Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

I noticed on IMDb I rated this 7/10, but while watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), I don't remember ever watching this! Look, is the duo's comedy a bit dated? I think so, but I find them endearing anyway. Costello with two beauties played by Lenore Aubert (as a doctor/scientist, Sarah, of whom Dracula gains mental control in order to remove Costello's brain for the Frankenstein's Monster!) and Jane Randolph (of "Cat People" six years earlier; here, she portrays an insurance investigator) as Abbott remains baffled by this is a hoot to me. Just the idea of Costello's brain being the one desired by Dracula for the Monster charms the hell out of me...it is so ridiculous.

I was thinking while watching this: for an Abbott and Costello comedy, you get so much Universal Monsters goodness that previous 40s sequels (and some in the 30s) failed to capitalize on. We get more Chaney Wolf Man than perhaps almost all of the previous films featuring Larry Talbot's conflict with the beast within. I think he actually even transforms from man to werewolf like three or four times! And even though the Wolf Man is often a goof for Costello to play off of for comedic effect, seeing Chaney "in wolfy character" so long was definitely cool for such a fanboy like me. Inside a hotel room with Costello and in a jungle, too, the Wolf Man really gets a lot more time on screen than I ever anticipated. It is because some of the past Universal Monsters sequels really didn't give us all that much. If I'm honest, "House of Frankenstein" and "House of Dracula" give us more of Larry Talbot agonizing and a nervous wreck than actually in the werewolf form. In Meet Frankenstein, we do get worrying Larry returning as he has in the past while dealing with his full moon curse, but he's on a mission to hunt down Dracula before he can harm innocents. Larry needs the help of delivery mailmen, Chick Young and Wilbur Gray (Abbott and Costello), but they end up carrying two crates with the bodies of Dracula and the Monster (Bela Lugosi and Glenn Strange) to a wax museum. Yes, even a wax museum makes an appearance in the film. You include the voice of Vincent Price as the Invisible Man at the end introducing himself to our comedy duo, and how can I really gripe much?

Not only do we get plenty of Wolf Man, Lugosi returns in the role that made him legend. Now, in seventeen years, by the time Lugosi officially returned to the role that made him famous, he had aged a lot. In saying that, Lugosi in the cape and out of the casket -- this film, unlike the 1931 film, shows Lugosi actually rising out of the casket after opening it -- getting to subject Abbott and Costello to hypnotic freeze (including the two lady leads, even shown biting Sarah when she attempts to thwart his control) while even attending a costume party in full Dracula attire is just all I could really ask for. Yes, his return to Dracula in a Universal comedy, I'll certainly take it. I was just glad to see him actually playing Dracula again, even if the real menace and sinister presence is traded for commanding the Monster, using his signet ring as an odd "charge up" for the Monster in giving him strength, and turning into a bat through an on screen animated sequence! Yes, Dracula turns into a bat through animation and I'm all for it! I was like a geeky kid seeing that. And after two extremely disappointing film appearances as the Frankenstein Monster, Glenn Strange FINALLY had the chance to be in character on screen more than a few minutes per film. He does sit down a lot, but even then Costello's Wilbur sitting in his lap by accident and eventually realizing it provides some amusement. I might be a bit nope towards Strange's stilted walk and outstretched arms routine in the role, getting to at least see him go up in flames at the end after hurling barrels out our two heroes was neat. And we get Universal sets such as a laboratory, castle, jungle, and dungeon...even trap doors Costello and Abbott can walk through accidentally. But what got the ultimate thumbs up by me is an actual fight between the Wolf Man and Dracula! I think that was supposed to happen in "House of Dracula"; when I read about that missed opportunity, seeing it in Meet Frankenstein had me cheering inside. I appreciated seeing that fight not skipped for this film.

One other big plus for the film is the atmospheric direction! Unlike the Mummy movie, this one seemed to have been a Universal prestige picture, given a decent budget and serious talent involved in photographing it and not rushing the story as had been the case when the 40s sequels prior to Meet Frankenstein seemed as if the studio just wanted them shot and in the can in a hurry.

If the film might have a "slight" against it, if you don't like the Abbott and Costello brand of comedy shtick, this could be a detriment. For me, I found them harmless. Because the movie has so much monster activity, I was totally satisfied. I immediately picked up the Blu-Ray after watching this "Summer of the Stars" feature on Abbott and Costello on Turner Classic Movies. Even though Chaney had just been the Wolf Man not three years before, seeing him return with Lugosi as Dracula, and more Frankenstein Monster with Strange in the role, how could I really complain?! 5/5