Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Charles Barton

Writers:

Hugh Wedlock Jr. (story) &
Howard Snyder (story) ...

Release Date:

1 February 1950 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Yipes! Those Killer-Dillers are out to get the King of the Killers !

Plot:

Two employees of a secluded hotel investigate a murder on the premises in which the goofy bellboy is the prime suspect.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Hotel | Bellhop | Hotel Room | Idiot

Cast

Bud Abbott	...	Casey Edwards
Lou Costello	...	Freddie Phillips
Boris Karloff	...	Swami Talpur
Lenore Aubert	...	Angela Gordon
Gar Moore	...	Jeff Wilson
Donna Martell	...	Betty Crandall
Alan Mowbray	...	Melton
James Flavin	...	Insp. Wellman
Roland Winters	...	T. Hanley Brooks
Nicholas Joy	...	Amos Strickland
Mikel Conrad	...	Sgt. Stone
Morgan Farley	...	Gregory Milford
Victoria Horne	...	Mrs. Hargreave
Percy Helton	...	Abernathy
Claire Du Brey	...	Mrs. Grimsby

Also Known As:

Abbot and Costello Meet the Killer
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (USA) (long title)
Meet the Killer

Runtime:

84 min | Argentina:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1950) | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

This was originally intended as a vehicle for Bob Hope. After the huge success of Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Universal-International wanted another "horror" comedy with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, so the script was rewritten for them. Oddly enough, the role played by Boris Karloff was originally written for a woman.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mr. Strickland turns over a bit when Freddy finds him after the murder.

Quotes:

Insp. Wellman: Were you and Relia in cahoots?
Freddie Phillips: [having seen Relia's body] The last time I saw Relia, he didn't talk to me.
Insp. Wellman: If I could only find Relia. I could make him talk.
Freddie Phillips: If you could, that would be a good trick.
Sgt. Stone: He could make him talk. You don't know Wellman.
Freddie Phillips: You don't know Relia.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Enjoyable enough, but not the best of A&C's fright flicks...

Fans of ABBOTT and COSTELLO should enjoy this entry, even if the title is a bit misleading--and even if BORIS KARLOFF doesn't get to be quite as menacing as you might want him to be. He does look distinguished in that turban as a Swami who tries to put Costello into a trance so he'll believe that he's the murderer, with negative results.

Most of the action takes place at a secluded hotel where a well-known lawyer has been found murdered. Suspicion points to bellboy COSTELLO, and in a script that has ABBOTT as a house detective, you can see that poor Lou is gonna have a hard time proving his innocence...especially when dead bodies keep popping up everywhere wherever he goes.

It's not as funny as WHO DONE IT? or HOLD THAT GHOST, but considerably better than some of the later stuff they did toward the end of their career.

Enjoyable enough nonsense for their fans.