craig1960 Reviews

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Timeless A&C Classic

[8/10 · 14 February 2005]

A&C put together their finest film with the help of Universal Studios monsters. The movie is funny from beginning to end and is so widely regarded as A&C's best film that it will be seen and enjoyed for generations to come. Bud and Lou give their usual best mixing in the laughs while the plot unfolds. The monsters are more charming than scary in this film even though they play their parts mostly straight. I don't think it would really scare anyone over 10 years old, so it is a great one to watch as a family.

Bela Lugosi is fantastic, as is Lon Chaney Jr. They hold the monster story line together and make it work as a continuation of the universal monster film series, with a comedic twist. Jane Randolph and Lenore Aubert show their versatility playing some comedy with A&C and drama in their relationships with each other and in keeping the honesty of the monster saga. Frank Fergusan does well as comedic antagonist to Costello and you will see some familiar faces from their TV show and other films playing bit parts. Charles Bradstreet has a small but pivotal role in the film adding a romance angle. Bud Abbott plays one of his better roles here too, being convinced "There are no such things as monsters".This is what helps make the film such a timeless classic. That, and Glenn Strange as The Monster.

One scene stands out at being really silly, when you think about it, is when Dracula and Frankenstein leave the House of Horrors. How could these two ever get around without being noticed? They just somehow make their way to the castle with Frankenstein dragging around that coffin.

If you like this one you will also like the other Abbott and Costello "meet" movies, but this one is the best.

Never Say Never Again (1983)

Connery back as Bond

[8/10 · 4 February 2005]

From what I've been reading here, I think this may be the most under rated Bond film in the history of the series. It has all the elements of a great Bond film, beautiful women, a great villain, exotic locations and cool gadgets. Maybe one of the last great Bond films. It was released as an unofficial bond film and hit theaters along with Roger Moore's official bond film, "Octopussy". This should have been Roger Moore's last film as Bond. Roger looked a little too old and out of shape in "A View To A Kill". Roger, at his worst, can beat Dalton and Brosnan at playing Bond but Sean Connery, here in his last Bond role after a 12 year absence, plays the role even better.

Never Say Never is not as good as Goldfinger or Dr No but can stand right up there with the rest of the earlier Bond films. The movie is interesting from start to finish with some good fight scenes. Connery plays a very cool, mature Bond.

Kim Basinger is the most beautiful bond women ever. Max Von Sydow is great as Largo and Barbera Carrera is excellent as Fatima Blush. This movie is supposed to be a remake of Thunderball but it is as much better as it is different.

The Time of Their Lives (1946)

One of their best

[8/10 · 3 February 2005]

The boys give us a little bit of a history lesson and a lot of laughs here in their second and last movie not acting as a team. Lou is very funny here without Abbott as his straight man and not having to depend on gags. It turns out to be a very classic 40's comedy that is well directed and features a very good supporting cast. Bud plays two roles in the film and is very funny when being haunted by the ghosts.

This movie offered A&C a good script to work with and they do a great job with it. Marjorie Reynolds turns in a very good role here with Lou as her ghostly partner. Unlike "Little Giant" this movie works with A&C not acting as partners and Lou especially shows some good range as an actor mixing in a more tolerable level of pathos with his standard slapstick comedy. Good fun from beginning to end.

Little Giant (1946)

Not enough Abbott

[5/10 · 31 January 2005]

Reading the trivia about this film answered my own question.Why so little of Abbott? Well,the boys were feuding, so they did not play as partners. Costello pours on the pathos in his scenes without Abbott and it starts to get tiring. You will notice the chemistry of their earlier films is missing.When Bud finally appears with Lou the pace and comedy pick up considerably. My favorite scene is when Abbott interviews Costello but mistakes him for the strongman. A very original and very funny scene.The significance of this film is important to all the rest of their films because it proves their worth as a team. Having said that, I have to give Lou his props for the next movie they did acting not as a team, "The Time Of Their Lives", here both actors do a better job in what is a better movie all around, one of their best.

I own 3 volumes of the "Best of Abbott and Costello". It was well worth getting. Some of their movies are clunkers but "Little Giant" is not one of them. There is a good supporting cast and enough funny scenes to make it worthwhile. Not great, but not bad.

The City of the Dead (1960)

Don't watch it alone !!!

[9/10 · 31 January 2005]

When I was a kid, in the early sixties, this movie was on television often and would terrify me for days. I wanted to get copy on DVD but I could not remember the title. I did a search on Christopher Lee's movies and found it here on IMDb. I had to wait a few weeks but finally, it had arrived. I could hardly wait to see why it frightened me, so long ago.

The film is very moody and spooky, something missing from most of todays horror films. The B&W makes it even more creepy and works well with the fog machines. It reminds me of a few scenes from "Sleepy Hollow".

Be patient, it starts out a little slow and choppy and pay attention to the character relationships because they will be important towards the end. The story becomes very interesting after the basic plot is set and has a few twists that will surprise you.

The subject of witchcraft, as it is written for this particular film, is a bit ahead of it's time. There are very frightening themes and characters. It's like "Rosemary's Baby" but more Gothic. I did come to realize this is why it had terrified me, so long ago.