The Best Abbott & Costello?

[Maurice Leakey]

Probably the best Abbott and Costelo film is on Sky Arts tomorrow (Sun 2 October) starting at 2pm.
It is "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein", although I remember it on its release in 1948 when it was called "Abbott And Costello Meet The Ghosts".
It also stars Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) on Sky Arts, Sun 2 Oct 2:00pm - TVGuide.co.uk

[Ken Finch]

I have seen quite a few of their films in my time but did not think much of any of them. Probably that is the best of them however. Perhaps it’s me but I never found them very funny compared to other comedy actors of their time. Ken Finch.

[Osi Osgood]

I think that my favorite is "Who Done It". It's just nutty madcap!

[Ed Gordon]

I have seen quite a few of their films in my time but did not think much of any of them. Probably that is the best of them however. Perhaps it’s me but I never found them very funny compared to other comedy actors of their time. Ken Finch.

Ken, I would have to agree with your assessment. When you compare Abbott and Costello to other comedy teams of their time, they do not far well. Having said that, there is no doubt that their routine, Who's on First? is a comedy classic.

This is the classic Abbott and Costello comedy routine WHO'S ON FIRST? They began using this routine from the start of their career and continually refined it over the years, performing it in movies, on television, on radio and in theaters before live audiences. This version is from "The Actors Home" episode (1953) from "The Abbott and Costello Show" TV series. Wikipedia states that this performance is "widely considered the definitive version", and I agree.

[Mike Newell]

Funny, when I was growing up I thought Abbott and Costello were funny but somewhere in my teens they stopped being funny. Routines too repetitious and Abbott is as funny as a rusty nail.

Strange to think they were fabulously popular in the 1940s in movies and in the early 1950s on television but are now virtually forgotten and unknown. As stated, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein is the best of their 36 movies and the only one that gets a tv showing.

I do have a soft spot for Time of their Lives where they play ghosts stranded on Earth.

[Osi Osgood]

They were big money makers in the 40's and early 50's, I think that they were simply over exposed, and so some of they're routines ended up being used, sometimes from film to film. However, that big "cashe" of gags ended up working out well for them by the time they did they're TV show, which, in my opinion, was far better than any of they're 50's films.

[Mike Newell]

I think they were lucky Osi to arrive in television in the early days. They stretched their material as far as they could but there was no Stan Laurel creative input loads of gag writers like Bob Hope had. The production values on their movies particularly the “meet “ones are very good but they are let down by being lazy and padding them with musical numbers. The Andrew Sisters come to mind.

Least they were funny unlike Lucille Ball who is as hilarious as a severe migraine and a nose 🩸 bleed combined. How on Earth she is considered a comedy icon in the US is beyond me. Thankfully, she is forgotten ever where else.

[Osi Osgood]

Jerry Lewis is another one of those, in my opinion,who is highly overrated. Ironically, Dean Martin, who was supposed to be the straight man in that Duo, ended up being funnier, playing the stumbling drunk on TV and elsewhere, quite successfully.

[Melvin England]

Mike - Interesting comment you made earlier about liking them and then in your teens stopped liking them. It was the same for me with Laurel & Hardy. By my teens I just thought they were plain stupid (adolescence and all that....) but as I progressed into adulthood all those moons ago, I started to recognize Stan and Ollie for what they were. Geniuses !

Sorry Bud and Lou... no contest.

[Osi Osgood]

In the end, they will always be remembered for they're incredibly funny, "Who's on First"routine.

[Mike Newell]

Who actually came on 1st?

[Maurice Leakey]

I have just been watching my recording.
Abbot and Costello never meet Frankenstein, but Costello did refer to the Monster as Frankie. But the Monster never had a name.
I think the original release title of "Abbot and Costello Meet The Ghosts" was more appropriate.

[Lee Mannering]

Indeed A&C meet Franky.
Great also to finally see a wonderful restoration of Africa Screams on BluRay worth every penny.

With Franky don't think we have missed it out of our halloween shows over the years not least for Lugosi bouncing off the boys.
Great fun.

[Mike Newell]

A nice piece of trivia . Did you know Lou Costello featured as an extra in a Laurel and Hardy movie?

It was Battle of the Century 1927 when Lou was 21. It is the fight scene and he can be identified on restored version on recently released Blu ray.

Costello was a great admirer of silent-film comedian Charlie Chaplin. In 1927, Costello hitchhiked to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Hal Roach Studios. His athletic skill brought him occasional work as a stunt man, notably in The Trail of '98 (1928). He can also be spotted sitting ringside in the Laurel and Hardy film The Battle of the Century (1927).^[8] He said that he took his professional name from actress Helene Costello,^[9] although by this time his brother Anthony (Pat) had used the name in his career as a professional musician.^[10]

[Trevor Adams]

I found Africa Screams to be a VERY repeatable flick!