Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops
February. 02,1955Harry and Willie are scammed into buying the Thomas Edison studio lot by a man named Gorman. They decide to follow Gorman's trail to Hollywood where, unbeknownst to them, he has taken the identity of a foreign film director. The lads wind up as stunt doubles in film the which Gorman is now shooting, while the conman tries to have the bungling pair done away with before they realize who he really is.
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Reviews
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
As that famous silent film comedian Charlie Chaplin said, Lou Costello had pathos and its unfortunate that he and Abbott did not meet up with the Keystone Kops when they were in their prime.The setting is at the beginning of the film industry and the boys get taken by conman Fred Clark and his moll Lynn Bari. Never mind that they're in pursuit of Clark and Bari and their pursuit takes them out to the new film colony of Hollywood. It's one of those Clark Kent/Superman situations where Clark puts on a rug and adopts and accent and Costello keeps thinking he's seen him some where, but he's not sure. Which would make Costello brighter than Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen who never had a clue.The worm turned somewhat in Abbott And Costello Meet The Keystone Kops because Abbott gets to take the hits and falls. That might have been at Lou's instigation, but quite frankly it doesn't work though it does show Bud's versatility.Several original Keystone Kops join in the final chase scene and Mack Sennett himself makes an appearance here to give it that ring of authority. Not the best of their films, sadly their best days were left in the Forties.
Abbott & Costello as Harry Pierce and Willie Piper are scammed into buying the Thomas Edison studio lot by a gentleman named Gorman (Fred Clark), who takes them for $5000. Together they decide to follow Gorman's trail to Hollywood where Gorman has taken up the identity of a foreign film director named Sergei Toumanoff. Predictably Pierce & Piper wind up involved in the shooting of one of Toumanoff's film and end up becoming stunt doubles for his films, while Toumanoff, who's really Gorman, tries to have the bungling Piper & Pierce done away with permanently before they realize who he really is. Those looking for The Keystone Kops here might be somewhat disappointed as the antics of the Kops aren't exactly here in full force although there's an entertaining Kops style chase towards the end. Also this is a lesser effort from Abbott & Costello, whose routines had started to become predictable by this point in time. Still there's good fun to be found here especially if one is more capable of suspending disbelief and just having fun with what's on the screen. My favorite moments here include: the opening silent movie sequence with Costello's Piper being emotionally affected by the dramatic story of a woman on the run from some nasty villains and the following scene outside the theater where Abbott's Pierce is the one who for once winds up in trouble. the mistaken identity police-robber sequence throughout Gorman's house. Clark is quite funny in this scene which is a classic Abbott & Costello "who's who" routine all the way.
This Abbott and Costello movie is pretty good. Abbott and Costello was good as always! Its a funny movie. One funny scene is when Abbott and Costello are in the house and Abbott play the robber and Costello plays the cop. It was hilarious! If you like Abbott and Costello then see Abbott and Costello Meet The Keystone Kops!
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.