Rating: 3/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2016 | 12/52 | Abbott and Costello
It has been said that a man's best friend is his mummy. In Egypt today, this theory is to be in great dispute. For two bold adventurers are about to discover another kind of mummy.
Abbott and Costello sit down at the club in their safari gear. They overhear that Dr. Zoomer needs men to accompany his mummy back to the States. Of course, Costello thinks that Dr. Zoomer meant his mother.
Madame Rontru, a businesswoman, knows that he refers to the Mummy of Klaris. She also knows the mummy holds the key to unlocking an ancient treasure.
So, she enlists the help of the Followers of Klaris to recover the mummy for her. While some fear the Curse of Klaris, Madame Rontru remains unfazed.
There is no curse that a gun or a knife can't cure.
Two of the followers go to Dr. Zoomer’s office and incapacitate him. Abbott and Costello arrive to take the job. The followers sneak out with the mummy, while Costello witnesses Klaris moving and groaning, and Dr. Zoomer’s body.
But they leave behind Klaris’ amulet — the key to finding the treasure. Abbott and Costello pick it up. Hijinks ensue.
This film is the last installment of the “Abbott and Costello Meet…” series, where the two comedians come face-to-face with Universal monsters. The Frankenstein one is the most famous since they encounter Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Unfortunately, they couldn’t land Karloff for the Frankenstein or the Mummy here.
I grew up with Laurel and Hardy more than Abbott and Costello, but I remember their Looney Tunes counterparts, Babbit and Catstello. Though their sense of humor is broad, Costello makes a lot of funny noises that the Looney Tunes imitated, so their movies still capture a certain nostalgia for me.
The Arabesque jokes are also reminiscent of Looney Tunes — snake charming a rope with a guy on it and whatnot. Even the sets have a cartoon simplicity to them.
That’s not to say it looks cheap. This movie clearly had a budget, which helps to sell some of the more absurd jokes.
Their dynamic has a Scooby-Doo-like quality, where Costello witnesses something scary or supernatural, and Abbott gaslights him into thinking he’s crazy.
This movie isn’t high art, but I got some chuckles.
Stray Thoughts / Spoilers
- Costello thinks a statue is Mrs. Zoomer. When he discovers she’s a wax figure, he almost smacks her ass, but he thinks better of it. What a weird inclination.
- The mummy in this movie inspired the mummy toys I saw as a kid.
- “Why don’t you be a man? Be brave! Be tough like me!” Abbott’s spilling out his childhood trauma for us.
- Abbott and Costello break the 4th wall a lot.
- I love it when Costello outsmarts Abbott.
- Is Costello eating the medallion??
- Yep, he ate it.
- A giant lizard shows up as a quick visual gag.
- In every vase is a snake. But now and then, there’s a beautiful woman waiting to kiss you.