ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE is the only film where Bud and Lou meet a monster who up until now, had absolutely nothing to do with Universal Studios. Oh, there were plenty of Jekyll and Hyde films before, the most notable ones being MGM’s 1941 version with Spencer Tracy, Paramount’s 1920 silent version with John Barrymore and best of all, Paramount’s 1931 talking version with Fredric March. Also, for all the monsters he previously portrayed, Jekyll and Hyde was until now never surveyed by Boris Karloff. So yeah, a chance to see the premiere horror studio and arguably the premiere horror actor tackle a famous horror role years after the gothic horror they made popular was in fashion. The fact they’re doing it as a spoof with Abbott and Costello is more of a reminder that not only the timing, but the setting of the Universal Jekyll and Hyde debut is a bit unusual and may be hard to swallow for horror purists. However, you guys know me, I love Bud and Lou as well as the old horror films, so watching the elements combine is fine by me and this film is successful at doing so - for the most part.
I mention the horror purists, well, there are the Abbott and Costello purists as well who are not necessarily horror fans. There are a lot of Abbott and Costello films where the team get lost for stretches due to romantic couples and music, but the first twenty minutes of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE may be the twenty minutes where Bud and Lou are used least. They get involved in a huge slapstick fight between men and suffragette feminists (yes, you read that right) where they mostly get lost in the shuffle, a very brief scene in jail where they are overshadowed by their co stars and as police officers, a very brief scene where they get fired as police officers. This only amounts to a few minutes of footage. The beginning of the film starts out with a real atmospheric gaslight era London kill of Mr. Hyde with a victim - cool if you like the horror. Then we get the only full musical number, leading lady Helen Westcott combining feminism and can-can leg baring musical numbers - the song boasting women will withhold affection from men if they don’t allow them to vote. The leading man, played by Craig Stevens, is just as disingenuous, pretending to be a feminist just so he can win her affection. Fortunately, the bad stuff is all over after twenty minutes, as this angle gets shoved to the side and the leading man becomes a useful hero in the film who takes action while the leading lady becomes more likable as well the motive for the Mr. Hyde transformation. She’s a good damsel in distress.
Bud and Lou, after being absent for most of the first twenty minutes, get plenty of screen time and the film really picks up once they do. Like most of these later films, the burlesque routines are absent, but being a horror comedy, we get a lot of scare chases and nobody does this better than Bud and Lou. Lou really does have the best screams in the business and Lou’s disbelief of Lou’s fright is in perfect tune. Earlier in the film, the chase in the backstage lobby where they are looking for Mr. Hyde is really well played and timed, first mistaking the guy wearing that bizarre costume as Hyde only for the real Hyde to eventually wear the costume itself is a great twist. When they are chasing after Hyde on the rooftop (great atmosphere in this scene) is another highlight, punctuated by Lou falling off the building and landing on some clothes on a hanging clothesline. Classic Lou Costello yells in this part.
Of all the great Bud and Lou scenes, the one that really stands out for me is Lou in that wax museum with the Frankenstein Monster, Dracula and other assorted characters. The scene is completely sublime due to the combination of awesome setting and Lou Costello’s scare reactions. Lou is amazing here, the way he screams and pantomimes with his hat whenever he is scared, just a really awesome performance. The electrical wire hitting The Frankenstein Monster causing it to walk around, I mean, how cool is that?
As for the horror itself, I would say this is good Karloff, if not great Karloff. From a purist Karloff view, it would be interesting seeing him survey this role maybe ten years earlier in a straighter setting, but we still get some good moments. The close up of Karloff giving his utopian speech about wiping out evil is interesting and it’s fascinating watching him trying to justify the murders by blaming Hyde and not himself as Jekyll. When he reveals to the leading lady, who he’s cared for years as a legal guardian, that he was grooming her to be his bride since she was a child, he’s genuinely desperate and creepy. Speaking of creepy, John Dierkes does a fine as Karloff’s mute and physically imposing servant and the transformation scenes are good as well, if not groundbreaking compared to previous Jekyll and Hyde, as well as Wolf Man films. The transformations do bleed into the comedy as Lou Costello drinks a potion to turn into a mouse and later gets the Hyde serum in the backside to turn into a monster himself. Really a great ending chase combining the comedy of two Hydes confusing the police as well as the real Hyde’s dramatic finish. I really love the bit where the two Hydes, Bud and Craig Stevens are on the rooftop and all take turns around the four cornered roof in a perfectly choreographed manner. Like I said, once the annoying stuff ends in the beginning, they really do make good use of each character.
So yes, another of the monster entries and perhaps the least celebrated one, I still think ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE is a fine film and especially works for those of us who appreciate both Bud and Lou along with Boris and the monsters. To purists of one and not the other, your mileage may vary.
