weezeralfalfa
Don't expect the major part of this comedy featuring A&C to be interactions with the Keystone Kops. This does happen in the climactic chase scene at the end, which isn't all that interesting if you've seen the Kops a few times. For those who haven't, this is probably a film highlight. The familiar-looking Fred Clark, as swindler Joseph Gorman, as well as silent film director Sergei Toumanoff, along with his fashionable girlfriend Leota Van Cleef(Lyn Bari) are the chief villains. Both had a long career in both Hollywood and TV. At age 42, Lyn was still looking quite youthful. She mostly played 'the other woman' or villainous women, occasionally in comedies, such as "Francis Joins the WACs", released the year before.The film begins with Lou in a silent film theater, crying his eyes out over the plight of a woman and her child, who are being chased by the villain through snow and an ice-covered river. He creates a scene by standing up and shouting at the villain, resulting in him being roughly escorted out. But, he left his bag with $5000. inheritance from his aunt under the seat. So, he buys another ticket(from his real daughter) and enters to retrieve his bag. He makes another scene and is again roughly escorted out, where Abbott waits for him. Abbott slaps him, and a passerby socks Abbott and pushes him into a large potted plant. Lou then slaps Abbott, and the passersby ignore it. Then Abbott slaps Lou, and he again gets socked and pushed into another large potted plant.Amazingly, without Lou seeing it, Gorman sells him a small movie studio, as Abbott recommends. They find this was Edison's old broken down movie studio, and that they aren't the first to fall for this scam. Gorman then skips town(NYC) with Lyn, hoping to become a movie director by the name of Toumanoff. A&C attempt to follow them, mostly by hopping on various empty boxcars, with many adventures along the way. They encounter Gorman again, when they accidentally get mixed up in a western Gorman is shooting. They don't recognize the director as Gorman, because he has donned a toupee to cover his mostly bald head. Nonetheless, he doesn't want them around, for fear they will eventually recognize him. But the producer is very impressed with an accidental stunt they performed, so suggests they become stuntmen for him.Lou is assigned to double for Lyn, in a parachuting scene. Even though he puts on a dress and woman's hat, he looks nothing like Lyn. Nonetheless, he and Abbott take the plane up. What follows strongly resembles a similar scene in "Keep 'em Flying", except that they are shot at with live bullets instead of blanks, courtesy of Hinds(Maxie Rosenbloom): Gorman's henchman. Fortunately, they survive this assassination attempt.Eventually, the producer, as well as A&C figure out that director Toumanoff is Gorman, but the director decides not to blow his cover, as he thinks he has potential to become a good comedy director. However, he doesn't know that Gorman has stolen $75,000. from the studio.In a scene I don't much understand, A&C go to Gorman's house, Abbott dressed as a stereotypical cat burglar, while Costello is dressed as a Victorian bobby. Abbott gains entrance to the house, but Gorman catches him. Calling for police, Costello responds, and takes Abbott. However, he releases him outside, and Abbott again enters the house and Gorman again catches him and calls for police. This time a real policeman(or is it a Keystone Kop?), dressed exactly the same, rings the doorbell, and takes Abbott out. But Abbott soon enters the house again, and Lou answers the call for police. This cycle is repeated several more times, driving Gorman crazy. In conclusion, this is an entertaining A&C comedy, lacking any singing, which is what many reviewers want.
AaronCapenBanner
Abbott & Costello play Harry Pierce & Willie Piper, who buy a movie studio from a Mr. Gorman(played by Fred Clark). Turns out he was a con man, who has pulled this scam before. They track him cross country by train(and on foot) and end up in Hollywood at the studio, where they find him directing silent films under an alias. They then go to work as stunt men, which leads to lots of expected comedy mishaps, as they try to get even with Gorman. Weak comedy has a few funny bits but not many, and lacks any point, since the Keystone Kops are not as fondly remembered as Abbott & Costello. Their penultimate film at home studio Universal is sadly indicative of their decline.
gridoon
"Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" is a film about the early days of cinema, and contains a lot of cinematic tricks itself: stunt doubling, back projection, fast motion, reverse motion, freeze frame, special effects, etc. Some of these tricks work (the horse jump over a cliff is a fantastic shot which I still can't figure out how they pulled off), some don't (the plane scenes look especially fake), but the real problem is that the story is episodic and A&C have only two routines worth mentioning: one at the start, with Abbott mistaken as Costello's violent father, and one involving two pairs of cops and burglars, one fake (Bud & Lou) and one real. The climactic chase, involving the title "Kops", is frenetic but unfunny. This type of slapstick will still appeal to young kids, but anyone over the age of 12 will probably be begging for some more verbal humor. (**)
Evan Cyran
Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Abbott and Costello and don't dislike any of their movies. This is not one of their very best but is enjoyable nonetheless. The coolest part of the film is the fact that it's centered around the movie business and pays homage to the silent comedies of years before. There is a cameo by Mack Sennett and of course, the 50's remakes of the Keystone Kops! Bud and Lou are two pals turned hobos after they are tricked into "buying" Edison theater. After they are tricked, they pursue the crook and end up working in the Hollywood movie scene. In their later movies, Bud Abbottt's persona changed a lot and it is seen here. He becomes a lot nastier, more gruff, and starts to take more of a part in the physical aspect of the comedy. Although I enjoy his earlier years a bit more, it's all good. Lou is unchanging and as amusing as ever. Also, I think Fred Clark deserves credit as the villain (especially in his "cover" of the flamboyant Sergei Toumanoff!). Without him, the whole burglar gag wouldn't have worked at all. Finally, the ending chase sequence is great! The use of the zany Keystone Kops is wonderful and the 50's versions of the icons do a great job. Look for the part where Bud and Lou ride through the stack of hay. Hilarious!! Well worth a look for A&C fan as well as fans of classic comedy.
