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.
Comedian Martin Short said on TCM’s “Dennis Miller & Friends” that when he watched the film for the first time at 7 years old, he wrote his first play, which was ultimately a remake of the film. “I thought it was the funniest [movie],” he said. “This was a massive 1948 hit.”
Publicity shot for "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." (Universal Pictures)
Danel Olson, a film studies professor and Shirley Jackson Award and two-time World Fantasy Award winner, still remembers the moment he first watched the film.
“I came home from school, made a thick P&J sandwich, and sat in front of the TV to watch ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.’ The only thing I remember is being scared by all the uncanny waxworks in the storage area because it is always uncertain if they are just dummies or only pretending to be, and Wilbur not being believed by Chick when he senses the supernatural in said railway baggage area: ‘I saw what I saw when I saw it!’” Mr. Olson said, repeating the famous line from the movie.
“This tension I may remember because it induces an ‘audience intervention’ impulse, where kids like me might’ve screamed at the little screen, ‘Dracula’s in the coffin, Chick. Open it up now! You gotta believe Wilbur,’ he said.”
Mr. Olson, who has written and published extensively on horror films, like “The Shining,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and “The Exorcist,” noted that although Universal’s mashup is a comedy, it accomplished something one would not expect from such a film.
“It is unique because when scary characters enter comedies, we expect them to be cheapened,” he explained. “But Lon Chaney Jr., as his signature Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as his trademark Count Dracula could take their acting into a Bud and Lou comedy and keep the intensity of their roles. Yes, the Wolf Man does get a potted plant tossed at him by Dracula, and yes, Wilbur throws a comforter over Frankenstein’s head, so there are these broad laughs. But none of these scary characters yuck-it-up with silly lines we know they would never deliver otherwise. They enter the comedy yet leave the buffoonery to the experts: Wilbur and Chick. This is not at all spoof-horror, or batches of coarse, relentless parodies we have seen since the 1990s, that lose their laughs over time. So what makes this film rare is that a famous terror-brand that these actors made their characters into was not cheapened.”
A Rare Achievement
“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” has made many lists for all-time great comedies, like Rotten Tomatoes and Reader’s Digest. But more than that, and to Mr. Olson’s point, it is a film that stands out for how it achieved its laughs―in spite of being surrounded by serious monsters with non-comedic intentions. For this, and for Universal Pictures’ groundbreaking and successful venture, the film has been recognized as one of the 100 best comedies by the American Film Institute for its “excellence in the art form.” The film has also been preserved in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
In New York Magazine’s Vulture section, the film was shortlisted as one of 11 “crucial films” in the history of comedy-horror. “The combination of gags and ghouls didn’t just legitimize the genre hybrid as commercially viable, it helped to cement Abbott and Costello as the biggest team in postwar onscreen humor,” the article stated. “The odd coupling yielded scarce scares, but the inspired physical humor has rightfully stood the test of time. Hollow cash-grabs don’t end up in the National Film Registry.”
Writing for the National Film Preservation Board, Ron Palumbo, who co-wrote “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood,” described the film as “a rite of passage for children as an introduction to one of the great comedy teams and the classic monsters. Kids crave stories about monsters, and being scared is an important part of maturing. … There was no expectation that the film would revive the passé horror characters, and Lugosi and Chaney did not see any renewed interest in their work. But far from killing off the monsters, ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein’ has helped keep them alive for generations.”
He added that the film also paved the way for future horror comedies such as “Young Frankenstein,” “Ghostbusters,” “An American Werewolf in London,” and “Shaun of the Dead.”
For those looking for a film this Halloween that mixes light scares with big laughs and is full of nostalgia, “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” has stood the test of time. Also, since this year is the film’s Diamond Anniversary, it’s the perfect time to enjoy the film.
Theatrical poster for "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." (Universal Pictures)
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Dustin Bass is an author and co-host of The Sons of History podcast. He also writes two weekly series for The Epoch Times: Profiles in History and This Week in History.
