Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
|
|
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 comedy/horror film in which characters played by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello deliver large heavy crates to a wax museum only to discover that the contents -- Frankenstein's monster and Dracula -- are neither wax nor dead. Bela Lugosi stars as Dracula; Glenn Strange stars as Frankenstein's monster; and Lon Chaney Jr. makes an appearance as the Wolfman. The film was directed by Charles T. Barton from a screenplay by Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo and John Grant.
This was only Lugosi's second appearance on screen as Dracula. Another actor was considered for the role until the film's producers were informed that Lugosi was still alive.
This film is considered the swan song for the "Big Three" Universal horror monsters: Dracula, Wolf Man and Frankenstein's Monster, although it does not appear to fit within the (admittedly loose) continuity of the earlier films. In this film, The Monster is actually played by two actors. Glenn Strange plays him for most of the film, but he broke his leg during production, so Lon Chaney Jr. (who previously played The Monster in Ghost of Frankenstein), took over the role for a portion of the laboratory battle sequence.
In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
It was released in the Universal Studio Comedy Legends DVD series, on August 29, 2000, as Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. On May 31, 2005, the film was reissued on DVD as part of the "Best of Abbott and Costello, Volume 3" boxed set with seven other films.
On original movie posters, its full name was Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein; however, its on-screen title is Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (without the "and"). This is the official title of the movie according to the Internet Movie Database. In any event, the film's title is inaccurate as at no point in this film does Abbott and Costello actually encounter anyone by the name Frankenstein (therefore this film, like many others, promoted the misnomer that The Monster was named Frankenstein).