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Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:08 pm    Post subject: Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) Reply with quote



Bud and Lou play Slim and Tubby, two American's in turn-of-the-century London who desperately want to become English police officers.

Boris Karloff is the schizophrenic Dr. Jekyll (Karloff), and Eddie Parker wears the makeup of the hideous Mr. Hyde. Monster makeup is provided by Bud Westmore, though it certainly isn't his best.

A & C comedies always try to give the audience the most monsters for their money; in this one not only does Karloff turn into a monster, so does Lou (when he sits on a hypodermic needle) and several policemen (when they are bitten by monster-Lou).



Craig Stevens ("The Deadly Mantis") is the hero that gets the girl (Helen Wescott). Directed by Charles Lamont.

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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Always found it odd that the distinguished, cultured, educated Dr. Jekyll let his ward be a (gasp) showgirl in an era where such women were not well thought of.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're referring to the Ingrid Bergman character in the 1941 version, she was involved with Hyde, not Jekyll -- although Jekyll did show her kindness during their first meeting, after he rescues her from an attacker in the street and helps her back to her apartment.

He's clearly attracted to her, and she flirts with him outrageously (a very hot scene with Ingrid), but he resists the temptation and leaves.

However, Hyde goes back and rapes her (which in 1941 was more implied than shown) and then terrorizes her for weeks as a sort of mistress / hostage, threatening to kill her if she doesn't obey him.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No Bud, I am referring to the Abbott & Costello film.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh. Okay. I haven't seen it yet. Very Happy
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Phantom
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 7:22 pm    Post subject: A Great Team Fading Away Reply with quote

Abbott and Costello were on the downside by the time they made this one. The presence of Karloff and the Jekyll-Hyde theme elevates it above their encounter with The Invisible Man (I may be in the minority on that one) and their last monster mash-up with The Mummy.

Most of the time Eddie Parker subbed for Karloff as Hyde, particularly in the more strenuous scenes.

John Dierkes, one of my favorite character actors shows up as Dr. Jekyll's mute butler/henchman. Dierkes had a long career, but is forgotten today, except to those fans who recall his work in The Red Badge of Courage, The Thing From Another World, John Wayne's version of The Alamo and dozens of lesser films. He was a gentle, soft spoken giant who fitted in well with other physically huge stars of the era (Wayne, Arness) but he never rose to their level of accomplishment on the screen.

A&C Meet J&H was drubbed by the critics and doesn't have a large fan base. The best scene in the film is probably Costello's transformation into a giant mouse, which had the house rocking when I first saw it around '55. It isn't bad enough to be a "guilty pleasure," but it's good enough to drop into the video machine when you're in the mood and nothing else will suffice.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe TCM will have an "A&B Meet Everybody at Universal" marathon one of these days. If they do, I'm going to burn out the dylithium crystals in my DVR and get them all. Very Happy
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read a critical comment about this film that seems valid.

The author said that in the classic RLS novel & films we see Dr. J portrayed as a good & decent man.

The A&C film does not strive to do that with Karloff at all. From the beginning the Dr. J character is a angry & mean spirited man obsessed with his female ward. The only moments where Jekyll appears as a nice guy is when he is attempting to fool others by his demeanor. At heart this Jekyll is no mister nice guy & Hyde seems a natural extension of the already evil Jekyll.

I imagine that it was easier & safer to go in that direction for the writers considering this is a comedy/horror movie with Abbott & Costello. Introducing a good Dr. J, at least to begin with, would prove too convoluted & awkward for the film.
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

An excellent point, Dr. Pow. I think that even your evil counterpart — Mr. Wow — would agree! Very Happy

I've read the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, and we all know that not a single filmed version has ever really done it right. The A&C version differs in all the ways you described, and apparently it's about the least accurate depiction of them all!

Briefly stated, in the novel Dr. Jekyll was a good man who struggled inwardly with "sinful" temptations which were never described in detail in the novel. That aspect of the story is a bit frustrating, because Stevenson never comes right out and says the good doctor had a proclivity for some specific vice — like alcoholism or gambling or (dare I say it . . . ) a sexual addiction! Shocked

Jekyll just knew that he (and all men) had a dark side, and he wanted to devise a chemical formula that separated his "goodness" from his "darkness".

The formula succeeded . . . but not the way he wanted it to. It made his basic nature sort of "toggle back and forth" between his good nature and his bad — and whenever it did so, his physical appearance changed dramatically as well.

But Stevenson muddied his basic premise even more when Dr. Jekyll decided he actually LIKED being bad! Confused

Jekyll discovered that the drastic physical change his body underwent when he became Mr. Hyde made it easy for him to indulge Hyde's evil nature without anybody knowing it was the kindly Dr. Jekyll doing all the terrible things around town!

In other words, the character bore no resemblance to (for example) poor Larry Talbot, who despised his Wolf Man alter ego and the horrible deeds he did. Dr. Jekyll would deliberately take the drug he'd created so he go out and misbehave as Mr. Hyde! Twisted Evil

Another big difference in the novel and ALL the movie versions is the physical appearance of Mr. Hyde. In the novel, Hyde is shorter and much thinner than Jekyll — so much so in fact that Hyde had to have his own wardrobe, because Jekyll's clothes were far too big for him!

Hyde's face, in fact, was not described as hideously monstrous. His facial features were merely gaunt and deformed in a unpleasant way, with a look of evil that disturbed the people who met him.

No film version has ever tried to do Hyde this way. He always has to have a satanic look, at the very least. Even the illustrations for various editions of the novel have made this mistake. This paperback book cover from the 1980s (I think) went so far as to symbolically put Hyde's face inside a jar like the ones his formula was stored in . . . and to make the mustache have octopus tentacles at the ends!

_______

My point is that even though you're right about the A&C version of Dr. Jekyll being markedly different from the one in the novel, Stevenson did in fact allow the "good & decent man" to be a pretty rotten guy on the inside, because he deliberate used his "Hyde disguise" to get away with cruel behavior . . . because he actually enjoyed it!

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trivia } John Dierkes (Dr. Jekyll's mute assistant Batley) portrayed one of the scientists embattled in a remote outpost in the classic sci-fi movie "The Thing From Another World.''

John also auditioned for the role of Lurch the butler for TV's ''The Addams Family.''

Stuntman Eddie Parker, who doubled for Boris Karloff, broke his ankle during the rooftop chase scene.

The film was budgeted by Universal at $734,805 for a 23-day shoot. Director Charles Lamont brought in the movie under time & $10,000 under budget.

The movie barely has any of the comedic wordplay that A&C were so well known for in their act.

Some of the music used is from Frank Skinner's haunting score for "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.''

Dr.Jekyll has a hidden laboratory behind a large bookcase that revolves in his mansion. I've always gotten a big kick out of moving bookcases, fireplaces that open up & so forth that lead to secret passages & rooms in movies & television.

The scene with Mr. Hyde (Boris Karloff), Slim (Bud), Tubby (Lou), and reporter Bruce Adams (Craig Stevens, later to star on TV as Peter Gunn) all standing on different sides of a box on a roof is a highlight of this movie.

The movie did great at the box office.
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Abbott and Costello meet the monsters films were fantastic! This one was superb!
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2020 10:03 pm    Post subject: Middle tier A&C picture boosted by Karloff's looming pre Reply with quote

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is directed by Charles Lamont and loosely based on the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It stars Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and Boris Karloff. Plot finds Bud and Lou as two coppers in old time London who become involved with the hunt for a monstrous killer. A hunt that brings them into contact with the mysterious Dr. Jekyll.

It would be the fourth from last movie the popular comedy duo would make together, and the latest to see them paired with a famous monster from 30's cinema. Although it's a touch weak in the comedy stakes, and it does kind of feel like they are winding down after such a fruitful career, the film holds up well as a polished picture. The writers have varied the Jekyll & Hyde legend by actually having Jekyll himself be evil, wonderfully essayed by Karloff, and a couple of sequences are genuinely laugh out loud funny: think mouse head, think hypodermic needle; while the involvement of the Suffragettes in the story gives it some historical interest. It's also good on atmosphere, be it the moody streets of London, or Costello alone in a wax museum, Lamont and photographer George Robinson give it a creepy veneer before the anarchy breaks out.

Unlikely to encourage new fans to their work, but a safe addition for those who enjoy the majority of their output. 7/10

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Originally, Abbott & Costello were all set to star in the film "Fireman Save My Child'' which was to be produced by Howard Chrisitie.

Sid Fields, an old vaudeville buddy of Bud & Lou (and who played their landlord, as well as numerous other roles on "The Abbott & Costello Show'') presented a two-page story treatment to Christie in which A&C met Jekyll & Hyde.

Christie felt that the Jekyll & Hyde idea should be the comedy team's next film. The sets for Fireman had been built; and some chase scenes with Bud & Lou's doubles had been filmed.

Christie replaced Bud & Lou on Fireman with Hugh O'Brien and Buddy Hackett, who physically resembled the team.

Buddy Hackett would go on to portray Lou Costello in the 1978 television biopic "Bud and Lou," with Harvey Korman as Bud.

John Grant (longtime writer for A&C) and Lee Loeb would write the finished script for the A&C Jekyll and Hyde movie.

Craig Stevens, who plays reporter Bruce Adams in the film, and Lou discovered that they were neighbors. Lou & Craig became friends. In fact, according to Craig, Lou took him under his wing, so to speak. Stevens said he was just a contract player at Universal, but Lou was a big star. Having Lou looking out for Craig was quite nice, and not many big stars would have done so.

Craig would become famous later on as private detective "Peter Gunn'' on television.

In this film, we see Bud & Lou rely upon slapstick instead of their famous wordplay routines.

It's a shame we don't get the fast patter wordplay routines that made Bud & Lou so famous. Yes, good old slapstick and pratfalls was part of their humor. However, their wild dialogue scenes were iconic.

Pure slapstick can work fine for The Three Stooges, but for Bud & Lou it doesn't tap into the uniqueness of the comic duo.

In the movie, Bud is Slim, and Lou is Tubby. Though not revealed in the film, their last names are Hawkins & Tweedles, respectively.

A scene dropped from the film was when Slim & Tubby are jailed. Tubby discovers a big file, a chisel, and a steel saw inside the cell bed mattress. Tubby says to Slim that they gotta show all these tools to the Inspector because a desperate criminal could use them to escape.

Before Tubby can say anything, the jailer sees him with all the tools and calls for help to the other bobbies. The constables all rush in with guns drawn.

London police did not carry guns in that era of the 1880s when this film is set, so this was a movie mistake.

There is a scene that takes place in a London wax museum. In the museum there are the wax figures of the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula. It is reminiscent of MacDougal's House of Horrors from "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."

An electrical wire accidentally strikes the wax figure of the Monster which animates it, causing it to walk towards a frightened Tubby.

As originally scripted, the wax figures of Dracula and George Washington were to cover their eyes, and Buffalo Bill was to reach for his guns.

Aha! This answers a long burning question I have had for years regarding this movie. I could understand that they needed a real person as the Monster among all the other wax figures. After all, the Monster had to move after the wires touched it.

However, I always noticed that Dracula was also a real person made up to appear as a wax person. I never knew why they did that, since the Dracula figure never moved or did anything.

Been a long time since seeing this movie, so I cannot recall noticing if George Washington & Buffalo Bill were also actors and not true wax figures. I assume that was the situation.

Having the Monster become temporarily animated due to electrical wires landing on him was cool. Having other wax figures react sounded lame and I'm glad they never kept it in the finished film.

The ending with Hyde's death was originally scripted differently.

Hyde was holding Vicky and intended to jump out a window, thus killing them both. He lurches forward and almost does carry her with him to the pavement below. Bruce breaks in the door and rescues Vicky, who teeters on the windowsill as Hyde plummets to his death.

The film was a big hit for Bud and Lou when it was first released, and critics gave it rave reviews.
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PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A review from the site Scarred Silly: Classic Hollywood Horror-Comedies.

Two stars out of four.

The reviewer was a fan of the film as a child but disappointed as a adult to see it doesn't hold up well.

It runs a swift 76-minutes but that is less attributed to solid pacing than the fact that's there's just not much to the script.

The movie introduces an odd women's suffrage sublot. Having the lead female character, Vicky, as both an advocate of the movement and making her a dancehall Can-Can dancer by night seems sexist and demeaning by the writers. Satire?

The whole part of the plot where Dr. Jekyll, as an older man, infatuated with his young ward, Vicky, just came off as plain creepy and not in a good way for the film's horror atmosphere.

Jekyll's romantic designs on Vicky when he's supposed to be a surrogate father is unnerving and repulsive.

There are more pratfalls, slapstick, and physical gags on display than is usual for and Abbott & Costello picture.
The film is almost devoid of the verbal humor at which they excelled.

Sidebar: Other critics and fans as well have observed this in the later A&C movies. They were starting to have more in common with the Three Stooges than they were with their original vaudeville act where they honed their hilarious verbal routines to perfection.

There is no laugh-out-loud scenes in this movie as there had been with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Much of the humor derives from the old chestnut of nobody believing Costello when he "saw what he saw when he saw it."

The Wax Museum scene and when Lou transforms into a mouse offer some good laughs but nothing grand.

The third act's rooftop scene and chase through the streets of London offer some much needed energy to the movie.

The death of Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde by falling from the second story of his mansion when the ivy he's grasping rips away from the house and he plummets to the sidewalk below is anti-climatic.

The film does manage to end on a high note with Abbott and Costello fleeing the police station from the inspector and bobbies who now have all turned into Mr. Hydes.

Sidebar: I enjoy this film more than this reviewer does...but not a lot more. Overall this is a fair critique of the movie.
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PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Mike, I have never seen this movie! If Svengoolie shows it, I hope we'll be able to watch it in All Sci-Fi's Chatzy Room (< — LINK).

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