Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops

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.

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.

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?

Well, this is far from classic A&C. Basicly, it's a silly romp with a lot of dumb skits. That being said, I absolutely love this movie. It is a personal sentimental favorite. The use of modern Universal stuntmen to act as the Keystone Cops, and the appearance of Mack Sennett himself make this a movie to treasure. Don't worry about plot. Don't think about how out of place Bud and Lou seem in this. Just sit back and have fun with it. This is strictly a "ride" movie. Take the gags as they come.

All through my years growing up, I always looked forward to my local station cycling around the A&C films to when they would be showing this movie on Sunday morning.

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.