Abbott y Costello salvados por un pelo

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Abbott and Costello and don't dislike any of their movies. This is not one of their very best but is enjoyable nonetheless. The coolest part of the film is the fact that it's centered around the movie business and pays homage to the silent comedies of years before. There is a cameo by Mack Sennett and of course, the 50's remakes of the Keystone Kops! Bud and Lou are two pals turned hobos after they are tricked into "buying" Edison theater. After they are tricked, they pursue the crook and end up working in the Hollywood movie scene. In their later movies, Bud Abbottt's persona changed a lot and it is seen here. He becomes a lot nastier, more gruff, and starts to take more of a part in the physical aspect of the comedy. Although I enjoy his earlier years a bit more, it's all good. Lou is unchanging and as amusing as ever. Also, I think Fred Clark deserves credit as the villain (especially in his "cover" of the flamboyant Sergei Toumanoff!). Without him, the whole burglar gag wouldn't have worked at all. Finally, the ending chase sequence is great! The use of the zany Keystone Kops is wonderful and the 50's versions of the icons do a great job. Look for the part where Bud and Lou ride through the stack of hay. Hilarious!! Well worth a look for A&C fan as well as fans of classic comedy.

I've seen 28 A&C movies, and I have to say that this comedy team is consistently enjoyable. The only movie that's no good is their last ("Dance w/Me, Henry"); all the others range from fall-over hilarious to innocently droll. In a couple of films Costello seems distracted and campy, but in most he manages to be sympathetic, as he is in this one.

I have especially enjoyed sorting through their later "lesser" movies, like "…Go to Mars" and "…Go to Alaska", which I found quite entertaining, and I am entertained by this movie for most of the same reasons: Costello's cherubic character seems more warm and ingratiating as the movies go along. To me, the more relaxed timing in their acting and partnership makes them more engaging. Instead of so much verbal patter, the later movies emphasize character, and may actually be funnier and more appealing to anyone speaking English as a foreign language (Cantinflas movies, with their long stretches of static action, are miserably boring to watch if you don't know Spanish).

In "…Keystone Cops", I found myself once again watching a cartoon-like feature-length movie that just happened to have, miraculously, Abbott and Costello as main characters. How do you go wrong with that, especially if you have an 8-year-old mind in a 56-year-old body? Nope, there are none of the classic verbal routines here, but how many of those can you watch over and over again? A&C are plenty amusing as protagonists—a classic duo like Laurel and Hardy, and although they did not make me roll with laughter, the movie certainly kept me smiling with its convivial mood and enjoyable cast.

The movie has good production values, with lots of real out-of-doors shots, steam engines, single prop airplanes, and lots and lots of stunts. It is more of an "action film" than some of their other films; in fact, it's worth watching just to see the stunt men, who are really fabulous. Generally I am offended when one of these films stops being an A&C movie and becomes a stunt-man movie (as Buster Keaton famously said, "Stunt men aren't funny", meaning they don't convey character). But here, the director sets up the stunts so clearly (sometimes frightening, like the train-in-the-tunnel), that they come across as very funny events. The actors playing the Keystone Cops are stupendous. I had to stop-motion parts of the final chase because I couldn't believe what they were doing.

The film has an excellent final joke.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that in some movies, like this one, the lip sync is way off during some of the long shots?

Costello plays Tubby, a fan of the Nickelodeon flickers, sometime around 1914. Abbott is Slim, who convinces Tubby to buy a motion picture studio with his aunt's money. The duo are conned by Joe Gorman (Fred Clark) who follow him to California. Will the duo catch up to Gorman, or will Gorman get the best of them?

"Meet the Keystone Kops" is probably the last fun film Abbott and Costello made. It is a surprise, considering that Costello just recovered from a major illness. Indeed, Costello looks thinner than in any of his previous films, so calling his character "Tubby" is somewhat off the mark.

Both Abbott and Costello are at their slapstick best. This too is a surprise, considering that Costello supposedly told Abbott in an earlier time not to slap him anymore!

Fred Clark is deliciously evil as Joe Gorman and is one of Abbott and Costello's finest foils. Clark's skill as an actor, coupled with his sense of comedy, are wonderful to see.

7 out of 10.

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.