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The Little Giant, starring Lou Costello and Bud Abbott - movie poster

Little Giant (1946)

Abbott and Costello in Little Giant (1946) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello

Little Giant was an enormous change for both Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It is different from most of their comedies in several respects – Abbott and Costello are not a team, indeed are not even friends. Rather than relying on gags and verbal humor, it is a situational comedy, with an accent on physical humor. Although a comedy, it is much deeper than their standard comedies, with Lou Costello playing a character who tugs at your heart strings – and tugs hard.

Little Giant (1946)
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Mari Blanchard

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars is not one of the better-known Abbott and Costello movies, which is too bad.   It’s more of a children’s film, similar to Jack and the Beanstalk – but with some “eye candy” for the adults as well.   The basic premise is that Orville (Lou Costello) is the oldest orphan at an orphanage, who is assigned to help Lester (Bud Abbott) load equipment onto an experimental spaceship.   Predictably enough, they accidentally launch into space; unpredictably enough, they land back on Earth in New Orleans, and mistake the annual Mardi Gras parade for an alien civilization on Mars.  They actually spend a fair amount of time interacting with the “aliens” at Mardi Gras, with the expected frightened reactions as the costumed revelers rotate their “heads,” etc.

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)
Pardon My Sarong color photo - Lou Costello, Bud Abbott

Pardon my Sarong (1942)

Editorial review of Abbot and Costello‘s Pardon My Sarong, courtesy of Amazon.com:

Abbott & Costello travel to the South Seas in this gag-filled exotic comedy. Screwball bus drivers Algy (Abbott) and Wellington (Costello) travel off the course yacht. A hurricane detours the craft to an uncharted island, inhabited by innocent natives and a sinister Dr. Varnoff (Lionel Atwill). Mistaken for a legendary god, Wellington is betrothed to a beautiful native girl (Nan Wynn), in the hilarious “Tree of Truth” scene.

Pardon My Sarong color photo - Lou Costello, Bud Abbott
Pardon My Sarong color photo – Lou Costello, Bud Abbott

Chosen to appease an angry volcano god, Wellington learns the volcano has been rigged by Varnoff and his men who plan to collect the gullible natives’ sacred jewel. Rising to the occasion, Wellington vanquishes the villain with feats of unbelievable athletic agility in this delightful South Seas caper.

Pardon my Sarong (1942)
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945)

Abbottt and Costello in Hollywood movie poster

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood is classic Abbott and Costello in the very best sense.   The movie begins with Bud Abbott, who has gone to barber school, conning Lou Costello out of his money.  Bud is giving Lou lessons on how to shave a customer, using a balloon with lather as a shaving dummy.   Bud is using the handle to ‘shave’ the balloon, while making sure that Lou is using the blade, so that Lou is constantly popping the balloon, and having to keep paying Bud for more shaving lessons.Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945)

In the Navy, starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Powell

In the Navy

In the Navy (1941) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Powell, the Andrews Sisters, Claire Dodd

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In the Navy - Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, police officer

 Bud Abbott  and  Lou Costello‘s follow up after the amazing success of  Buck Privates  was  In the Navy. Which actually did better than Buck Privates. Like their previous film, Shemp Howard and the Andrews Sisters provide a comic foil and musical interludes, respectively. In a nutshell, Abbott and Costello join the Navy. Then, they get involved in a romantic subplot with Dick Powell. Along the way, they do do some of their most famous routines. These include a version of the  con artist shell game using lemons, and  Lou demonstrating his clownish math skills by trying to prove that 28 divided by 7 equals 13 — this bit alone is worth the price of admission.

In the Navy
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, starring Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Glenn Strange

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Glenn Strange,  Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph

I admit to being a fan of both Abbott and Costello, as well as the Universal monster movies of the times. Thankfully, in this movie, both sides are treated respectfully and appropriately. The monsters are frightening, and act true to character, and are not caricatures used for a quick laugh. In the same way, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play their normal, everyman characters. With Bud being the straight man, who is confused by his bumbling pal Lou’s success with two different beautiful women. Neither of whom is what they seem to be.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
Here Come the Co-Eds - Bud Abbott and Lou Costello

Here Come the Co-Eds

Here Come the Co-Eds  (1945) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in a publicity photo for "Here Come the Co-Eds"In  Here Come the Co-Eds  Bud Abbott and  Lou Costello star as two down-on-their-luck individuals who find jobs as caretakers at Bixby College, which is facing bankruptcy. After winning a large sum of money in a wrestling match against the “Masked Marvel”.  Who was supposed to be their friend, McGurk, who was going to throw the match.  But McGurk’s replaced instead at the last minute by Strangler Johnson, played by  Lon Chaney Jr.   Despite Lou’s being outclassed, he wins in a fluke, and  Bud and Lou decide to help the school out by placing a large bet on the girls basketball team, who are massive underdogs.Here Come the Co-Eds

One Night in the Tropics - Bud Abbott, Lou Costello

One Night in the Tropics

DVD review of One Night in the Tropics (1940), the first Abbott and Costello movie, starring Bud Abbot, Lou Costello

By all rights, One Night in the Tropics shouldn’t be an Abbott and Costello movie at all.   It was a typical 1940’s romantic musical comedy, starring Allan Jones (perhaps most famous for  Showboat as well as his work with the Marx Brothers in  A Day at the Races and  A Night at the Opera), Bob Cummings and Nancy Kelly.   However, Universal Pictures had just put a pair of radio comedians under contract and wanted to give the pair, known as  Abbott and Costello, a small part in the movie as comic relief, to see how they would do.

One Night in the Tropics