Maxie Zeus
08-22-2001, 07:04 PM
Welcome to ToonZone Movie Club (E), a forum devoted to viewing and discussing films selected and recommended by ToonZone members. For newbies and others just joining us, I'll start with a little explanation.
Each Friday we will be launching a new thread, inviting ToonZone members and visitors to watch a film selected from lists of titles we have received; we will then spend the following week discussing that film. We choose films that have not been widely seen by our members, so that the greatest number of us can enjoy a new cinematic experience, as recommended by some of our other members.
The (E) in the title of this (and future) threads stands for "everbody," films suitable for most ages and sensibilities. No film in such a thread will be rated higher than PG-13, or contain material that would merit a higher rating. The films will also tend more toward the popular end of the taste spectrum. Not all the movies will be "fun" types, and it will have its share of black-and-white cinematography and/or subtitles. But most anyone should be able to appreciate and enjoy the offerings made here (We also maintain parallel threads--the (M) threads--for films intended for more mature ages or palates.)
* * * *
This is our first outing, and it comes a bit earlier than I had planned. But I have to leave town for the weekend, and preferred an early Club debut to a late one. I've chosen to start us off with a pair of off-kilter horror films. And the (E) selection is probably going to be more juvenile than most will be in the future.
It's "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were already big vaudeville and radio stars when they moved to the big screen. And they were a smash there, too, as their service comedies" "Buck Privates," "In the Navy" and "Keep 'Em Flying" racked up huge grosses when the US prepared to enter World War II. But their star power had faded badly after the war and Universal was looking for a way to freshen up the formula. Coincidentally, another genre that Universal had pioneered, the Hollywood horror film, had also fallen into disrepute. So producer Robert Arthur had the bright idea to put them together. It sounded crazy, but it worked beautifully, and was a box-office sensation.
It's all the more amazing, really, because neither part of this bizarre exercise in cross-fertilization makes any concession to the other. The monsters in the film are played absolutely straight, and by the standard actors, too: Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman, and Glenn Strange as the Monster of Frankenstein. And the two comedians continue to do their usual vaudevillian schtick, only this time in creepy castles and wax museums. The two aspects even augment each other: Costello's terrified antics are all the funnier because the menace is so real, and the monsters seem all the more malignant because they are trying to harm as innocent a buffoon as you can imagine.
The film is thus a "two-fer," a record of one of the most accomplished comedy teams in Hollywood history, and of Hollywood horror in its "Golden Age." But don't think of it as being of merely historical value. It is a very funny film, and in places still genuinely suspenseful. Fans of "Freakazoid!" will also recognize certain running gags that Paul Dini borrowed for "House of Freakazoid."
"Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" is available on both VHS and DVD, and is widely stocked in the Comedy, Classics or Classic Comedy sections of good video stores.
Each Friday we will be launching a new thread, inviting ToonZone members and visitors to watch a film selected from lists of titles we have received; we will then spend the following week discussing that film. We choose films that have not been widely seen by our members, so that the greatest number of us can enjoy a new cinematic experience, as recommended by some of our other members.
The (E) in the title of this (and future) threads stands for "everbody," films suitable for most ages and sensibilities. No film in such a thread will be rated higher than PG-13, or contain material that would merit a higher rating. The films will also tend more toward the popular end of the taste spectrum. Not all the movies will be "fun" types, and it will have its share of black-and-white cinematography and/or subtitles. But most anyone should be able to appreciate and enjoy the offerings made here (We also maintain parallel threads--the (M) threads--for films intended for more mature ages or palates.)
* * * *
This is our first outing, and it comes a bit earlier than I had planned. But I have to leave town for the weekend, and preferred an early Club debut to a late one. I've chosen to start us off with a pair of off-kilter horror films. And the (E) selection is probably going to be more juvenile than most will be in the future.
It's "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were already big vaudeville and radio stars when they moved to the big screen. And they were a smash there, too, as their service comedies" "Buck Privates," "In the Navy" and "Keep 'Em Flying" racked up huge grosses when the US prepared to enter World War II. But their star power had faded badly after the war and Universal was looking for a way to freshen up the formula. Coincidentally, another genre that Universal had pioneered, the Hollywood horror film, had also fallen into disrepute. So producer Robert Arthur had the bright idea to put them together. It sounded crazy, but it worked beautifully, and was a box-office sensation.
It's all the more amazing, really, because neither part of this bizarre exercise in cross-fertilization makes any concession to the other. The monsters in the film are played absolutely straight, and by the standard actors, too: Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman, and Glenn Strange as the Monster of Frankenstein. And the two comedians continue to do their usual vaudevillian schtick, only this time in creepy castles and wax museums. The two aspects even augment each other: Costello's terrified antics are all the funnier because the menace is so real, and the monsters seem all the more malignant because they are trying to harm as innocent a buffoon as you can imagine.
The film is thus a "two-fer," a record of one of the most accomplished comedy teams in Hollywood history, and of Hollywood horror in its "Golden Age." But don't think of it as being of merely historical value. It is a very funny film, and in places still genuinely suspenseful. Fans of "Freakazoid!" will also recognize certain running gags that Paul Dini borrowed for "House of Freakazoid."
"Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" is available on both VHS and DVD, and is widely stocked in the Comedy, Classics or Classic Comedy sections of good video stores.