Abbott e Costello Enfrentando o Médico e o Monstro

Whenever I see this I see it through Rose-tinted Spectacles: because I first saw it as a kid nostalgia kicks in and all faults are forgiven. There's quite a few of A&C's in that list, The Lost World (1960) springs to my mind as a different another. It certainly helps because in places this is laughably bad, but of course those bits were likely thrown in just for the kids! On the other hand there are some effective atmospheric moments, the set pieces usually work and the overall production values were good. You know the story - good cop bad cop. The classic 4-round-the-chimney routine still holds up, and the very last gag in the film should leave you smiling - unless you have watched this movie all the way through against your will.

Over here, it's fashionable and even de rigueur for film critics (and buffs) to denigrate the entire A&C canon as anything from utterly worthless to as unfunny as death (no kidding!) along with Britain's wartime box office no.1, George Formby. Without watching a single film sometimes. Pity the blinkered high brows as not being quite complete human beings, at always having to view such harmless fun in an Artistic light. Or maybe pity ordinary people who hate A&C but feel they have to force themselves to sit through this and then unload their bile.

Sure, times change (from innocent to cynical) - Jekyll/Karloff passionately says to Vicky that he'd loved her since she was a child - putting a whole new psychological slant on his persona. Has that been cut out yet? And any comedic aspect of animal experimentation has thankfully gone of course - hasn't it? A&C haven't changed, these are typical late performances from them, only with not so many memorable lines.

If you can see this simply as knockabout Jekyll and Hyde with 2 bumbling American policemen in London and nothing more you'll do OK like me.

Hi Im 13 years old. I love Abbott & Costello! Abbott And Costello Meet Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Is A Very Funny Movie! It Is About Abbott And Costello As Cops Tracking Down Mr Hyde All Over London!! Stars Boris Karloff As Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde! I Have The Movie! Mixed With Comedy And Horror It Is A Good Movie!!!

After ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN this is my next favorite of their "meet the monsters" movies. Thankfully it offers an added treat by starring horror legend Boris Karloff in the part of Dr. Jekyll, though when he's running around London as Mr. Hyde it is actually a stunt man in a monster mask. Bud and Lou are "Slim" and "Tubby" (okay, so the names aren't very original), two Americans who are hired as bumbling police bobbies in England. It isn't long before they're thrown off the force for their incompetence, but they have a plan to try and get their jobs back by trying to apprehend the "monster" that's been loose and murdering people. This would be Mr. Hyde, the savage alter ego of Dr. Jekyll (Karloff). As portrayed in this film, Jekyll is not very innocent himself, as he is rather a schemer who is madly in love with his young ward (Helen Westcott) who is young enough to be his own granddaughter! The comedy of Abbott and Costello this time relies more on slapstick gags than their trademark verbal "routines". Both comedians look like they did during their television show, as this feature was produced at the same time. If you're a fan of Boris Karloff, this film puts him to far better use than he was given in 1949's ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER. It also works as a straight monster movie along with the jokes. *** out of ****

Have just sat down and re-watched this film with my 3 kids and can definitely say that they loved it. Although by this time in their careers Abbott & Costello's top movie double-act crown was being swiped by those new kids Martin & Lewis,this movie was a box office smash when first released and still holds up well today. The mixture of comedy and horror works a treat as it had done in " Meet Frankenstein" a number of years earlier and Karloffs performance adds real class to the tomfoolery on screen. Of course the Universal depiction of turn of the century London,( all fog shrouded streets and fish & chip shops ) leaves a lot to be desired,I think it adds to the films charm in much the same way as when used in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes mysteries of the same period. Bud and Lou carry off their roles well and the romantic subplot seems not to intrude as much as in the boys earlier wartime comedies. All in all a good little film to be watched on a rainy Monday afternoon.

While not quite in the same league as A&C MEET FRANKENSTEIN (the top fright flick in the duo's career), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE does manage to have the stars cavorting in Victorian London while trying to unmask the respectable Dr. Jekyll (BORIS KARLOFF in a delightfully underplayed role) as the mad killer Hyde.

HELEN WESTCOTT and CRAIG STEVENS play the romantic leads in standard fashion but the suffragette sub-plot is really an unnecessary distraction to the overall plot. Some of the sight gags are funny but toward the last segment of the story they're overplayed for whatever laughs can be drawn from the over-the-top situations.

Best segments of the well staged and handsomely mounted film are the scenes involving a wax museum which give the film some of its creepiest moments. The first chimney top chase is well done too and even more effective than the silly final chase which depends so heavily on the comic timing it gets from Stevens, Karloff, Abbott and Costello.

All told, it's got enough plot elements to keep your attention riveted on the story--everything from a sinister laboratory to hidden passages and bookcases that hide Jekyll's sinister experiments. The gaslit Victorian era with fogbound streets is well realized on Universal's studio sets.

Not the best of the A&C comedies, but certainly among the better mirth and fright films they did in the late '40s and early '50s. CRAIG STEVENS plays his role straight, as does Westcott, and together they and Karloff give the story whatever gravitas it has in the realm of boosting the suspenseful elements.