Seventy-five years ago, a genre mashup proved to be one of the most significant and successful in film history. The two genres were horror and comedy. Universal Pictures had two separate franchises: the Universal Monsters and the comedic duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The idea was to combine these two franchises into one film.
The original name of the film was “The Brain of Frankenstein.” With Universal already having produced “Frankenstein” (1931), “The Bride of Frankenstein” (1935), “Son of Frankenstein” (1939), “The Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942), “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943), and “House of Frankenstein” (1944), the name sounded like another straight horror film. The name was changed to “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1948).
Publicity shot for "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Universal Pictures
It wasn’t just Frankenstein (Frankenstein’s monster to be more accurate) that the comedy duo would meet, but also Dracula and the Wolf Man (and for a gag ending, the Invisible Man). The monsters were played by Glenn Strange, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., and Vincent Price, respectively.
Upon reading the mashup script, Costello hated it. He suggested his 5-year-old daughter could have written a better one. Costello relented when Universal promised to pay him $50,000 upfront and hire one of his favorite directors, and personal friends, Charles Barton to direct the film. Altogether, Barton directed nine Abbott and Costello movies.
Abbott and Costello were scripted to play Chick Young and Wilbur Grey, respectively, while Lugosi, Chaney, and Strange played the characters that had made them famous. Although Universal Pictures presented its first horror figure in 1923’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” with Lon Chaney Sr., it was Lugosi’s “Dracula” in 1931 that is credited as being the initial film that began the Universal Monsters franchise. Lugosi’s role as Dracula in the comedy-horror mashup would actually be his first and last time to reprise the role. It would be Chaney’s final time to play the Wolf Man, and Strange’s third and final time as Frankenstein’s Monster.
Publicity shot for "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. (L–R)Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Glenn Strange, Lon Chaney Jr., and Bela Lugosi in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," 1948. Universal Pictures
Universal’s Gold Mine
Universal Pictures discovered a gold mine after “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” became the second cheapest film to make and the third most profitable of 1948. What followed were three more mashup installments with “Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff” (1949), “Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man” (1951), “Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1953), and “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy” (1955).
Karloff, a classic horror legend, played Frankenstein’s Monster in the original 1931 Universal film “Frankenstein,” and reprised the role twice in 1935’s “The Bride of Frankenstein” and 1939’s “Son of Frankenstein.” Strange had already taken on the role by the time the Abbott and Costello version was conceived, and Karloff expressed no interest in being in the film. He did, however, help promote it. Additionally, Karloff actually played the original Mummy in 1932’s “The Mummy,” but he did not play it in the comedy-horror mashup. He did, however, play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
A Lasting Influence
It was the 1948 film, though, that not only launched the brilliant five-film experiment, but created a standalone classic for both genres and left lasting impressions on future filmmakers and comedy actors.
Director Quentin Tarantino said the first time he saw the film as a child, he thought it was the greatest thing he had ever seen because it brought together his two favorite genres. He admitted in an interview with AMC’s Eli Roth that the film “affected [him] as an artist” and that he has been “mixing and matching [his] favorite genres” since he could write.
Dustin Bass
Author
Dustin Bass is the creator and host of the American Tales podcast, and co-founder of The Sons of History. He writes two weekly series for The Epoch Times: Profiles in History and This Week in History. He is also an author.
