Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

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Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
A&ckiller.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Written by Hugh Wedlock, Jr.
Howard Snyder
John Grant|
Directed by Charles Barton|
Starring Bud Abbott
Lou Costello
Boris Karloff
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) Robert Arthur|
Cinematography Charles Van Enger
Running time 84 minutes
Distributor Universal Pictures

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff is a 1949 horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton| starring Abbott and Costello and Boris Karloff. The full onscreen title is Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.

In 1956 the film was re-released along with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Plot[edit | edit source]

Prominent criminal attorney Amos Strickland (Nicholas Joy) checks into the Lost Caverns Resort Hotel. His murdered body is later discovered by the bellboy, Freddie Phillips (Lou Costello), who is implicated in the crime. Casey Edwards (Bud Abbott), the house detective, tries to clear Freddie, but Inspector Wellman (James Flavin) and Sgt. Stone (Mikel Conrad) keep him in custody.

Seven of Strickland's former clients happen to be at the resort, and they are all suspects. These former clients are Swami Talpur (Boris Karloff), Angela Gordon (Lenore Aubert), Mrs. Hargreave (Victoria Horne), T. Hanley Brooks (Roland Winters), Lawrence Crandall (Harry Hayden), Mrs. Grimsby (Claire DuBrey) and Mike Relia (Vincent Renno). They gather for a meeting and decide that they must conceal their pasts and that Freddie must take the blame for Strickland's murder. They try unsuccessfully to get Freddie to sign a confession: Angela tries to seduce him, but the police stop her when they fear she's poisoned the champagne, then the Swami attempts to hypnotize him into committing suicide but his stupidity saves him.

Freddie and the two police officers, in an attempt to draw out the real killer, inform everyone that Freddie is in possession of a blood-stained handkerchief found at the murder scene. Soon afterwards, several attempts to kill Freddie are made, including gunshots at the window of his booby-trapped room, and locking him in a steam cabinet. Eventually Freddie hears a voice that calls him to bring the handkerchief to the Lost Cavern. There he meets up with a masked figure who offers to save him from the hole he has just fallen into in exchange for the handkerchief. Freddie makes the mistake of telling the mysterious figure that he left it in his room. He is left in the hole, but is eventually rescued by the two police officers.

Back at the hotel, everyone has gathered together and Sgt. Stone returns with some muddy shoes that belong to Melton (Alan Mowbray), the hotel manager, which proves that he was the one in the caverns with Freddie. His motive for the murder was that he, Relia and Millford, Strickland's secretary, were blackmailing the owner, Mr. Crandell. When Strickland found out he came to investigate, so Melton killed him. Millford then sent down the former clients to use as decoys for the police, but Melton killed Relia and Millford to cover it all up. He attempts to escape through a window, but is caught by a booby trap previously set by Freddie.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Production[edit | edit source]

It was filmed from February 10 through March 26, 1949.

The original script, titled Easy Does It, was written with actor-comedian Bob Hope in mind. However, Universal| then purchased the rights and reworked it for Abbott and Costello.[1]

The role eventually played by Boris Karloff in the film was originally a female character named Madame Switzer in the final shooting script which was then titled, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killers. Five days before shooting, Karloff was hired and the character was changed to a swami.[1]

After filming was completed, Costello was bedridden for several months due to a relapse of rheumatic fever, which he originally battled in 1943. As a result, the duo would not make another film together until one year later, 1950's Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion.

Boris Karloff's inclusion in the title of the film seems evident from the movie poster, which includes a comma between the words "Killer" and "Boris Karloff," but the actual credits in the film show no such distinction, and could be interpreted as "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer," followed by the co-star credit "Boris Karloff."

Alternate versions[edit | edit source]

In Australia and New Zealand, every scene with a corpse was removed prior to distribution. The film was banned in Denmark due to the scene where corpses play cards.[1]

Routines[edit | edit source]

  • Changing Room, where Costello keeps finding a dead body and when he tries to show it to Abbott (or anyone else), it is no longer there. This comic device was first used in Hold That Ghost (1941).

DVD releases[edit | edit source]

This film was released twice on DVD, on The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume Three, on August 3, 2004,[2] and again on October 28, 2008[3] as part of Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
  2. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00023P4O2
  3. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EXE2Y2

External links[edit | edit source]

Abbott and Costello
Films
  • One Night in the Tropics
  • Buck Privates
  • In the Navy
  • Hold That Ghost
  • Keep 'Em Flying
  • Ride 'Em Cowboy
  • Rio Rita
  • Pardon My Sarong
  • Who Done It?
  • It Ain't Hay
  • Hit the Ice
  • In Society
  • Lost in a Harem
  • Here Come the Co-Eds
  • The Naughty Nineties
  • Abbott and Costello in Hollywood
  • Little Giant
  • The Time of Their Lives
  • Buck Privates Come Home
  • The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
  • The Noose Hangs High
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
  • Mexican Hayride
  • Africa Screams
  • Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
  • Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion
  • Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
  • Comin' Round the Mountain
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
  • Lost in Alaska
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
  • Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops
  • Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
  • Dance with Me, Henry
  • The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (Costello only)
  • The World of Abbott and Costello
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    Films directed by Charles Barton


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  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame| (1923)
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  • The Cat Creeps (1930)
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  • The Old Dark House (1932)
  • Secret of the Blue Room (1933)
  • The Mystery of Edwin Drood| (1935)
  • The Invisible Ray| (1936)
  • Night Key (1937)
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  • Tower of London| (1939)
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  • Man Made Monster (1941)
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  • The Climax (1944)
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  • The Cat Creeps| (1946)
  • Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer (1949)
  • The Strange Door (1951)
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  • It Came from Outer Space (1953)
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
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    Category:1949 films Category:1940s comedy films Category:1940s horror films Category:1940s mystery films Category:Abbott and Costello Category:American films Category:American comedy films Category:American comedy horror films Category:American mystery films Category:American criminal comedy films Category:American black-and-white films Category:Comedy mystery films Category:Crossover films Category:American detective films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Charles Barton Category:Films featuring hypnosis Category:American parody films Category:Universal Monsters film series Category:Universal Pictures films

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