Abbott and Costello were masters of comedy and would eventually star in other ‘scary’ movies where they would stumble upon other horror movie villains such as the Mummy, the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and ‘Boris Karloff, the Killer’, but none would stand the test of time and become the classic that Meet Frankenstein would eventually become. Obviously, the movie isn’t scary at all (at least according to our modern sensibilities) and not only offers up some of the funnier moments on screen, but also one of the most famous team ups of all time; one could almost consider it the Avengers of its day. The Universal movie monsters were of course, wildly successful, but this would be one of the only times so many of them would star in the same movie together. Lon Chaney Jr. returned as the Wolf-Man, and Bela Lugosi made his only other on-screen appearance as Dracula (he would play other vampires in movies, but never again the character of Dracula). Granted, Karloff did not return as Frankenstein’s monster (he considered the film an insult to horror movies), but Glenn Strange did just fine as the lumbering beast even if he didn’t display the emotion that was seen in the other Frankenstein movies, but then that really wasn’t required of the character in this one. Even Vincent Price got in on the action in an unbilled role for the final one off joke that would end the movie before the credits rolled.
Sadly, there are a ton of people I run into who have either never seen this film or have no desire to watch it because it is ‘old, outdated and in black and white’, and I can only sit there and shake my head when I hear people dismiss this movie so easily. Simply put, this is one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen and ranks in my top 10 comedies of all time. Sure the jokes aren’t quite as funny or sharp witted as what we are used to today. Yes, we have edgier material now, but very few actors or comedians I can think of come close to being the masters Bud and Lou were at timing; they consistently delivered punch lines at the absolute perfect moment to elicit a laugh, even if the joke was groan worthy, and it is mainly for this reason that the film stills feels so fresh and fun today.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s on Netflix instant streaming, wich makes it easily accessible to everyone, and if you’re a fan, Universal just released it on blu-ray as part of it’s 100th Anniversary collection, and the high def transfer looks stunning. Just go check it out, as it remains a favorite for millions of people out there, and becomes a new classic for the millions more who discover it for the first time every year.