Customer Reviews

Abbott & Costello Meet the Keystone Cops [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Abbott & Costello go to Hollywood in search of a swindler and become movie stars. Ed Clark plays 'Gorman' a con-man who cheats the boys out of a small fortune, by selling them the original Thomas Edison movie theatre. The climatic chase scene is a must see as the boys enlist the aid of the famous Keystone Kops,and their attempt to ride a motorcyle with sidecar. A & C at their FINEST.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were nearing the end of their reign as Universal's top comedians by the time MEET THE KEYSTONE KOPS was made, and it did indeed seem as if the bottom of the barrel were being scraped to find ideas for the boys' films. While hardly a classic, KEYSTONE KOPS at least has an interesting concept that appears to be partly inspired by Lou's early career as a movie stuntman. There is more slapstick than usual for A&C, and a few hair raising stunts, which is appropriate for a comedy set in Hollywood circa 1912. Fred Clark gives the film a real boost as a swindler turned movie director; he is an excellent foil for Bud and Lou. Comedy legend Mack Sennett makes a welcome and all too brief appearance as himself. Keep an eye out for veteran Keystone comedians Herold Goodwin, Hank Mann, and Heinie Conklin. Lou's daughter Carole does a brief bit with her dad at the beginning of the film. Recommended for kids, die hard A&C fans, and anyone wanting to relax with some nostalgic nonsense.

Abbott and Costello love the movies, and so does the rest of America. Why not invest the $5000 Harry's aunt left him for safekeeping? It's a surefire bet! Well, not so much. Harry and Willie cart that money over to a swindler named Gorman (Fred Clark) who "sells" them the Edison studio in New Jersey. The two find themselves tramping to California hoping to find a job out there. In the process, they find that Gorman has adopted a false name and has become a director-- and he is assigned to work with the boys. Hilarity ensues, of course, and there is a brilliant finale with some of the original Keystone Cops including Hank Mann and Mack Sennett himself.

A lot of this movie involves crazy stunts and fast driving, so many things are done with bluescreens that are painfully obvious. However, for a classic movie fan, this is easy to ignore, especially in the scenes are so exciting.

Many movies of this era that deal with silent films make fun of them as much as they reference them. This film is different. The opener includes a bit where Costello watches a silent movie. Instead of elaborate gestures and silly music, the movie is shown the way a silent movie really would have looked. Fans of movies or the silent era will adore this film simply because it is an homage to such an excellent and interesting industry.

Abbott and Costello were one of the best duos of comedy history and too bad that they had to break up and it is my understanding that Abbott and Costello didn't get along with each other but oh well, during their recent years the Abbott and Costello movies weren't doing very well like they were in the 1940's with classic movies like Hold That Ghost (my favorite one), Hit the Ice, Naughty Ninties and Meet Frankenstein, the best part of the whole movie is when Costello gets his foot stuck on the railroad tracks and he gets off the track within inches of getting hit by a train, I'll never forget my reaction when I watched that part, and if you're looking for a great Abbott and Costello, watch this movie, and avoid Lost in Alaska and Meet the Mummy.

Abbott & Costello go to Hollywood in search of a swindler and become movie stars. Ed Clark plays "GORMAN", a con-man who cheats the boys out of a small fortune, by selling them Thomas Edison's ORIGINAL movie theatre. The climatic chase scene is a MUST SEE, as the boys enlist the aide of the famous, bumbling Keystone Kops, and their attempt to ride a motorcyle with sidecar. Abbott & Costello at their FINEST.

Abbott & Costello star in this hilarious film set back in 1914 and while searching for a swindler named Gormon, end up in Hollywood. Would recommend for A&C Fans

Abbott & Costello Meet the Keystone Kops

The story begins with an old silent movie being shown in a theater. Eliza flees with her child in a driving snow storm, crossing the river by hopping across floating sheets of ice. Willy Piper is tossed out because of his emotional involvement. Harry Pierce asks Willy for the $5,000 he is carrying to invest in a motion picture studio. A passerby gets involved with them. Willy and Harry buys Joseph Gorman's studio in West Orange, NJ. Why does it say "Edison" on the sign? We learn about Joe's business (a lesson about buying from a friendly well-dressed stranger). Willy and Harry soon learn the sad truth. They decide to track down Gorman by going to California. They miss a train. But a horse-drawn wagon offers them a ride. They think they can do better. When Gorman arrives in Los Angeles he gets an escort to Cinema City. The boy hop a freight train, but are thrown out. [Were some of these skits copied from old silent comedies?]

They get a ride in a train caboose by agreeing to gamble with dice for their $20. Unbelievable results? Next they are chased by Indians! "More action!" But this action is not in the script. The horses and wagon fly over the land. "How!" "I don't know." Willy and Harry are hired as stunt men. Mr. Snavely, the producer, will try to help them get their money back. We see Mack Sennett directing a movie in front of a background. Willy will fly an airplane towards the setting sun. Will the pilot be late? They take to the air. "This is not supposed to be funny." Harry grabs the parachute to go first. Willy goes along, and falls into the ocean, but a submarine rescues him! The film is shown, the projectionist can't stop laughing! Snavely correctly orders Gorman to become a comedy director for Willy and Harry.

Willy and Harry decide to search Toumanoff's home for proof of his true identity as Gorman. What if there is a mix-up of cops and burglars? Comedy results from these duplications. There is a new complication: Snavely's safe is burglarized. Willy and Harry will catch these crooks, they get help from the studio's uniformed policemen. But these are the Keystone Kops from Mack Sennett's studio. There is a comic chase down the road. "They're still following us." The chase winds around trees and haystacks. The police car stops on the railroad tracks while a steam locomotive approaches. Push or pull? The crooks are finally stopped from flying away, just in time. "We saved your money for you." The wind from the airplane propellor provides a breeze.

Mack Sennett was a plumber from Brooklyn before he got involved with the movie business. His comedies were designed for comedy, not drama. Early Hollywood was in its free market days when small studios predominated. The best movies of Abbott and Costello were in the 1940s and early 1950s. This funny movie is not as good as the earlier ones. It is basically a collection of skits taken from the early days of Hollywood. It does not use any current event as the basic story. That silent movie may be a subtle reference to the Civil Rights struggle.

A & C near the end of their film career (and certanly near the end of their performing career), deliver a pretty solid comedy, emphasizing good ol' slapstick comedy. There's plenty of frenetic action for the aging actors, and the use of stand-ins/stunt men is obvious.

"Stunt Man", ironically, was an early job title for Lou Costello, and so this picture is semi-biographical - the boys even take a pie from Mack Sennett himself, in a brief cameo. This must have been highly nostalgic for Lou, especially as he is known for taking a small part in the Laurel and Hardy silent, "Battle Of The Century", involving the biggest public pie battle on film to date - 1928.

In addition to Sennett, we are pleased to see original Keystone Cops in a great chase scene.

Excellent casting also makes this one a notch above, with Fred Clark, in the guise of a European art film Director, whose main talent is for staying just one step ahead of the law and people he has swindled. B-movie star Lynn Bari does a great job as his long-suffering diva-esque accomplice. We also are treated to some craziness with "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom.

Some classic A & C dialogue bits would have been nice, as they excelled at the straight man working the second banana who usually ends up working the straight man-thing - and this would have given the audience a chance to exhale, but altogether we find a very satisfying, professionally executed film, unlike so many that the team produced.

It's a little more for the kids, with all the fight scenes, costume changes, daredevil stunts...if you're gonna have "Keystone Cops" in the title, might as well keep it lively.

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KEYSTONE KOPS (1955)
Universal-International Pictures
Release Date: February 1955
Runtime: 80 minutes

Director:
Charles Lamont

Producer:
Howard Christie

Writing Credits:
John Grant

Cast:

Bud Abbott....Harry Pierce
Lou Costello....Willie Piper
Fred Clark....Joseph Gorman/Sergei Trumanoff
Lynn Bari....Leota Van Cleef
Max Rosenbloom....Hinds
Harold Goodwin....Cameraman
Roscoe Ates....Wagon Driver
Mack Sennett....Himself
Paul Dubov....Jason
Hank Mann.....Propman
Henry Kulky....Brakeman
Jack Daly....Burglar
William Haade....Policeman
Joe Devlin.....Hunter
Harry Tyler....Piano Player
Houseley Stevenson, Jr.....Pilot
Byron Keith.....Policeman
Marjorie Bennett....Fat Woman
Murray Leonard....Studio Guard
Donald Kerr....Projectionist
Charles Dorety....Watermelon Peddler
Carole Costello....Theatre Cashier
Forrest Burns....Policeman
Heine Conklin....Studio Guard
Don House....Policeman
Sam Flint....Railroad Conductor
Frank Wilcox....Snavly

Music by:
Henry Mancini
William Lava
Herman Stein

Cinematography by:
Reggie Lanning

Film Editing by:
Edward Curtiss

Other Crew:

Plot Summary:

Set in 1912, the film casts Bud Abbott and Lou Costello as a couple of New Yorkers who are swindled out of their life savings by a crooked lout. Pursuing the villain to Hollywood, the boys discover that the double-dealer is now posing as autocratic Russian film director. To put A&C out of the way, the crook and his partner in crime hire the boys as stuntmen, intending to kill them off at the first oppurtunity. But the comic duo save the day when they enlist the aid of the Keystone Kops in capturing the fleeing villain, who has absconded with the studio payroll.

ROUTINES & HILARIOUS MOMENTS:
Squirrel in loaf of bread
Bud and Lou race old man to California
Airplane Scene
Cop & Robber Skit
Chase scene with Keystone Kops

Trivia (from imdb.com): When Willie (Lou Costello) goes to the theatre, the pretty lady in the box office is actually Lou Costello's real-life daughter Carole Costello. She was made up to look much older than her real age.