The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, May 18-24
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Directed by Charles Barton
At the time of release, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello (the “Who’s On First” dudes) were as recognizable as their ghastly co-stars—Lon Chaney’s Wolf Man, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, and Glenn Strange’s monster. This being the last in the wave of cinema’s original shared universe, both camps demanded rejuvenation. Though seemingly unlikely bedfellows, they merged through a kindred flair for the visual and physical; the mugging and slapstick of the comics, the scowls and lurching of the ghouls. And with total performative commitment on all fronts, Meet Frankenstein’s chills age better than more self-serious Universal horrors.
Himself a vaudeville vet, director Barton trusted Abbott and Costello’s chemistry and rhythms to focus on the less familiar. Utilizing lavish backlot sets and bombastic music, Barton seamlessly fits the burlesque yuks and often abusive relationship into an ongoing storyline: the Wolf-Man in desperate pursuit of Dracula and the monster. It only so happens that Abbott and Costello are the guys to help. The B-plot becoming A, this studio outing becomes not only a masterclass in repurposing story, but also gender-swapping: Lenore Albert goes from love interest to mad scientist, while Costello supplies the shrill shrieks. Max Kyburz (May 22, 1pm at the Metrograph’s “Old and Improved,” in a new 35mm restoration from the Library of Congress)