Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

One of the better later entries of the A&C series. The boys appear motivated which was not always the case as their careers wound down, (they separated in 1957). They've got two productive shticks here—the Mardi Gras and the planet Venus. Those costumed Mardi Gras characters are a real hoot and a good chance for Costello to react in his inimitable way. The clownish figures also show how close at times the comedic can be to the grotesque. And catch that parade of pulchritude inhabiting Venus. I'm getting my outer space reservations right away. Looks like Universal hired every tall, shapely starlet in Hollywood for this sequence, including notables Ekberg and Hyer. Then too, the special effects may be cheesy, as expected, but they are elaborate. But what's with the fat Jack Khruschen character, Harry. He comes across as a dopey counterpart to Costello, as though one dim-witted funnyman is not enough. I wonder what the story is there. As in most slapstick, plot doesn't mean much here, just a rack to hang the sketches on. All in all, it's an entertaining 80-minutes of A&C nonsense, with the boys in pretty good form.

Bud and Lou play maintenance men who accidentally blast off in an experimental rocket. Despite the movie's title, they don't actually go to Mars, they go to Venus -- and only during the last twenty-five minutes of the film. Before they get there they waste thirty minutes of the story by landing in New Orleans -- which they think is Mars because of all the weird Mardi Gras costumes (a painfully unfunny gag).

Two escaped criminals stowaway aboard the ship and try to hi-jack the rocket after a second accidental lift-off, but the boys outwit them and the finally lands on Venus.

Admittedly Venus is worth the wait; all the Venusians are gorgeous contestants from the Miss Universe Pageant, and their queen is Maria Blanchard (`She Devil'). The men were defeated long ago in a war with the females, but some of the girls miss them so badly that even Bud and Lou look go to them. Queen Maria wants Bud to be her king!

Anita Ekberg (Miss Sweden) is one of the gals, but you'll have to look quick to spot her. Sets, props, and special effects are excellent. Watch for several props which were also used in other Universal sci-fi films (the death ray device in `It Came from Outer Space' and the bullet car from `This Island Earth'). Not the funniest A & C comedy, but decidedly enjoyable for 1950s sci-fi fans. The prerecorded tape looks good.

This film has been referred to numerous times as "the worst of Abbott and Costello". I haven't seen that many A & C pictures so far, but from those that I HAVE seen I'd say "Comin' Round the Mountain" and "Lost in Alaska" and maybe even "Meet the Keystone Kops" are worse than this one, therefore the above statement cannot be true. The best thing about "Go to Mars" are the special effects, which are creative and at times even ingenious; before you complain about them from a "modern" perspective, consider that they are about on the same level with those of, say, "Superman IV" - and that was made 34 years later! Unfortunately, much like "Meet the Keystone Kops", this film gives you the impression that more time was spent on the technical tricks and effects than on providing enough funny material and routines for Abbott and Costello. The funniest exchange in the movie comes early on: Dr. Orvilla: "Why did you tell them that you are Dr. Orvilla?" Lou: "I didn't tell them, THEY told ME!". And although the absence of songs is welcome, the two escaped convicts who eventually join A & C in their trip to Venus get too much screen time on their own. (**)

Along with the Bowery Boys, the Three Stooges and perhaps Elvis, no one was as good at churning out motion pictures quickly and on a tight budget than Abbot and Costello. Even present day comedians such as Carol Burnett and Jerry Seinfeld have heaped praise on the boys' slapstick brand of comedy. I've always felt they were greatly underappreciated in their day. And as the years pass by, their presence on the tube has, sadly, decreased. Most kids today probably have never been exposed to the thin straight man and his rotund buddy.

I own only one A&C comedy. And this is it. Why? Maybe its because of "Allura", the queen, played by the beautiful B-movie siren Mari Blanchard. Discarding the "spell" theory one must assume the special effects are superb. And the fantasy elements are enjoyable and surprisingly well thought out and executed. The rocket ship nearly decapitates the Statue of Liberty, fails to pay the toll at the Lincoln Tunnel and scoots underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. But the movie is simply a ride through a different era: a time of comedy, scientists and space babes. Well, everyone should be afforded one guilty pleasure.

Often cited as the team's worst film (which it's not!), this will likely fall in the `guilty pleasure' category for most fans. Vigorous juvenile slapstick merges with Freudian sci-fi in this late entry for the comedy duo (only a handful of movies remained on their Universal contract). Sci-fi elements are of the Saturday matinee variety, totally implausible and full of hokum (eg. CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON). Yet somehow, this provides the appropriate blend for A&C's `dumb and dumber' charades, in which camp elements become a part of the parody and the results are unbridled fantasy nonsense (populating the planet with Miss Universe contestants only adds to the fun). Universal would soon become a heavyweight contributer to the pulp sci-fi cycle of the 50's, yet surprisingly, this surreal spoof pre-dates them all! Thus far, this film has only been issued on VHS, the quality being overall quite good, in keeping with MCA's generally high standards for this format ... however a DVD would be most welcome.