Watch It: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

Well, folks, this is it. We finish up our Queue de Grâce odyssey with a light-hearted, but spooky, comedy,  Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), directed by Charles Barton. The movie follows the adventures of two delivery men, Chick and Wilbur, who are charged with delivering Count Dracula and Frankenstein's monster to a House of Horrors. While trying to do their job, they encounter one fright after another, get tangled up with a well-meaning werewolf, and wander further into danger.

For my kids, this was an introduction to Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, a comedy duo big in the days of vaudeville, who carried their success into the world of television and films.

Today, we were all able to enjoy this one. It's a stormy Sunday, so we didn't need much convincing to pop a dozen cubic yards of popcorn and pile on the couch with an old quilt and a slightly less old chihuahua*, to see what Cole has in store for us today.

 * He's going to miss movie week most of all. The couch has never been so warm.

Today on this movie, we can watch ghosts. The monster is a toy. The monster toy  is getting these guys. The guys got scary, and the guys giving a barrel. Because the guy putting the barrel on the water. The monster toy is putting the cape on the water. I like that movie, it was scary. It was getting these guy. It was feel scary and now I'm being a monster. Look at me. *ROAR!*

 

This was the first work by Abbott and Costello that I've seen, but it is pretty much what I expected. To me, the funniest parts are when Costello is shocked to the point where he can't speak and he just has to pantomime everything. You recognize every event because of how well he plays it out. It's a little like a silent movie, for this reason. 

Another thing I found hilarious was that. for some strange reason, a very beautiful woman is very much in love with Wilbur and everyone is shocked by this. But, of course it turns out that the woman is just using it as a strategy to trick him into something that she wants from him. This is all compounded when another woman employs the exact same strategy. Once again, this other woman needs him for something , so she pretends to be in love with him. With  two women both pretending this same thing he starts thinking he's really hot stuff.


  I like this movie. There was a monster, and there was Chick and there was Wilbur, and there was Abbott and there was Costello. There was a wolfman and he turned into a wolf. There was the ocean and a paddle boat. They paddled.



The directors had a pretty good idea when they did this. The animation was really good. I liked how Wilbur was always trying to tell his friend, Chick, how he sees all of these monsters and stuff, and he's the only one who sees it. It's so silly how they conveniently come out of his sight when he want to find Chick and show him. I'd say, this movie scores ten sub sandwiches out of five.

 I loved Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, it was so funny. Even though it is a live action movie, it still has this very cartoony feel to it. Usually, around this point, I'll say what I liked about the film, but what I like best about this movie was the movie! 

The Wolfman was trying to stop Chick and Wilber's delivery from going through because he knows that Count Dracula was trying to bring Frankenstein's monster back, because he was trying to.. uh, you know, that confuses me. Why did Dracula want to bring the monster back?


Don't overthink it.







 
 Don't overthink it? Okay. Oh, ha! You should put that in the blog, you telling me not to overthink it.




 
 I will.







 You should also put in me telling you to put it in.





Okay.






 
So he gets entangled with Chick and Wilbur, trying to get them to help him stop Dracula from using Frankenstein's monster. Let's just assume he wants to use the monster to terrorize people, just because that's what Dracula's biggest goal is in life.

Favorite line: I saw what I saw when I saw it.
Exactly, Wilbur. Some of us only see what we want to see. But, Wilbur has an open (some might say empty) mind and can only notice whatever is around him, because he just can't help noticing it. The others were so close to seeing the same thing, like Chick, and were denying it. They basically didn't want to see it because they didn't want to believe that such things existed to begin with. It could be right in front of them and they wouldn't notice it.

 What is not to love about Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein?  The "Big Three" Universal films horror monsters, all running around a drafty mansion, something like four(?) consecutive full moons, and Abbott and Costello, who always entertain me with their contrasting personalities. Abbot plays the serious straight man, eternally tasked with trying to tamp down the quivering, whistling, buzzing ball of chins that is Costello. I like how they're constantly wearing similar or identical clothes, like a grown-up pair of brothers. Whether they're in uniform, lounge wear, or snazzed up for a night on the town, the laugh factor of whatever they're doing is heightened by their matching outfits. 

So there we have it! We took the Queue de Grâce challenge by the horns, and wrestled it to the ground. We have changed its clothes, fed it snacks, and snuggled it like crazy. This is a week I'll always feel grateful for, not just for the leisure and entertainment, but the discipline and ordered interaction between us as a family. We weren't just putting some movie on, we took this business seriously. Afterward, there were conversations, orations, costumes, props, team work, sabotage, mutiny, apologies, and more team work. Watching and discussing the films chosen for us was a unique family experience. We so appreciate the interaction with all of you, fair readers. And to you, Cole, we extend a heartfelt, if not sticky, Family Hug. Thank you.

Watch It: Our week of Queue de Grâce

Fall is upon us! Just like that! Summer evaporated quickly here, with the birthdays of two boys. and suddenly we were all up in it. Soccer practice, Halloween plans, winter garden preparation, there's a chicken coop in the works; we need another project like we need a Cole in the head.

Our long-time family friend, musician, book boss, role model, and proud owner of the biggest cranium I've ever seen hatted, Cole Roulain, writes an excellent blog for grown-ups who like solid, thoughtful writing on the subject of film, vitagraph, american. If you're over the age of 18, or an exceptionally punk rock minor, give it a look. You won't be sorry.

One of the features on vitagraph, american is the "queue de grâce." Cole hands control of his viewing choices over to a friend for a week, and writes about each of the mandated selections. Often, this is a chance for him to illuminate films that may be obscure, misunderstood, or forgotten; sometimes it is used as an opportunity to force Cole to write at length about a Meg Ryan movie.*

*For those of you too young to know who Meg Ryan is, or why her movies might be hard for a fan of quality cinema to watch, consider yourselves lucky.  Run! 

I like to read his opinion on movies I've watched, because he brings a point of view that I can relate to, even if it's different from my own. Friends who make things and work hard to do them well are one of the best things to have in your life. They always make you think, which is never a bad thing, no matter what you may have heard.

Occasionally, someone is brave enough to allow Cole to choose their week's movies, which they write about. As a result, people from all backgrounds weigh in on a subject they might never have discussed publicly, having seen films chosen for them by a guy who really knows his stuff. Thomas took the challenge, and is a better man for it. He still mentions Godzilla. That wasn't just going to happen on its own.

When we accepted that summer was really gone, and we were certainly headed for colder darker days, we saw a chance to get in on some of this sweet queue action. I asked Cole to make a list of movies suitable for a family, a first for him, I believe. For seven consecutive days, in whatever grouping of parents and children we can manage, we will watch one movie per day, beginning next Monday, October 8. Each day, we will write about it, here, and I do mean "we." I plan to get input from any family member who will talk to me. It might get incomprehensible, but it promises to be interesting.

I present, our queue, all of which are streaming on Netflix:
The Mummy (1932)
The Red Balloon (1956)
A Town Called Panic (2009)
Go West (1925)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

So, tend to any last minute errands, and stock up on popcorn, because you only have a few days before the lights dim and the curtain rises on a week of watching it.*

*and writing about it, and perhaps grinding popcorn crumbs into it, and then probably vacuuming it.

Stay tuned!