Abbott and Costello Meet The Universal Monsters

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein was the beginning of a new era for both Abbott and Costello and the Universal horror movies. The founders of Universal had been ousted and the new regime wanted to take the studio in a whole new direction.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) had been intended to be the swan song for the Universal monsters. When it became a surprise hit,Universal ordered two hastily written and produced sequels that included multiple monsters.These movies were made on a shoestring budget and had made lots of money at the box office.

Abbott and Costello,who had started their careers as vaudeville performers in the late 1920s had been making movies for Universal since 1940. The duo also had a popular radio show during this time. Their movies had begun to lose popularity and Universal thought their comedy routines were over-exposed and becoming stale.

Re-releases of Dracula ,Frankenstein,The Mummy and The Invisible Man in the late 1930s had been very successful at the box office.Universal then ordered a new series of movies based on the Mummy and Invisible Man characters. When these movies began to lose popularity a few years later,executives decided to pull the plug on the monsters.

Tastes in comedy and horror were changing quickly in Post-war America. New comedy duos like Martin and Lewis had burst on to the scene and quickly gained popularity.Horror movies began moving more in the direction of Science Fiction and psychological thrillers. Monster movies were falling out of fashion with the movie going public.

However, when older Universal horror and Abbott and Costello movies were re-released and shown as Saturday matinees,they became instant hits with kids. Greed won out and Universal decided there was more life left in both Abbott and Costello and The Monsters.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is considered by many critics to be the best of all their movies. The movie includes The Wolf Man and Dracula as well as Frankenstein's monster.It continues the "monster rally" theme that proved so successful in Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man,House of Frankenstein and House Of Dracula.

Lon Chaney returns to his role as Larry Talbot (The Wolf Man). Bela Lugosi returns for only the second time as Dracula. Lugosi had appeared in other vampire movies and he had taken his turn at playing the Frankenstein Monster and other roles in the Universal horror series. This was the only other time Lugosi ever played Count Dracula.

Glenn Strange plays the Frankenstein Monster again and this time he even gets a few lines. It was the first time the monster had spoken since Son Of Frankenstein in 1935. The role was a minor one this time,though. The Monster's days as a lead character were over.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is the swan song for the "big Three" Universal monster characters.

Abbott and Costello Meet Boris Karloff the Killer(1949) Okay,this one is not technically a monster film but since Boris Karloff stars I thought I would include it. Lou Costello is a bellboy accused of murdering a guest. Bud Abbott plays the hotel detective who tries to help him clear his name. Karloff plays Swami Talpur who ,of course,turns out to be the real killer.

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1951) Karloff returns as Jekyll and Hyde this time. Universal had not made a Jekyll and Hyde movie since 1927. This version differs from most in that Dr. Jekyll is just as evil as Mr. Hyde. Jekyll purposely turns himself into Hyde with the intention of killing his rivals and getting away with it. Abbott and Costello star as Slim and Tubby,American cops who travel to London to stop the evil doctor's murderous rampage

Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man(1951) Newly licensed private detectives Lou and Bud help a boxer who is wrongly accused of killing his manager. The boxer injects himself with an unstable invisibility formula to prove that the real murderer is a rival promoter.

Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy)1955) Abbott and Costello play Freddie and Peter,two Americans stranded in Egypt. They are offered a ticket back to the States in exchange for accompanying a mummy to a museum. The mummy is stolen but his medallion worth thousands is the real treasure. When Freddie and Peter find it an evil Princess pursues them in order to get it back.

Abbott and Costello and the Monsters Say Goodbye
Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy was the last of the 28 movies the comedy duo made for Universal Studios. The Abbott and Costello Meet The Universal Monsters series also marked the end of the line for the classic monster characters that had been the Studio's bread and butter for more than two decades.