Synopsis
Abbott & Costello find themselves in possession of a valuable amulet after the death of an archaeologist. Their antics soon get them noticed by the police, and Egyptian cult, a beautiful treasure hunter, and the mummy himself.
Review
Abbott & Costello films are formulaic. You know that Costello is going to keep stumbling onto something but when he tries to show Abbott it will be gone, you know that there will be a scene where one misunderstands the other, and you know that Costello will always be the ones the baddies are after... and you know what? That's why they're great. It's so simple, and it doesn't matter what situation they're in, they make it work. I'll admit that those situations are a little far fetched at times, but we're not watching these for reality are we!
Meet The Mummy has so many of the classic moments I love, and all of them are as fresh in my mind as the first time that I saw them.
Costello happens across the dead body of the archaeologist... several times... he's at his desk, he's in the cupboard, he's in the bathroom, but he's never in the same place twice and Abbott is always annoyed that he's fooling around. Honestly, you'd think after this sort of thing happening every time they take a trip somewhere that he'd start believing him, but where's the fun in that?
I remember there being nothing but joy whenever Costello would start screaming for Abbott, he'd exit out of the room at lightning speed bellowing his name and you'd know that the next instant he'd come back with him and they'd open the cupboard or look behind the door and nothing would be there. He might even give it that second look as if to say it's there but we're looking at it wrong. (Which, to be fair, works in Murder By Death.)
The scene I remember most vividly is so daft, but just thinking about it right now brings a smile to my face. Our pair are sitting in a restaurant and are trying to work out what the amulet is, they ask the waiter and he tells them that it means death to whoever holds it... Bud doesn't like the sound of this and sneaks it into Lou's pocket, Lou sneaks it back. It ends up being put in one of their burgers. They continue to switch it but it becomes very obvious, they divert the other's gaze and swap the plates with a clatter. In the much loved "duck season, rabbit season" style, Lou bangs the plates without moving them and tricks Bud into having the cursed piece of neckwear. Bud, not wanting to be outdone hides it in the sauce and it ends up in Lou's burger again, Lou takes a bite and all you hear is the noisiest metallic chewing as he chomps on the burger.
It's ridiculous, especially as later on we see an x-ray of his insides and it's a fully intact necklace, but it's hilarious. You really feel like you're in on the fun because every time they do something they look directly at the camera as if to say Oh he thought he'd get one over on me!? We'll see about that."
Admittedly we don't get a particularly good selection of villains. Richard Deacon as the cult leader was terrible, surely cult leaders are supposed to be charismatic to get more people to join them? Klaris, our "almost" Universal mummy, is a little bit on the weak side too... but I didn't come to watch a horror, I came to watch a comedy.
As I said at the beginning, you know what you're getting from an Abbott & Costello film, and that's why I love them. The pair work so well together even up to this point where their career as a duo was coming to an end. There's no denying that my love of comedy comes from their movies and things like Carry On, it's a much more wholesome offering than what's around these days, it's daft, and sometimes you need daft.
I really don't remember how I came to watch these movies, I imagine it was via TV as I can recollect having VHS tapes with two or three movie names pencilled on the box. While I don't watch the movie very often these days I do still listen to Abbott & Costello audio. Their old radio shows don't have quite the same impact as you would get from the visual but it's still wonderfully entertaining if you can get past the fairly frequent adverts.
What you should do
I personally think that everyone should enjoy an Abbott & Costello movie when they have the chance, but older comedy isn't to everyone's taste.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Teeth strong enough to chew through a gold medallion?
If you're feeling nostalgic then come on over to Twitter and join us for #TheFilmThatStarteditAllBlogathon. Share the films that go you hooked on movies. They might not be great movies, but if they're special to you then they're worth sharing. Let's bring some positivity to the internet with our great movie memories.
Comments
Post a Comment