Abbott & Costello were brilliant at what they did. Like them or not, they were experts in their chosen field. The proof is in the routines, in the delivery, in the timing. Set aside the physical stuff and concentrate on those methodical word games like “Who’s On First?” or “Mustard.” There was no greater straight man than Bud Abbott; he could set up a gag, hold composure, and bring Lou back on track if a cue was missed or a word miscalculated. All smooth as silk. They may have been rough-edged burlesque performers, but they were absolute disciplinarians in their craft. They were just plain funny. And you can listen to all the same routines over and over again and still laugh. I don’t know if they are in the same tier as other comedy teams like Laurel & Hardy, but too often you are comparing apples and oranges. The Marx Brothers are in a league of their own, just as the other comics have their own style and approach to a funny line or gesture. But if we have to compare comedy duos, Martin and Lewis don’t even belong in the same building, much less room, as Bud and Lou.
To me, Dean & Jerry didn’t have a great bag of tricks or even much of a “set” act to play off of. Dean would come out and sing a song; Jerry would run out and interrupt him. That’s it. The supposed humor was in watching Lewis “mug” and act like a spastic while Dean stared off into space. I don’t regard that as particularly brilliant or clever– or inventive. And it tends to limit one’s attention span to about ten minutes under the best of circumstances. I don’t understand how these guys could be so successful for ten years with so little substance. Maybe this kind of free-for-all frivolity works in a crowded nightclub after several drinks or post-war America was just ripe for uninhibited, unhinged, juvenile behavior in their entertainers. I saw their movies as a kid but can’t understand their popularity now. Not one of their films stands as a testament to comedy longevity. I like Living It Up solely because it’s now a time-piece and visual touchstone for a New York that no longer exists.
My film teacher at Columbia College had a low regard for Charles Barton and Charles Lamont (directors of the A&C vehicles), but I didn’t understand that; other than the fact that they’re standing in proximity of Bud and Lou– whom he also disliked. You would hardly confuse either of these journeymen directors with Orson Welles, but the idea is, they both did well enough by the material and the talent they were working with. They functioned at their level, usually very nicely, and nothing beyond that was expected of them. Would naysayers feel better about the level of creativity or be more accepting of Abbott & Costello if Billy Wilder directed a few of their efforts? Of course not! As fans of Bud & Lou know, the main appeal is watching them do an old, established stage routine where it didn’t matter WHO the director was… just so someone bothered to turn on the camera and mike.
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein is without doubt the greatest horror spoof ever made. It will never be topped. Some young punk may try to infer Young Frankenstein is a serious rival for that title, but not to me. What makes it so perfect is that everyone other than Lou is playing it so straight. Barton does a fine job of blocking the action and setting up “reaction” shots for the maximum effect. Compare it with the Martin & Lewis horror spoof Scared Stiff— brutal stuff. And how much more can you stack the deck in favor of Martin & Lewis than offering them a remake of a comedy masterpiece like Ghost Breakers— same studio, same script, same director, same sets, same music, same atmosphere, etc., and you still wind up with garbage-on-celluloid. The funniest performer in Stiff is probably Earl Holliman as the elevator operator, and he has no dialogue and is on camera for about five seconds. Martin has the Bob Hope-delivery of a corpse. Lewis couldn’t shine Willie Best’s shoes. (Willie gives one of the funniest performances ever in Ghost Breakers. Almost reduces Hope to his straight man.)
And then there’s that RKO duo I discovered on the late, late movie on Channel 7 Chicago. Wheeler & Woolsey may be an acquired taste for many viewers. So many of their vehicles seem quaint and dated in that early-talkie fashion, but I can still experience a good laugh in Kentucky Kernels or Cockeyed Cavaliers or especially Hips Hips Hooray, so I’m not one going to denounce them the way my film teacher had. Besides, Robert Woolsey was a master of setting up the bon mots, or executing them outright. Their best film, in the Duck Soup tradition, is Diplomaniacs— well worth searching for. I’d take any of their films over that eminent team of Clark & McCullough or, even worse, the Ritz Brothers.
~MCH