Deux nigauds chez les tueurs

There is a comment about the title of this addition to the Abbott & Costello films that is a little unfair - but only a little. Entitled ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF, some purists sniff that as Karloff is not the killer in the film, the title is as misleading as the later ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS (wherein they actually go to Venus). But the difference is that Karloff is a killer. Not only does he attempt to hypnotize Lou into committing suicide (which would enable the police to drop an investigation at a hotel where Karloff is stuck in), but he is also a former homicide case defendant who was acquitted thanks to his lawyer Amos Strickland (Nicholas Joy). No, Karloff is not the murderer of Joy, but he is a suspected murderer (the police feel that Karloff's acquittal was due to his lawyer, not to his not being the murderer). So the title is actually not a cheat.

Like WHO DONE IT? it is a murder mystery comedy, but here the suspicion against Lou (an incompetent bellhop) is more realistic than in the earlier film. Lou and Bud work at a resort hotel. Bud is the house detective. Lou is involved in an incident where he bungles badly while handling the luggage of lawyer Joy. The latter complains vociferously to the hotel manager (Alan Mowbray), who fires Costello. Lou, realizing what has caused his dismissal, actually makes a threatening statement to Joy. So when the latter is murdered, Lou is the leading suspect.

But it seems that Joy was on the verge of writing his memoirs, in which he might set the record straight about those acquittals he won. This would not be what Karloff, Roland Winters, and a few others would like - they are beginning to live down their murder trials. All of them happen to be at the resort too, so they are also suspects.

The film has some nice set pieces in it, mostly handled adroitly by Costello - such as a drag sequence where he attracts an admirer, and has to play cards with a corpse. He also, towards the conclusion, gives Abbott an unexpected scare suggesting Bud is the killer. But my two favorite pieces are when Karloff tries to hypnotize Lou, and almost gets knifed in the process, and when Lou discovers the benefits of being the chief suspect - being under house arrest in a luxury hotel has unexpected benefits through room service. After all, the state pays the bill!

Fans of ABBOTT and COSTELLO should enjoy this entry, even if the title is a bit misleading--and even if BORIS KARLOFF doesn't get to be quite as menacing as you might want him to be. He does look distinguished in that turban as a Swami who tries to put Costello into a trance so he'll believe that he's the murderer, with negative results.

Most of the action takes place at a secluded hotel where a well-known lawyer has been found murdered. Suspicion points to bellboy COSTELLO, and in a script that has ABBOTT as a house detective, you can see that poor Lou is gonna have a hard time proving his innocence...especially when dead bodies keep popping up everywhere wherever he goes.

It's not as funny as WHO DONE IT? or HOLD THAT GHOST, but considerably better than some of the later stuff they did toward the end of their career.

Enjoyable enough nonsense for their fans.

A well-known attorney is murdered at the Lost Caverns Hotel. Murder evidence points to Freddie Phillips(Lou Costello), a bellhop. and his friend, Casey Edwards(Bud Abbott), is the hotel detective. Many murders are committed and casts more suspicion on the bellhop. Swami Talpur(Boris Karloff) tries to hypnotize Freddie into signing a false confession, and then killing himself. However, the bellhop's below average mentality prevents this from happening. Because of the great success of "Abbott & Costello" Meet Frankenstein the year before, Universal decided to team their former horror star, Karloff with their top comics. Boris Karloff played himself perfectly and with the great talents of Bud & Lou, it is a must see Classic Comedy. It is well worth viewing and owning!

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello star in this classic "who done it" movie. The team provides their usual funny pratfalls and mix-ups but along the way they manage to provide a classic theme to this movie. With Abbott and Costello, Karloff managing his way into the picture as the grueling possibility of the killer.

This may be Abbott and Costello's best attempt to provide some new material into their excellent routines. Costello's character, Phillips is mainly accused of murdering a well known lawyer after they have a public disagreement.

Phillips arrives at the lawyers hotel rooms to apologize but he finds that the lawyer has been murdered. Abbott goes far and above the the call of friendship to prove his friends innocents but who really did do it? Watch and see.

Much of Abbott and Costello's late 40s/early 50s output put them in parodies of various film genres--this one is a parody of murder mysteries. I saw this as a child and liked it, although I was let down that Boris Karloff had such an insignificant role. Now that it's out on DVD as part of the third A&C boxset, I'm seeing it again, and I still think it's quite funny. There are many well-paced comic set-ups and the boys don't look bored as they do in some of their later vehicles. No great analysis is needed for a film like this--it's just classic comedy and has held up very well.