Abbott y Costello contra la poli

Set in 1920s where Costello buys a studio from a conman then spends half the film travelling with Abbott across America then the last half working as a stuntman ina studio where for some reason they presume the conman is hiding - how they come to this conclusion is never explained. This film has boring spots such as the mistaken identity bit where Abbott dresses as a burglar and Costello the cop where naturally an identical looking burgular and cop are prowling. The highlight is of course the comic chase at the end which is certainly fun to watch. Fred Clark is good as the conman. Listen for the background laughter when costello falls over in Mr Snavely's office. When the boys are in the train, Costello looks out and reads the sign and says "Harry, we're in Los Angeles already" from the camera's angle this looks true but Costello's head is right out of the door so there is no reason for him to make this mistake which don't make sense. Also When they jump into the carraige full of cows and Costello keeps boucing out look for the trampoline he is jumping on and when they buy the studio, the old man who greets them says"This is one of the 1st motion picture studio pictures ever built. It dates back to 1895, it isn't used anymore" Maybe that is the case in 1955 when the film was made but the film was set in the 1920s so the studio wouldn't be that old. The girl in the cashier's window at the start of the film is Costello's 15 year old daughter. This film isn't too bad, they made worse. It just isn't very funny.

Good movies about the early days of movies are scarce, which is strange and disappointing considering what a wealth of good material exists about that era. Peter Bogdanovich's NICKLEODEON started off pretty well but descended into trite soap opera before it finished. One of the best movies about silent movies is this one, maybe because it has a real feel for the time and the characters and presents them with a certain degree of authenticity. All that aside it's also a lot of fun. Bud and Lou are on form, the supporting cast (especially the great Fred Clark) is good, and the stunts are funny and well executed with nary a CG shot in sight. One of the best things about it is the lively musical score, in part by an uncredited Henry Mancini who recycled some of it for the chase scenes in Blake Edwards THE GREAT RACE. Recommended for slapstick fans.

There is a real change in the role portrayed by Bud Abbott in this picture. In past films, he has had the role of Costello's straight man for dialogue scenes. He played a sharp, smart, heavy. No one was meant to take this seriously, but Abbott played the bad guy! He usually gets the best of Costello. (This is not true of their famous "Dice Routine", "The Lemon Bit" and that oh so satisfying conclusion of "Africa Screams".) When it came to physical comedy, Costello was on his own, with Abbott nowhere to be found. But starting with this film, and continuing with "A & C Meet the Mummy" and "Dance with Me, Henry", Bud Abbott has become a buffoon. He takes more pratfalls in this film and in "The Mummy" than he did in all of his other films combined. Now it is obvious that a stunt man is doing the physical bits for him, but it is nice to see Abbott become funny. Why didn't this happen sooner? Maybe it was Lou Costello's ego. Maybe it was Bud Abbott's illness. Maybe Abbott just didn't care and let Costello carry the team.

With "Keystone Kops", the writers have finally made Bud Abbott funny. He tries to be gruff and mean, but it just isn't in him. He tries to show that he is braver and smarter than Costello, but no one believes him. There is finally some depth to the team. Costello is still silly and innocent, but now Abbott is a phony to the world. In the past he was able to fool everyone but Lou.

Now I am not saying that I do not enjoy the previous A&C efforts. Some of them are brilliant comedies and John Grant's routines are always marvelous. However, it took so much time for the characters of Bud and Lou to grow. I only wish there were more films to see their metamorphosis.

Abbott & Costello as Harry Pierce and Willie Piper are scammed into buying the Thomas Edison studio lot by a gentleman named Gorman (Fred Clark), who takes them for $5000. Together they decide to follow Gorman's trail to Hollywood where Gorman has taken up the identity of a foreign film director named Sergei Toumanoff. Predictably Pierce & Piper wind up involved in the shooting of one of Toumanoff's film and end up becoming stunt doubles for his films, while Toumanoff, who's really Gorman, tries to have the bungling Piper & Pierce done away with permanently before they realize who he really is.

Those looking for The Keystone Kops here might be somewhat disappointed as the antics of the Kops aren't exactly here in full force although there's an entertaining Kops style chase towards the end. Also this is a lesser effort from Abbott & Costello, whose routines had started to become predictable by this point in time. Still there's good fun to be found here especially if one is more capable of suspending disbelief and just having fun with what's on the screen. My favorite moments here include:

the opening silent movie sequence with Costello's Piper being emotionally affected by the dramatic story of a woman on the run from some nasty villains and the following scene outside the theater where Abbott's Pierce is the one who for once winds up in trouble.

the mistaken identity police-robber sequence throughout Gorman's house. Clark is quite funny in this scene which is a classic Abbott & Costello "who's who" routine all the way.

A&C Meet the Kops is a funny movie, then and now. Bud and Lou were funny men, and their best film work was done at U-I in the postwar years, starting with their Meet Frankenstein classic. All their U-I Meet Somebody movies were funny, some were very funny. This one's a hoot all the way. I saw it with Power and Hayward in UNTAMED, Fox Redwood, April 15, 1955. Can't get better value for money than that. I was 16, am now 63. Maybe you have to be really old to get it, but youngsters, these guys are better than Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller all put together. No, really, they are.