Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Director: Charles Barton, Walter Lantz Run Time: 83 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 1948
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Bud Abbott, Glenn Strange, Lon Chaney Jr., Lou Costello
Country: United States
Language: English
About the film:
Selected for preservation as a part of the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board in 2001.
In the first of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s horror vehicles for Universal Pictures, the inimitable comic duo star as railway baggage handlers in northern Florida. When a pair of crates belonging to a house of horrors museum are mishandled by Wilbur (Lou Costello), the museum’s director, Mr. MacDougal (Frank Ferguson), demands that they deliver them personally so that they can be inspected for insurance purposes, but Lou’s friend Chick (Bud Abbott) has grave suspicions.
“This is one of the best of all the Abbott and Costello features.”
—Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
About the filmmakers:
Charles Barton was an American film director. He first entered the industry at 15, acting as an extra in silent films. Barton began directing his own feature films in 1934 with the film Wagon Wheels, which he made for Paramount. That same year, Barton won the Academy Award for Best Assistant Director on a Paramount feature. In 1945, he began working for Universal, where he directed 14 features over 11 years, including six Abbott & Costello features. Barton is best known for his work on the fan-favorite film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), as well as the final Abbott and Costello film, Dance with Me, Henry (1956).
Walter Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, director, and producer who has directed over 230 short and feature films. He was the founder of the animation studio Walter Lantz Productions—a studio famous for producing iconic animated series like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1928-1938), Andy Panda (1939-1949), Woody Woodpecker (1941-1972), and Chilly Willy (1953-1972). 10 of Lantz’s short films were nominated for Academy Awards, and at the 1979 Academy Awards Ceremony he was presented with an Honorary Award for bringing joy and laughter to every part of the world through his unique animated motion pictures. In 1986, Lantz was honored with a Star on the Walk of Fame for his work in film. Walter Lantz directed the animation sequences in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), though he is uncredited in the film.
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