American comedy films starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
A pair of men are in different situations, using the same comedic themes.
I watched a ton of these, but not all. Let's start with a list of what I saw and whether I liked them:
Meet the Mummy (1955) no
Dance with Me, Henry (1956) yes
Keep 'em Flying (1941) no
Little Giant (1946) yes
Lost in Alaska (1952) yes
Mexican Hayride (1948) no
Pardon My Sarong (1942) no
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947) no
Who Done it? (1942 NO!
Buck Privates (1941) yes
Go to Mars (1953) YES!
Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) no
Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942) yes
In the Foreign Legion (1950) no
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) no
Meet Captain Kidd (1952) no
Go to Mars was the best, without a doubt. I was actually laughing about some of the parts. There was a memorable scene in the spaceship in space. Everything including dialogue was slowed down and costello tries to fire a agun, only to find that the bullet drops from the barrel. Although Pardon My Sarong was a crap film, there was a song and dance number called "Shout Brother Shout" which had people dancing on a slippery table. The dancers would slide across the table in an impressive manner and continue dancing. In the Foreign Legion had a fishing scene I liked. Abbott was catching fish and handing them to Costello to clean. Costello dips them in the water they came from and a larger fish wearing human dentures eats them. In Little Giant, Costello is explaining how he figured out how many vacuum cleaners to sell. He does some convoluted math on a chalkboard which clearly took some advanced planning. Who Done it? was the worst because comedy and murder mystery do not mix well. Almost 80 years later, these predictable and repetitive genres mix less well. I liked how Lou Costello could play any musical instrument and the beautiful women always liked him. There were many repeated comedic themes:
Costello mistakes a word for another word
Someone doesn't look at what is happening
Costello handcuffs a man behind his back, but the man gets loose
Costello sees something, gets Abbott to look and by then it has moved
Costello sees something important, but is freaking out and unable to speak
The 2 are working as a team, with Costello undoing Abbott's work
Abbott is mean to Costello until his apparent death, but Costello hears him mourning the loss of his best friend he stole from, cheated, bonked on the head, insulted, knocked down...
I'm rating these tolerable. As a whole, the series was intolerable. Too old, hokey and repetitive. There were moments which made it all worthwhile. I hope that this explanation is sufficient to explain my long absence. You're probably better off not watching Abbott and Costello, but Go to Mars (1953) is worth seeing.
An American musical romantic comedy directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring Robert Cummings and William Frawley.
A man has been dating 2 women and wants to marry 1, but the other won't leave him alone.
Wretched, vile and loathsome. Lots of movies were like this in the early 1940s, but this is not what I ordered. I've been watching Abbott and Costello films and this is their debut, but it's not about them. It's about some other people and they just happen to be around. The plot held my attention like a fork holds water and I hated the characters. Far beyond not caring what happens to them, I wanted bad things to happen to them. I think there was too much musical for it to be a comedy and that it was trying to be too many things. I rate this shit because I had to turn it off. I will be back soon with my complete review of Abbott and Costello's like 25 or something movies.
1940
An American adventure directed by Hal Roach, starring Victor Mature, Carole Landis and Lon Chaney Jr.
1966
A British adventure directed by Don Chaffey, starring Raquel Welch and Robert Brown.
An exiled caveman from one tribe meets a woman from another tribe and they bring the tribes together.
These were as similar as they were different. The newer one looked better in every way. 1940 had clean shaven cavemen and 1966 had all bearded. The special effects looked better and more convincing in 1966, but anyone who knows about the techniques used will appreciate the cleverness of 1940 much more. I was really impressed by the level of compositing and shot framing to make the monsters large. The plots are mostly similar and scene by scene, but there are some major differences like the ending. I don't want to over-analyze here, but I'm sure someone has done so elsewhere. I think they are equal, but would never watch them back-to-back again. I rate them adequate. If you're into primitive special effects, check it out.
An American western musical comedy directed by Albert Herman, starring Tex Ritter.
A gang of outlaws are systematically shutting down a stagecoach line for their own evil schemes. A singing cowboy and his comedic relief sidekick arrive to defeat the outlaws.
This was stereotypical and poorly made. The plot was not clearly communicated and the only identifiable character was the sidekick. The audio was standard for the time (poor) and the video was worse. Again, the musical performances were mimed and lip-synched. I could almost hear the director saying "smile real big and wave the violin around so they can't tell that you're not playing it" as the actor sawed away with his fretting hand fisted on the strings. I'm rating this bad because it was poorly made and I didn't like it. Probably best left unwatched because it can't be unmade.
An American western drama directed by Joseph Kane, starring Roy Rogers.
An official comes to town in order to enforce law and order.
Even after viewing the film and reading Wikipedia's plot summary, I still don't understand what's going on. Was it poor directorial choices, poor acting or lack of style that condemned this film? I vote for lack of style, which includes all the rest. Style is when people are doing stuff right and their own way. Style is good camera-work that shows what's going on. Style is good script-writing that translates into good delivery by actors. I'm learning about making videos at a community college and they say you have to make a plan. Every step in the process is important. This film lacks the definitive style that community college students can lend to a film that says whose film it is. Totally standard and boring with only one crooning cowboy country song, I rate this bad. It lacked all qualities that would make it good.
An American drama directed by Sam Wood, starring William Holden.
Life in a small town at the beginning of the 1900s is shown.
Boring. This is the only version of this story to use sets and props. I tried to watch a newer one without sets one time and had to turn it off because it was putting me to sleep. Yes, this is a talking movie. No action takes place. The best part that I noticed was the editing of a match shot going from a girl walking to a chicken walking. When a minor editing setup is the best part, you know it's pretty bad. I'm going to have to go ahead and rate this shit. DO NOT WATCH!
An American crime mystery directed by William Nigh, starring Boris Karloff.
A news reporter looking for a story hears about a murder. A detective has a Chinese jade item of value.
The plot was unclear, vague and muddy with too many characters that were not developed. There were no technical errors. Having a white guy with a Russian name play a Chinese man is a bad idea. It's just more of the rough that I'm searching for diamonds in. I rate this poor.
An American mystery directed by William Nigh, starring Boris Karloff.
A shipping tycoon has just lost a shipment of illegal bonds from China and is in the process of telling off his daughter's suitor after writing his will and mentioning suicide, when he is shot in his office. The daughter and a detective investigate the murder case.
More of the same boring shit. William nigh has already proved to be one of the most boring directors of the '40s and I'm not a big fan of Boris Karloff's work. The plot did not hold my attention and the characters were not memorable. The style was way '40s with inferior black and white video and loud dead air hiss. This is also a sequel to The Fatal Hour (1940), which I have, but was uninformed of the relationship when I watched it. The sequel being released the same year as the original is not a good sign. I'm rating this poor because it was very standard and boring.
An American comedic mystery directed by Howard Bretherton, starring Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland.
A message boy at a radio station pretends to be a boss, trying to get a date with the new receptionist by having the janitor play piano so she can sing at a fake audition. He is amazed by her voice, but gets in trouble with the real boss. All 3 of them are later present when the current radio starlet is shot. The message boy drags the janitor along as he tries to solve the crime.
Standard, stale and stock. I'm not even going to rip into this because it was so mediocre. The only thing that made it watchable was Mantan Moreland playing his type-cast role. We all know what that role is and it has to do with his manner of speech and the color of his skin. I rate this bad. If you want a good Mantan film, watch King of the Zombies (1941).
An American comedy drama directed by William Nigh, starring Jean Parker and James Dunn.
A sailor is walking along a road on his way to his ship and joins up with a boy who is hitchhiking. They are picked up by a woman and pretend to be father and son in order to get a ride. The boy turns out to have escaped from an orphanage and because he called the sailor his father, it gets the sailor in trouble. The sailor and the woman from the car argue over who will take care of the boy.
The plot was lame, but clearly presented. The characters stereotypical and shallow, but identifiable. Style was of the times. Pacing, continuity and editing were alright, but there were a few areas with technical problems. Overall, it was just to sappy for me, but an alright movie. I rate it o.k. Just another thing to watch because there's nothing else to do.
An American romantic comedy directed by Albert S. Rogell, starring Jeff York and Buster Keaton.
A young man feels sick from eating a strange sandwich and a barber tells him he only has 24 hours to live. Because he thinks that he will be dead soon, he gets engaged to a young woman who has been chasing him for years, captures a criminal and gets engaged to another woman in exchange for help escaping from the criminal's gang. The matter of who he will marry is settled at a Sadie Hawkins day race.
So stupid! The simple plot and shallow characters made for an uninteresting film. The early date and low production value ensured this. The idiotic humor really drove the whole thing home. What boggles my mind is a whole town of men being chased by women and not wanting to be caught, except for a pair of socially inept guys. An interesting note is that Li'l Abner's father's name is Lucifer. Also, the socially inept guys who are Abner's friends remind me of friends that I would have. One is a stereotypical Injun who can't make fire and the other is a hulking Muppet-style character whose nose is the only facial feature visible because of his long hair and beard. I rate this bad. Don't watch it.
An American crime drama directed by Robert F. Hill.
A young gang member's brother is in jail and sentenced to be executed for a crime that he did not commit. A cop tries to put together a club to keep kids off the street and real gangsters are around running a counterfeit money scheme.
The plot was complex and there were lots of characters. Some of the characters turned out to be lying and had hidden agendas. The pace was quick and the style was very '40s. I think that it was made alright, but I just didn't really like it. I know I've seen gangsters and cops with a boys' club before. I'm rating this o.k. You can make up your own mind whether to watch it or not.
An American horror drama produced and directed by William Nigh, starring Boris Karloff.
A scientist is trying to cure a woman's polio and an ape escapes from the circus. After killing the ape, the scientist uses it's skin as a disguise in order to murder people and harvest their spinal fluid for his polio cure.
The plot was stupid and I cared not for the characters. The editing or audio was poor quality because there were needle-drop thump/clicks frequently. There being nothing to notice and write about speaks for itself. I rate this bad. Don't watch it.
An American swashbuckling film directed by Rowland V. Lee.
When the heir to an empire is arranged to be wed to a corrupt military general, a man who has fallen in love with her after a chance meeting joins a rebel group and plays the hero in order to save her and her kingdom.
The characters were identifiable and I could follow the plot decently through the whole film. It was shot well, as was the case in many older films like this, but not astoundingly so. The style was obviously from the time in which it was made, but not quite as dated as other films of that era. The audio and video were just good enough quality to suffer through. The pacing was a off, as it felt exceedingly long and drawn out (maybe partially due to style and quality). Overall, it was just a tad on the dry and boring side. I'm rating it o.k. because there weren't serious problems.
A British fantasy adventure directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda and William Cameron Menzies, starring Sabu.
A dethroned king and a young thief have adventures while saving the kingdom from a corrupt vizier and rescuing the princess.
The version of this film that I saw did NOT look like it was made in 1940. It was, however, the correct film starring Sabu. The video looked like it had been restored or augmented in some way because the colors were bright and the definition extremely clear in most scenes. The scenes that didn't look so great featured special effects like the flying horse or the genie. In these scenes, you can see the air around a character where they had been cut from a different shot and pasted onto another. The plot and characters were definitely interesting and the film had super-massive loads of style. The pacing was just about right because nothing seemed rushed or took overly long. I thought that the entertainment value was quite good because I like the fantasy genre in general. I'm rating it good and it's a keeper.
An American war film directed by Terry O. Morse, starring Boris Karloff.
Spies spy on spies who are pretending to be spies from the other side to trick the spies that are spying on them.
What a plotless load of crap. The characters were unidentifiable, plot was murky, pacing slow and no style. I can see why it's public domain. I'm rating it bad.
An American comedy by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.A newspaperman's ex-wife comes by the office to tell him that she is marrying another man and moving away. He talks his way into lunch with them and then talks the ex-wife into working on one last story for the newspaper. From there, everything happens so fast it isn't worth outlining here.This was like a Dragonforce solo in black and white. The events happen fast and the characters talk fast. There wasn't a second of silence or a moment of rest in the whole thing. It's unique and I like it, so I'm rating it good. Whoever let the copyright run out on this should regret it, but I thank them now.
A comedy by Charlie Chaplin.A soldier saves the life of a commander during world war 1, but their plane crashes and the soldier ends up in the hospital. When he gets out, he goes back to the barber shop that he owns to find that fascists have taken over the country and are terrorizing his neighborhood. The commander who he saved is leading the local brigade and stops them from being a menace there. For this, he is accused of treason and the soldier and commander are both hunted down and thrown in a concentration camp.This film is a parody of the Nazi party during world war 2. They used absurd names for people and places for the value of mockery. Adolf Hitler became Adenoid Hynkle, Goebbels became Garbitsch and the swastika was turned into a "double cross" (which is an evil enough symbol on it's own. Have you ever been double crossed?). There is some slapstick and physical comedy, but not to the degree that I've come to expect from Mr. Chaplin. I always compare to The Adventurer which was about 20 minutes of ass kicking. I'm rating this poor because I had a hard time watching it and had to take it on in chunks.
