For this episode of HaHaHalloween, we wanted to throw things back a ways to some of the earliest horror parodies. What better than Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, a monster mashup that started the craze of the comedy duo meeting various Universal monsters. We talk about the appeal of this Avengers of horror, the slapstick comedy the two perfected, and Martin’s disdain for Bela Lugosi?! We’re also drinking Lawson’s Finest Liquids’ Fest Bier on the show!
Approximate timeline
0:00-15:00 Intro
15:00-25:00 Beer talk
25:00-end Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Hit that play button above to listen in.
Transcript – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (auto-generated)
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0:04
Cookie Walk of Halloween horror over here.
Let Let the Black Run podcast All season long, September and October will be celebrating with creaky funny our parodies Just bring your favourites from satirical splashes to classic parodies and even some rollback Spooks.
0:30
I’m even told evident to go solo.
Please rising from the dead.
Celebrate with us.
Welcome back from podcast as we dive into Halloween.
0:53
Hey guys, welcome back to the Blood and Black Rum Podcast.
I’m Ryan from coldplaytation.com and I’m joined with my Co host Martin.
How’s it going?
Doing pretty well and we are today continuing our ha ha Halloween and kind of visiting some of the classic monsters that I don’t think we’ve ever done before.
1:15
You’ve never done any universal classics, have we?
We sure have.
Which one did we do?
The Mummy.
We did the clap.
Oh, not not though.
The.
Beginning.
The the the beginning and the end of the dark.
1:31
Universe.
That’s right, that’s right.
I forgot about that one.
That’s how true if you if you count.
How could you that’s like that is going to be a bee in my bonnet for.
If you count that one.
Until the day I.
Until the day I die.
Yeah, I forgot about that one.
1:47
I forgot we did that.
But yes, I meant more of the 19 late 1930s and 40s classics of the Universal lineup and just fun story before we get into the actual film for Ha ha Halloween this time, one of my fondest memories of a Universal Monsters in general are Pogs.
2:12
Remember Pogs?
Yeah, I love pogs.
Love pogs.
Remember going to Ames way, way, way, way, way back in the probably in the 1990s and Ames had a bunch of Pogs And I remember getting the Universal Monsters collection of Pogs there, which at the time, again, I don’t know what Universal was thinking.
2:32
They were latching on to any, any kind of, you know, fad that was coming their way.
But Pogs were licensed Universal thing that they did back then.
So I definitely remember I had a, a bunch of Universal Monsters Pogs and yeah, it was a fun time.
2:53
If you look it up too, you can see like people are trying to sell them on eBay the the classic line of pogs, which they have like glow in the dark pogs.
They had like one of those let you know the hard coin slammer pog.
And yeah, if you see that one that’s on eBay, it’s going for like almost $50.00 right now.
3:10
And that’s exactly the one I’m talking about, the all the Universal monsters that had Frankenstein, Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula.
I think Dracula was the slammer guy.
I don’t even remember, but pretty cool.
I don’t know if you have the same memories of that, but.
3:27
I didn’t have universal ones, I just had a a whole collection of pugs.
Did anyone know how to play the game?
No, absolutely not.
I would just slam them on some pot, yes.
It was just like, it was like the 9, the 90s version of baseball cards.
3:44
Yeah, basically.
Does anybody actually do anything with them?
Whoa, I got Brad Pitt and seven.
Wow, I.
Yeah, they just they just look at them and admire the faces and stats.
That’s so yes, that was a really fun time and it kind the, the, I guess I’m what I’m getting at there is the inclusion of Universal monsters on Pogs reminds me of this other fad that happened in the mid, early to mid 40s back in Universal Monsters history where at a certain point Universal, what you know, like we, you kind of think about it now and Universal had a bunch of classics at the time.
4:25
You know, Dracula was a huge hit for the Universal and you know, and then again, they had Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Mummy, the Invisible Man, Kutchefer and lack of Laguna.
All those were really big hits for Universal.
And then later on in the 40s, they kind of got into some some problems and they had to sell out.
4:46
And at that time they were kind of left without too much happening.
And So what did they do?
They turned to slapstick comedy duo Abbott and Costello, who happened to be on the payroll of, you know, like one of the only few, the few actors that were left on the payroll.
5:06
And they said, you know what, let’s just do a mash up here.
Let’s throw some Universal Monsters and Abbott and Costello together and let’s see if that can stick you.
Make it sound like they weren’t doing a great job.
5:22
They were keeping the the boys and girls at home entertained while you know, they were off fighting, you know other people were off fighting.
No, Joe, I don’t mean to slander Abbott and Costello.
I’m saying it was a very strange business decision, but one that actually ended up working out for that.
5:43
Not I would say not for not, not for like films at the time, because it’s like, hey, if it’s like that, we’re all so you know, because it’s still very, you know, studio based where you you’re under contract just for like that one studio and you got to pump out seven films a year.
6:01
Yeah.
So I mean, it’s like, hey, we got this property like, you know.
That’s, and, and I think that’s pretty much where, where their heads were at.
They were basically like, well, we’ve got these guys and we’ve got Universal Monsters.
They’ve been popular.
And then not only that, in just a few years before the Abbott and Costello movies took off, including the one that we’re doing today, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which would be the first in the series of Abbott and Costello meet Universal Monsters.
6:30
They also had these like various films that released that did kind of combine all the Universal monsters together.
They kind of call them like the they’re, they’re kind of known as, what do they call them horror.
6:52
They were like horror, almost like a mash up of all the horror things like in a in a sort of like Avengers style where they would basically just put them all together and we’ll.
See what happens with them.
I was thinking more Kaiju where like it’s Godzilla versus 7 different, you know, other properties versus, you know, King Kong go, you know, Mothra, Mecca, Godzilla and Gamera, friend of the children.
7:23
Yeah, I mean, it is very similar to that as well.
I mean, but in in 1944 and they called them.
That’s where it was.
I was looking for the word monster rally films where they would put various horror icons together.
So just before Evan and Costello Meet Frankenstein released, we did get a couple of those films like Horror, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.
7:50
They, they kind of put all the monsters together, which has been a thing that has kind of proliferated throughout the years.
I mean, of course, right after that we got the Abbott and Costello movies and, you know, we have to even look further than that.
8:05
How about Count Chocula, Blueberry and Frankenberry getting mashed up in the monster mash?
I mean, it’s been a, it’s been a thing since the 40s where, you know, not the most of the time the Universal monsters do not show up individually.
8:21
They like now for a reason.
They are kind of together.
They they are a group instead.
So very interesting.
But yes, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein is one that we I wanted to do because first of all, we don’t do very many classic films.
8:39
All right.
We don’t like like actual classics.
For some people, maybe in 1980s movie feels like a classic, but you know, we don’t we’ve never really done a whole lot of actual classic horror movies or or black and white films or Universal films.
8:55
So it was kind of a time to do one of those.
And then not only that, we’ve definitely never done any Abbott and Costello.
And it’s a perfect time to do it with the horror parodies because they were one of the originators of horror parodies where you kind of had a comedic tone set with the horror monster film.
9:15
So I think it was, you know, it was a it’s a time to do one of these.
Have you ever seen Abbott and Costello movies before?
I have not, but I’ve seen a bunch of clips.
Right.
You know of Abbott and Custom?
You know, love, you know, everything that I’ve seen, you know, love the humor, you know, very, you know, a nice extension of like, you know, 3 Stooges slapstick with like, you know?
9:48
The witty.
Banter, more witty banter and you know, an actual straight man like Bud Abbott is just like a God when it comes to like just be like, what are you talking about?
You know, just keeping everything straight in bed.
Listen to you, listen to you.
Let me tell you something about that Dame.
10:05
Let me tell you about.
Yeah, I mean, the the one thing that Bud Abbott generally seems to be able to do is make it seem like these guys don’t even like each other most of the time.
Like in these movies is like if you you, you would be remiss to see them as you know.
10:21
That’s what friendship was like in the 40s.
That’s right.
It was like, you know, your best friend is also your bully, you know.
So yes, I, I do like that.
And again, I’ve seen a couple of Abbott and Costello movies over the years.
I think the one that I do remember seeing besides this one after we watched it was Abbott and Costello meet, Meet the Mummy.
10:46
I saw that one as well, but I don’t recall too much about them.
And I definitely have never seen any of the regular Abbott and Costello movies like, you know, like not horror related ones.
You know, it did just the ones that they started off with, which was like, I think like a couple of like regular style comedies.
11:07
I’m not huge on their brand of like I’ve never really just sat down and watched some of their like comedy or listen to their radio skits too much.
I, I mean, I know who’s on 1st, of course.
I mean pretty much everybody, I feel like kind of knows about that, but I’m not like super accustomed to the rest of their output.
11:27
But with that said, I think Abbott and Costello, you know, they make a really good team And, and as you’ll see in Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, it it becomes a winning combination when it is paired with these universal monsters, which I think is pretty interesting.
11:42
Now am I, am I having like a Mandela effect or was there I like specifically like remember scooby-doo beats like Abbott and Costello?
I don’t know.
I, I don’t know if I’m mixing it up because I know it was Laurel and Hardy as well, but I feel like there was a Scooby-doo get with Abbott and Costello and I.
12:06
I don’t know about that, but yeah, I think you’re right.
You might be having a Mandela effect there where you because it does sound familiar, but at the same time it almost seems like that might be like sort of a mythology that they did that.
12:22
But I don’t know.
I I I can’t find anything quickly doing a look up of them actually having done and they did a lot too.
They especially, especially back in the day, they did a lot of mashups with weird things like scooby-doo in The Beatles or I made that up.
12:38
But you know they did.
No, Harlem Globetrotter, Joan, Joan Rivers and like, yeah, no, I know.
But that’s why I I don’t think they did a do a mashup with Abbott and Costello and unfortunately that I couldn’t think of.
Well, it’s funny too, because when I was looking it up, I’m like, I definitely know they did Laurel and Hardy.
12:55
And it’s like, Oh my God, they did it after Laurel and Hardy were dead.
So they weren’t even.
Yeah, right.
Like either one of them was.
I mean, because I was going to say.
Because I think if there was an Abbott and Costello, only Abbott would have been alive because.
Correct.
Yeah.
Costello died in 1959.
13:12
So he was not, you know, he died young.
He, I believe he had like some sort of respiratory illness that plagued him basically for the rest of his life.
So he or I think he got it in like in the war or something.
13:28
And so, yeah, I mean, I think that if they did do it, it would have been posthumously for at least Costello, but I can’t, I can’t find anything.
I can’t like find Laurel and Hardy 1 so I guess I am.
13:44
Yeah, yeah, you must have made that up in your head.
You know that.
Something you wished occurred.
Listen, when they when they invited Batman and Robin to be on Scooby too, they were just being lazy because Robin was, you know, they had Casey case.
14:02
I will voice, you know, Shaggy and Scooby, you know, he just voiced Robin too, you know, and it’s like, I don’t know, you only have to hire another voice actor.
We don’t have to get Bert Ward in here.
We’ll have Adam West and we’ll have you know.
Exactly.
And I think, I think that’s, you know, I, like I said, I think it’s a common misconception that they, they Scooby-doo and Ava and Castello had a mash up because I could find some references to people asking about it.
14:29
But.
See, it’s.
Actually, it’s the little no, Mandela.
It’s like a little, you know, further down on the list.
Now I want to say, too, to get this out of the way before we start the movie.
I am not a big Universal classic horror fan.
Really.
14:44
Yeah, I find a lot of the films to be very just boring and bland.
Now, is that because you find old movies to be boring?
14:59
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because it’s like like, OK, like so like it’s like a modern day like thing too with it.
Like Frankenstein I think is probably the one that still stands out the best.
But then you got like all the sequels that are garbage.
Sure.
Dracula I never cared for.
15:14
I don’t like Bela Lugosi as Dracula.
I think it’s just not scary at all from this guy.
But like, yes, come, come, you know, he doesn’t make a vampire scary.
He’s just some European guy.
15:30
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
He’s just some, he’s just some foreigner, you know?
Yeah.
And it did that does you know what kind of what it boils down to, especially when you just think about the subject matter.
And that always was the intention of the subject matter.
It’s like European dude from Transylvania is quite scary and we don’t understand him that way, you know?
15:49
That’s why they got to stay there.
As I say, fucking wolf, man, I’ve I saw it looked like shit and just it just pure shit.
Like I’m a hammer fan, so thank God for the hammer, you know, revival of the 50s and 60s because they take this track and, you know, make it an art.
16:14
Sure.
Understandable.
And I would agree.
You know, I think that now there’s a lot of people who would look back on those Universal monster movies and failed to see the appeal.
For one thing.
I think you you kind of voiced that opinion too when we did the classic Godzilla episode, which again kind of highlights some of the issues with classic films.
16:38
And like again, too, we’ve, we’ve, we’ve come such a long way back then, especially, you know, in the 20s and 30s, people were just happy to be seeing anything on screen, you know, So I’d be it’s, it’s definitely hard for us to relate in a lot of ways.
16:55
But at the same time, I think you, again, it’s not a, it’s not necessarily a, a, an issue with older style films.
It’s just that sometimes they flaws.
Yeah, the flaws are more clear because again, it’s more, it’s more assembly line like quick out.
17:15
Like again, like for sure for every Citizen Kane, like for every any like Orson Welles film, like, you know, you know, The Third Man and all that stuff.
Like, you know, you know, Sunset Blvd. and all that.
There’s like 30 other films that are just like, yeah, you know, so it’s like I said, like it’s not because of they’re old.
17:38
Like there’s like things like, again, like the Super Metropolis style, like, you know, Futuresque style for like the science.
I do like to think that’s like classic look and still holds, you know, still stands the test of time.
17:54
But again, I think just overall, I think we’ve, especially when it comes to horror, because horror and comedy are the ones that age the least gracefully, you know?
Yeah, right.
There’s, you know, reason why Citizen Kane still holds up at something like this, you know, Probably won’t.
18:14
Sure.
But with that, but again, yeah.
I would say still watching from the experience, you got to still see them.
Yeah, yeah.
And then a lot of these have been added to the Library of Congress as well.
You know, of course, being being important, basically important additions to the horror or any cinema really.
18:35
So you have to point that out as well with Abbott and Kasami Frankenstein being one of them that’s been added.
So it’s in the Library of Congress and also basically copyright free at this point.
So all right, let’s take a break real quick and talk about the beer that we have on the show.
18:56
This was your, your duty to pick one out today.
And it looks like you went and you got 1.
You were, you were trying really hard to find one that we have not had before.
We you were trying either ones that we like, we’re looking for Oktoberfest that we’ve never had before or maybe something different that’s in the lineup and you finally were able to find something.
19:21
What is it?
So when I was out perusing today, I went to another, another local beverage centre that I haven’t been to.
It’s been around for a couple of years now, just haven’t stopped there because I just don’t drive my way out that way too much.
19:43
So I started in there.
I was looking around, saw a couple of things I thought about getting like I was thinking about getting the common roots Oktoberfest.
I saw that you’ve had it because I usually go check my on tap to see, you know, if it’s something worth, you know, bringing on just because to see if we’ve had it or not.
20:05
I haven’t had, but you had.
It’s just looking around and walking the aisles and I see one of Boston’s finest liquids.
This beer.
20:22
Now Lawson’s, they’re based out of Vermont, my screen out state.
We do get a couple other stuff around here.
The only thing that I believe I’ve ever had by them is their Sip of Sunshine, which is just IPA, and that we do get quite frequently around here.
20:46
So it’s the first time ever seeing them put out a fest beer.
Maybe they’ve done it before, but first time it’s been around here.
So I jumped on it because it’s not just a Marson, it’s a fest.
Beer.
That’s right, fest beer style.
So what do you think of this fest beer?
21:04
I like it.
I think it’s pretty tasty.
It’s like, again, like you said, haven’t had a lot of law since I’ve had the sip of sunshine and I think that’s probably about all the things that I’ve had from them unless I, you know, I’ve tasted their kind of been out of beer tasting and tried something else.
21:21
I I don’t really recall, but I think that it is a very, very quality beer.
You know, nice fest beer style has a nice light lagerness to it still has a a tad bit of brightiness there to kind of give it that fest beer style, you know, body to it.
21:42
I think it’s overall very drinkable, very, very sessionable.
Again, to this is another one of those types of beers where we’re going to complain at at, you know, a four pack of an Oktoberfest is pretty difficult to, you know.
21:58
Stomach.
Yeah, exactly.
I think that it’s.
It was 16 bucks for that four pack.
Yeah, exactly.
I think that’s, you know, that’s can be problematic that it’s like, you know, I’m I’m going to go through these really fast, but at the same time, I do think they’ve done a really good job with it.
22:15
So, you know, I would applaud the actual fest beer content and I would definitely get this again.
I think it’s really solid from them.
Yeah, no, I like it a lot.
Has all the notes that you want in a fest beer.
22:34
It’s got light biscuity notes, spreadiness.
You do get a nice little kiss of floral hops in there, sure.
Little sweetness to it, very smooth, like a medium body.
22:52
It’s got like a, you know, little bit of a heaviness to it, but very, you know, he’s, you know, drinkable like a lot, you know, I know, excuse me.
When we were first like starting to kind of dip into fest beers like five years ago, it’s more like I just couldn’t run amazing.
23:11
I I’ve totally flipped on that.
I love both styles.
I love these fest beers.
I keep them coming.
I if you’re, I think, I think we talked about it before last year, at least I think we did bring it up at some point.
If you’re doing 1, you need to do the other.
You need to be doing both.
23:28
You need to be supplying both so people can experience like what’s a Martson?
What a great spear.
You know, it’s not that hard.
I would definitely get it again if it weren’t for the fact as a four pack, I deal.
23:45
I, they they.
I don’t think Lawson’s does yet.
Or maybe we just don’t get them around here.
These things were in tall boys be great.
Grab 2 and you’re good to go for the night.
Yeah, but yeah, I don’t think, I don’t think they do that.
I don’t think they not that I know of.
24:02
I’ve never seen any like sip of sunshine in a tall boy.
But it’s a good idea.
It’s especially for an Oktoberfest style.
And more people should be making Oktoberfest and Tall boys.
Sam Adams has got like the kind of cornered the market on that, at least for around here.
So yeah, very.
24:20
As I say, a totally missed opportunity.
Genesee should be doing that.
There you go.
They they should be doing tall boys as well.
I mean I they have before but like the specialties put it, you know.
I agree, they really should be all right.
24:37
We’ve dickered enough around here.
Dickered.
Let’s get on to the the.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know we were going to be doing the sci-fi classic that you’ve never seen before.
Blade Runner today.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, that’s.
24:54
That’s Decker.
That’s right, Decker.
That’s right.
The new Alien Earth TV show has like a almost like a Blade Runner esque character in it.
Like, that’s got to be intended.
It’s Tim the elephant’s character.
25:12
Just watch it, it’s pretty good.
I’ve been hearing that a lot from people.
There’s people at work that have been talking about it quite I enjoy.
Saying it’s I mean it’s over, it’s it’s first season has ended now, but I enjoyed it, liked it all right, but with that said, let’s get on.
25:28
Let’s get on to Evan and Costello meet Frankenstein.
So I guess the I.
Believe you’re.
Hold on.
Yeah, you’re you’re pronouncing the name wrong.
Yeah, but now and Costello.
Now.
What?
Frank Wittgenstein, Frank.
Sorry, Frankenstein.
25:44
Yeah, we’ve we’ve done it on Frankenstein.
Should point that out.
Can’t remember what episode so you’ll have to do your own research into.
Whatever it was, it was whatever you poor Gene Wilder best.
Whenever that was REST.
Like a decade ago, Almost, can’t quite.
26:01
Remember when that was?
But so Evan and Castellami Frankenstein.
I think some of the interesting things that this film has a lot of interesting things about it.
It’s like that we pointed out in the initial intro, the fact that, you know, the way that the the development of this film was the, you know, the direction and it went.
26:20
But at the same time as well, I did want to point out too that though I think Abbott and Costello do a great job in this film, they were not really that happy with the script in it.
I think they, you know, again, they bring a lot of their slapstick and witty banter comedy to the film that may not have otherwise had much going for it if Abbott and Costello had not been in the movie.
26:47
Because when you really boil down this movie, it really has very little plot to it.
It like you can probably summarize it in like 3 words as to what happens in this movie because it is very truncated in the, in the way that it presents a plot.
27:04
And it’s it relies a lot more on ABBA and Costello being a duo then basically anything else that happens in the movie.
It could be if like like 4. 20 min serials that or like you can definitely see this being a radio comedy as well, because let’s face it, you really don’t need to watch a lot that’s going on screen because this movie had a you know, relatively small budget and obviously in comparison to today.
27:38
But even though, you know, like even compared to movies in the 1940s, it was pretty low budget.
It does not have a lot of different settings to it.
So there was a lot, you know, like they kind of had were able to skimp on settings.
27:53
And you’ll notice that a lot of the the various scenes take all take place in the same locations, right.
So like probably the first part of the film where it takes place in like the House of Horrors and McDougal House of Horrors, you know, that there’s like probably 20 minutes devoted to just being in that scene.
28:15
So the film saves on a lot of money by just not having very many set pieces to have to manage.
And I think that that, you know, again, that can lend itself to the film because, you know, if people who enjoy Abbott and Costello’s comedy, they’re going to enjoy it regardless of the fact that this film doesn’t really have that much of A plot.
28:36
But at the same time, when you’re if you’re looking for more of like a storyline to this movie, it it’s really non existent.
I don’t know if you felt the same way, but like, I just felt like you could boil down this film and it really does not have all that much going for it when you really stop and think about the story.
28:55
No, you’re absolutely right.
It’s a like I said, it could be serials and as you said, a radio show.
It’s very again, like scooby-doo.
It’s like, oh, like, you know, scooby-doo meets, you know, Frankenstein, you know, and like what antics ensue?
29:11
What do what do I know?
That’s the, you know, the true stuff.
I know.
But still, it’s just fun, fun to do that, you know, Zoey Burke.
But yeah, no, the plot is bare minimum.
29:28
Bare like, oh, they work at a luggage place.
Oh, no, antics ensue, some hard ass shows up, you better get my shit to my place.
And then he’s like, I own a horror shop in Florida.
29:47
Which is funny because Florida’s its own horror show.
You know, and then they just cram in three universal monsters, you know, for like, what?
30:03
It makes no sense.
Like, why would like, you know, Belle, why would Count Dracula be like, we must revive Frankenstein’s monster, you know, And then the Wolf Man’s like, no, I must be the hero that stops all this.
30:19
But I can’t stop Jack, you know, I mean turning into.
Wolf.
You know, it’s stupid.
It’s just absolutely fucking stupid.
I do agree.
I think that like you’re right with the, so the the idea here and the thing that kind of set this trope in motion for years is that Dracula is kind of this leader of the monster mash.
30:44
He’s the guy who’s basically getting everyone together for some reason.
And you’re right, the reasoning behind him trying to get Frankenstein and control him is basically non existent in this film.
31:01
Because it doesn’t.
The idea doesn’t really make a lot of sense.
Why does he need a Frankenstein monster?
What is what is the ultimate goal of having him in under his possession?
Like Dracula can already hypnotize people.
31:17
So like it doesn’t, you know, he can already turn people into zombies as shown in the movie because Costello Or is it?
No, it’s Abbott.
Abbott is actually hypnotized by Dracula at one point and the film basically shows the potential of Dracula to be able to do that.
31:37
So like, why does he need yet another monster at his disposal?
It’s really unclear.
It’s you know, and, and again, the film, the overall plotting is just basically Dracula is working with another doctor to get Frankenstein to be under his control and then that’s it basically.
32:00
And along the way, the kind of the jokes are like, what woman would be so enamoured with Bud Abbott, you know?
You mean you mean Lucasell?
Lucasell I mean, yeah, sorry.
And I’m getting I’m getting the two, the two names confused thrown around there.
32:18
It doesn’t necessarily make a whole lot of sense.
And I guess, you know, again, it doesn’t need to too much, but at the same time, there’s not a lot of like realism here to keep the the viewer grounded.
32:34
With that said, though, I think the overall, even though the scope of the film is really limited.
What do you think about the comedy, dude?
Is is it is it led by Abbott and Costello?
Are they like really the only things keeping you watching here or?
32:50
Yes, absolutely.
They’re brilliant slapstick set up and bits and witty banner is literally what keeps the whole thing going.
Now, I can’t say because one of the things we don’t do on this podcast is a lot of research into it.
33:08
Sure.
We’re just fans watching movies, you know, So I don’t know if they like, you know, when you said they didn’t like the script, if that was them, you know, improving or having their own like bits set up, I imagine it was compared to, you know, because I don’t think, you know, a Hollywood writer would have been able to write those, you know, witty bits.
33:30
But their charisma, their likability, their charm, friendship makes all of like those, you know, lines, like hilarious.
Like it’s all hilarious.
What they’re, what they are able to accomplish in this, you know.
33:48
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of what they bring to it is Abbott and Costello comedy that helps aid the rest of the direction because let’s face it, the Universal Monsters even in this film are really not that engaging.
For one thing, the film is Evan Costello meet Frankenstein, but they barely meet him.
34:10
Really.
It’s more like Evan Solo make make quick acquaintances with Frankenstein while they mess around with the Wolf Man.
You know, they is this probably would be more appropriately called Meet the Wolf Man, because that’s really, you know, they’re they’re basically mostly.
34:29
They have another movie to make.
Yeah, you.
Got another movie to make?
They’re basically romp sticking around with LON Chaney Junior and kind of, you know, dealing with him and parts of the comedy or the fact that they don’t really recognize that LON Chaney Junior is a werewolf.
34:45
And so, you know, there’s this whole bit where Costello decides whether he wants to go into the Wolfman’s hotel room and, you know, he’s like kind of going back and forth because he’s stolen like an apple that’s or an orange or whatever that’s in the room.
35:01
And though he’s already turned into the wolf man.
So the idea is like, you know, it’s kind of that give and take of like, will he won’t he go into that room and be eaten by a werewolf?
But I think like the overall, the, the main crux of the film relies on Abbott and Costello because otherwise the Universal monsters cannot, you know, sustain the movie for as long as it is.
35:25
And for the most part, drag, you know, Bella Lugosi’s only on screen for, like, you know, 15 minutes of the movie.
And again, like you said, yeah, like you said, not super effective.
I think this movie actually does a pretty good job of exploring why Bela Lugosi’s Dracula can be seen as sort of like a goofball.
35:48
Because, you know, throughout a lot of it, he’s just basically standing around with his Cape over his face, you know, and, And comments on that multiple times.
So it doesn’t.
Yeah, no, every time he’s like, he’s making fun of him.
36:04
He’s like, oh, it seems 30s, you know, which is funny because like when Abbott does, he’s like, what?
You mean there’s a guy that’s like, Oh yeah.
Like he’s like, no, it’s, you know, like different, like idiot tones.
36:22
The film makes a good mockery of the monsters, particularly Dracula.
I mean, you know, and then it’s that’s kind of an issue in its own right.
If like you’re trying to go back to the Universal movies with Dracula and you’re, you know, you just watch Abbott and Costello and they’ve really.
36:38
Taken piss on.
Yeah, exactly, Exactly.
But one thing I do really like about this movie, besides Abbott and Costello in their their duality to each other, because they do make a great pair together on purpose.
And they’ve really cemented that by this time when this movie released, Obviously they were very comfortable with each other.
36:58
And it’s it’s very clear.
But the one of the things that I think is most interesting is the fact that this movie really does a good job to, in my opinion, of setting up a particular mood and atmosphere that really seems like very like sticky Halloween esque, you know, with the castle in the background in the, you know, traipsing around this the dungeon area, going through the fake, you know, like stone secret doors, which they do multiple times throughout.
37:34
I think like it does have this nice classic shtick that we kind of think of now in terms of like what is a quintessential version of a spooky Halloween movie.
I think this film does a really good job of that kind of setting that up and setting that atmosphere that we can’t, you know, like it’s hard to imagine this movie, you know, now in being like a comedy because you can see that it would be really dressed up and, you know, over exaggerated.
38:10
And I think that this film does just a good job of like setting up a very classic sense of haunted castles and Halloween.
Let’s see, what else?
So we’ve got Dracula, we’ve got Frankenstein, and we’ve got the Wolf Man.
38:27
Later on in the film, the Invisible Man does make a an appearance as well.
Look, that’s the best part.
Like just when he’s there.
When?
Well, I was going to say, because you just get to hear Vincent Price, yes, I’m here smoking a cigarette on me.
38:42
Like, Oh yes, I’ll be in the next movie.
Yeah.
What do you, what do you think about that?
Is that like, an effective use, like, especially considering the fact that this film, you know, at the time, was the first horror comedy from Abbott and Costello?
38:58
Is it, do you think, at least audiences back then, we’re like really excited to see The Invisible Man and thinking like, no, you don’t think so?
I well, I think they thought they probably think it’s funny, but they probably weren’t thinking like, oh, I bet that’ll be in the next one.
Like people probably weren’t thinking that far ahead.
39:14
But it is a funny bit.
I think.
I do think it’s a funny bit.
So like, wow, I guess we’re glad we’re done.
We got with those downstairs and like, we don’t have to see any more than oh, you’ll be surprised, my friend.
Man, I I can’t, I can’t do.
It in some I I agree though, like, I mean, it’s kind of hard to put yourself in the audience’s shoes back then.
39:33
I I don’t know, would they be thinking like BB, we need a sequel?
Or would There weren’t nerds in the 40s.
They didn’t exist.
They weren’t though.
They were shutting from society, as we should be doing now.
39:48
My wife was was actually watching this with me for a little bit and she was, she commented on it right, like right away as you first meet Costello’s character, Wilbur.
And she was like, and they thought there weren’t autistic people back then, you know, because Costello does have.
40:07
Yes.
No, no, no.
Like, you know.
Yeah, we just called them weirdos back then, but.
Yeah, we just called them idiots and we threw them in the sand like, you know, you used to clean the air.
Or just, you know, smacked them around a little bit as.
40:23
But Abbott does quite a bit.
So yeah.
She’s not wrong.
Again, she’s not wrong.
Yeah, definitely.
It’s definitely here today.
And I also like the fact too that like you can.
You got to say, you can think of any uncle that you have that’s like really into cars.
40:41
And it’s like, is that masculine or is that just someone who’s autistic?
They never got the diagnosis.
I think, I think the film does a pretty good job of setting that up.
And then also the fact that it kind of has a couple of hints that like, you know, gay, gay humor here, which comes up from time to time, which I I like a bit, you know?
41:05
They’re very foppish.
They’re going to bed with like big, beautiful, you know, pyjama sets and, you know, robe and, you know, robes and stuff like.
You know, it’s, it’s, it makes sense possibly, you know, Abbott is just a little bit jealous that Wilbur’s getting attention from females when he he wants his own, he wants him for himself.
41:31
So.
Now you listen here.
They survive the Great Depression.
They’re just rooming together out of the need to afford.
Things true.
That’s that’s very true.
You know, they’re just roommates out of necessity.
41:47
Yes, let’s see, let’s.
See, but yeah, other than that, I mean, again, like we said, the the plot is really thin and I think that’s probably one of the biggest downfalls of this movie.
Also, I would say a couple of the jokes were a bit thin overtime.
42:05
One that really in particular stood out to me was when they were in Mcdougal’s House of Horrors, and there was that continuous call back to Costello thinking that he saw Dracula coming out of the coffin and then calling for Abbott’s character to come back.
42:24
And that goes on like four or five times where the expectation is like maybe maybe only three, you know, like, I think it goes on a little bit too long.
I don’t know if you felt the same, maybe extended just a little bit more than we’re used to.
42:40
Where?
The kind of worth in.
No, no, I think it did work, but it does go too long because it’s like just like, Oh no, no, please come back.
Oh no, please come back.
Like, it is hilarious, but it’s last a little too long because it’s like Creek.
43:06
The kids move.
Did the candle move?
The candle moved.
No, the candle didn’t move.
You’re just stupid.
Like the ones like that’s more effective when it comes to that is when they’re actually in Dracula’s castle and there’s the secret wall and they’re like, you know, hiding.
43:22
More effective because it it relies a lot more on actual visuals, whereas the other ones are kind of like just auditory and you know, you’re not you’re there’s not really a whole lot of pay off for some of those those bits.
So I don’t know, that’s one of the areas where I thought like, and again, it’s not just within like this film Abbott and Castellami Frankenstein, but you might find in a lot of classic films, the things that you you would expect to kind of stop at over a period of time are played out just a little bit longer than we’re used to.
43:56
And that’s potentially just because of the.
Yeah, exactly the of the difference of time period.
Yeah.
Well, you think about it too.
Their most well known bet is who’s on 1st.
Sure, it’s like a 10 minute bit.
44:11
Sure, yeah.
It’s hilarious, but I mean, again, it’s a it’s a, you know, long bit, You know, if you’re not one of a long attention spans, you probably won’t, you know, be able to enjoy that ride.
Yeah, I mean, and then you have to, you have to remember too, what else were people doing back then?
44:30
They were going to go home and stare at the washing.
So.
Beat their wife or not?
That’s right.
So they were.
I love, by the way, I love the other doctor, the professor who’s like when they’re like, do you understand one?
44:46
And he’s like, no, I’m going to go.
Get it right?
That’s what everyone was thinking, you know?
What the best part of the movie is when fucking Frankenstein’s monster eats that bitch out of the way.
I was laughing so hard.
45:06
Like it’s just like just grab circle just.
Just bastard right out.
Just agreed.
And so you haven’t commented on how do you think this does for Halloween?
It’s a Halloween watch.
45:23
I think it’s fine.
I think it’s a fine, fun watch.
You know, if you got a cram in Universal horror into your Halloween, I think you know, which is, you know, in spite of how I feel about that, those films are very ingrained in Halloween culture.
45:44
So I would say this is definitely something to watch, yeah.
Yeah, I, I agree.
I think, like I said, I think for myself, I do tend to find the Universal films kind of set the tone for Halloween.
46:03
You know, they have a very classic feel to them of of ghosts and ghouls and sort of like, you know, even this film has a really cool fun representation of like how Dracula flies around his bat.
You know, it’s kind of got that like animation of the bat coming, swooping in and then he’s transforming and it’s.
46:22
Kind of, you know, I.
Don’t know it’s kind of endearing to see like the the cheaper effects and what they used to see as the, you know, spooky spookiness.
So I think it I think it works.
I think it has like an endearing quality that he sets the tone in the atmosphere.
46:41
So I would I would recommend it for a Halloween film as well.
All right, so we got to give this film a rating.
So on a scale of zero to 10 women who are strangely attracted to Costello, which is sexually attracted to Costello, I would say.
47:02
Oh, they want like it.
That’s that’s why you hire a lady to be a insurance, you know, investigator back, right?
She’s like, oh, you guys, She’s like, they’re like, listen, we’ll give you $5 if you just give them a hand job.
She’s like.
47:19
That’ll get me a couple of canes of corned beef hash.
You’re.
So I do, I do like the cheekiness of this film at at times, like it’s very especially at the beginning there where, you know, when Costello pulls out all the baggage and it falls on top of them and, you know, Doctor Mornay comes running over.
47:37
He’s like, Oh my poor little.
Baby, let me kiss you all.
Over.
He’s doing, he’s doing the nice later.
Yeah, he’s doing like the nice.
Savory, you know, coming out of his ears.
I mean, again, yeah, it was a very, very raunchy for the period, so.
47:57
It still works though.
It’s very, you know, yeah, appropriate and fine of.
Course, of course, yes.
No one was.
No one was offended.
I don’t think anyone was seriously offended by it, but it’s still a nice little inclusion there.
Well, you should have that.
That is not I.
48:13
Listen, I will say before we go into the rating, one thing that I hate about films with this time period, and it goes from like early Hollywood all the way up until like the 60s.
If there’s a woman on screen and it’s a close up soft focus, the Vaseline smear.
48:30
Yeah, Vaseline smear.
We got to have that nice soft focus lens to make you look like a proper lady instead of The Who are that you are.
Like it always bought bugs the hell out.
Of me, they said pores what pours.
48:46
Yeah, it just bugs it.
Like it just looks like shit.
It always bugs the shit out of me because like even like with like Star Trek, like that was like the first time I ever watched when I was watching like TOS like 15 years ago.
It’s like Kirk’s looking at a woman, he’s stone fakes and then goes to the woman soft focus lens.
49:06
And it’s just like stupid.
I don’t understand it.
But anyway, I’ll give the film a 7 out of 10.
There’s nothing here.
It’s a empty calorie film, but it’s enjoyable.
49:24
Like, you know, junk food.
Because Abbott and Costello are fucking hilarious.
Their bits and jokes are hilarious.
Still stand the test of time.
The slapstick is hilarious, they play so well off each other they are able to make this bare bones.
49:46
What the fuck is this movie into a film that is easily worth watching.
Their chemistry, charisma, they got it all.
So I would say just like watch this movie just because of that alone.
50:09
Other like other than that, like yo bro, we go see long chain.
They’re all in the whole setup of the film is, you know, is what it is.
It’s not anything spectacular, but they’re able to turn, you know, chicken shit into chicken tails.
50:27
So 7 out of 10.
I would give this, I’m going to give it a 6 1/2 out of 10.
I think it’s, you know, it’s pretty entertaining.
I think that it does suffer, and this isn’t necessarily just this film, but you know, classic films in general in probably my preference kind of suffers from running a little bit too long with its gags, running a little bit too long with its scenes.
50:53
The scenes often are extended for really no reason and kind of don’t add a whole lot to the proceedings.
I think that the film is really basically dependent on Abbott and Costello’s shtick to work.
51:12
If you don’t like it, if you like, if you were one of those sour pusses sitting in the audience and you’re like, I just don’t find them funny.
You know, you’re not going to get anything out of this movie because it’s not like the monster.
Like, you know, some movies you could be like, well, I didn’t really care for the comedy, but I enjoyed the monsters and they, you know, they they added a nice quiz to the movie.
51:36
Well, I don’t really think that you could not enjoy the comedy, but get something out of the monsters here because they really don’t.
There’s not they’re non factor.
There’s the base.
They basically made-up a script and they were just like, we need to get these monsters into the movie somehow.
51:52
So like put Dracula in there, put Frankenstein in there.
We have them at our disposal.
So just put them in there.
And so I don’t really think they do an awful lot, and I don’t think they’re really make the film move forward.
52:08
It’s Abbott and Costello who really trigger things to happen.
And again, your mileage is going to vary on whether you think that slapstick and witty banter formula works.
For the most part, for me, it does.
So I can definitely understand the appeal of this type of film.
52:28
Where what I think is really weak about this movie though, is just that it doesn’t have a plot.
And the the plot you’re kind of expecting something to occur.
And really you can just summarize this movie in like 1 sentence and it’s really, there’s really no other complexity to it.
52:44
It’s very simple, but I think it’s entertaining enough and I think it does do enough to make it an interesting film to watch for the Halloween season.
So 6 1/2 out of time.
I, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but I do think it’s an important film to watch, especially for the historical context of it.
53:05
All right, so that’s it for our coverage of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
We’ve done a classic.
I think we’re going to do a, you know, we’ve, we’ve got a few more episodes on the agenda.
I, I do know of a couple.
We’re starting to get into those ones where we’re like, well, let’s save them till we get towards the Halloween season.
53:23
So I think, you know, we might go towards the, you know, one of the ones that you’re thinking of that it’s probably going to be included in horror parodies that we’ve never done before.
That might be our next one to to go to, which would be scary movie.
53:41
I’m thinking it might be time to do that because I got a couple other ones lined up and I definitely want to do them even closer to Halloween because they are actually Halloween movies like Halloween is part of the plot.
So but I I think, you know, again, we’re doing classics.
53:57
We just did have it in castle.
Let’s move on to the other more recent classic of horror parodies, the scary movie.
So should be fun.
And actually, I don’t think we ever had this one lined up, but my wife and I just recently watched Saturday the 14th, which is another horror parody that it’s not as well known as some of the other ones.
54:22
Pretty funny, kind of like an.
That’s not shriek if I know you did less.
No, that’s that is not it.
No, it was a different one called Saturdays 14th and that one is sort of like airplane esque, very similar in like that kind of humor in my opinion.
54:42
So never seen it before but I thought it was pretty funny.
All.
Right, So if you want to listen to our our continuing episodes on ha ha, Halloween, I think we got when we got 4 left, 4 weeks left till Halloween.
You should subscribe to us on pretty much any podcast app that you can think of on Apple podcast or home based Spotify, whatever you listen to, I’m sure we’re on it.
55:06
So subscribe, leave us a nice review.
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55:21
And we have an e-mail address of blood and black [email protected] where you can write to us.
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55:39
Hope you’re enjoying Ha ha Halloween and we’ll be back all October long with more episodes.
So until then.
Take care.
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