I watch it every Halloween.
Yeah, they could have put Today and Tomorrow along with Yesterday in the outfield with Why & Because as the battery.
When Chin-Ling Hu, the Taiwanese baseball player, made it to the major leagues for the Dodgers and got his first hit, Vin Scully was delighted. He said, “I have been waiting to say this forever…”
Oh, wow. I just didn’t a little reading and found out Abbott and Costello really didn’t get along all that well while working together. Does any artistic duo like each other?
Would’ve been funny if he would’ve said, “I have been waiting to say this forever…Chin-Ling’s on first!”
I’ve heard modern comedians (e.g., Conan O’Brien) point to Bud Abbott as the gold standard in straight men, and the reason that in the vaudeville era (and for a time after) the straight man was paid more.
Per Conan, the straight man made the bit move. He established the timing and was the foil, obviously. The comic mugged. And all the while the audience doesn’t even notice the real-time direction, it’s so masterful and organic. And Abbott was an artist in this regard, at least according to O’Brien.
Can you name many comedies from the 1940s that were funnier? Or 1940s radio gags that were funnier than “Who’s on First?”. These things have to be measured by the standards and culture of the times which were quite different than ours.
I like the A&C movie “The Time of Their Lives”. It’s got an actual plot, and isn’t just a bunch of bits strung together. Funny little flick! The Time of Their Lives (1946) - IMDb
Excuse me, do you have 2 tens for a five?
I saw it done in Latin at a school talent show:
“Quid est nomen eius in primo?”
“‘Quid’ est nomen eius in secundo!”
“Nescio!”
“Tertio!”
They did a TV series in the 1950s. It’s available on Freevee. There’s a lot of slapstick, which wasn’t really their forte, but beyond that, they used the show to resurrect their classic routines from their stage performances. Many, like “Who’s on First,” involve rather intricate wordplay, and are still funny (IMO) if you can keep up with them. “Susquehanna Hat Company” is one that I’ve always found hilarious.
Their movies varied in quality, but even in the weaker ones, there’s something to enjoy. The “Pick and Shovel” routine in “A&C Meet the Mummy,” which they supposedly improvised on set, always makes me laugh, and it’s only a little over a minute long.
One of their movies is a departure from the others, because while both of them are in it, their characters don’t play opposite each other. It’s called “The Time of Their Lives,” and is nothing less than a gem.
Bud Abbott was the best straight man in history. When Costello went off on a tangent, Abbott would deftly pull him back in. And in doing so, Abbott was very funny himself.
There’s an urban legend that they hated each other but Lou’s daughter says otherwise.
I’d name Hellzapoppin’. I don’t think it has much of a reputation today, but when I watch it imagine how weird and powerful it must have been for 40s audiences.
The show ran 1400 performances on Broadway, a huge deal when most shows ran for a year. Olson and Johnson, a now forgotten comic duo, led a revue of songs and madness, breaking the fourth wall and involving the audience in gags. When it worked it was supposed to be hysterical. Nobody will ever know because as a movie they had to change everything and were restricted by the screen. It’s very silly and not for anyone who looks down on slapstick, although this is slapstick done right, the Marx Brothers if Chico and Harpo were in charge.
With Tony Pappenfus and John Voldstad, as Darryl and Darryl, respectively.
Not sure on the spelling; I wanted to post solely from memory. I think Voldstad was in Stripes as General Stillman’s (John Larroquette) aide.
I’ve often thought that Bob Newhart was more of a straight man than a comedian. A lot of his routines were conversations where we only heard his side and had to imagine half the dialog. Even when he worked alone the other guy got all the funny lines.
This thread prompted me to look for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein on YouTube. And I’m also reading the Wikipedia article about them. I was surprised that their first film was in 1940. I would have thought earlier. I kind of thought of them as contemporaries of Laurel & Hardy, who started in the silent era.
In a RPG , when we go into a monastery my PC always tries to work in a “Hey Abbott”- sadly, hardly anyone gets it.
Also in on D&D game we were ridning and the DM was a stickler for “realism” meaning that for our warhorses they needed oats and such once in a while, not just graze. So, when we were riding up to a castel, i asked her 9the DM) if we could get horse food there, and she said 'Of course- so my PC said “Yonder lies the castle of my fodder” (Tony Curtis - who didnt really say those exact words, but still) Half the table got it and laughed themselves sick the rest was confused.
I saw it on TV when I was a little kid, and it freaked me the hell out.
“Funnier” is in the eyes and ears of the viewer. For me, all of the following are funnier than any flick with A&C:
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
The Great McGinty (1940)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
All Through the Night (1942)
I Married a Witch (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
A Foreign Affair (1948)