along with the pratfalls.




Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This movie also has a connection to a comedy/horror television series.

Bud & Lou are summoned to 823 Maple Lane where Dr. Gray administers a shot to boxer Tommy Nelson in order to become invisible.

This house exterior is the same one on the Universal back-lot that was used as 1313 Mockingbird Lane on the TV show The Munsters.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Krel
Guest





PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow, I haven't seen this movie in decades. Was the house still in a soundstage, or had it been moved outside by this time?

David.
Back to top
scotpens
Starship Captain


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 871
Location: The Left Coast

PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
Pow, I haven't seen this movie in decades. Was the house still in a soundstage, or had it been moved outside by this time?

I don't quite understand what you mean. Large standing exterior sets, like the outsides of houses, are outdoors on studio backlots. Interiors are shot on soundstages. Or am I missing something?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969 All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group