CineTV Contest: 67 - Favorite Suspense Movie - Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer (1949)

This week’s contest on cineTV.blog is about susppense movies, which covers a lot of territory. With several ideas in mind, I decided to ask my bonnie Bride and my daugher, Little Miss, which film I should do and before I could rattle off my list, Little Miss chimed in with the movie I am covering: Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949). Why the title included Boris Karloff’s name is beyond me, probably due to contract reasons.

The plot involves the murder of a powerful attorney, Strickland (Nicholas Joy), in an expensive hotel. Freddy, played by Costello, is the primary suspect as he threatened Strickland for having him fired earlier in the evening. As fate would have it, it’s Freddy who discovers Strickland’s body. But Freddy isn’t the only suspect, and Casey, played by Abbot, believes Freddy to be innocent because Freddy is too stupid to commit murder. And then more murders take place, reducing the number of suspects, and still pointing the finger at Freddy as the bodies show up in his room, with Freddy and Casey try to hide the bodies.

Although a mystery-comedy blend, it does have a fair amount of suspense as it is a who-done-it, and you are kept wondering if the killer is going to eliminate Freddy. There are plenty of suspects to go around, including Boris Karloff who plays Swami Talpur who hypnotizes Freddy with the intent to get Freddy to kill himself. Other suspects also try to frame Freddy for the murder of Strickland. And who is the real murderer.

Another reason Abbott and Costello Meets the Killer works as a suspense film is that being shot in black and white, there are things you can do in that film medium with lighting and shadows that you can’t achieve in color film, adding a bit of tension, such as the scene with the Swami and Freddy, and you see the shadow of a noose in the background. You can’t get the same kind of impact with such a scene in a film shot in color. Filming in color just isn’t as ominous as filming in black and white. The shadow knows.

There is also the scenes shot in the Lost Caverns which has a bottomless bit, where Freddy goes to meet the real killer, serving as bait while Casey and the cops trail behind. But will they succeed in trapping the Strickland’s killer in the caverns, or will Freddy be yet another victim to the mystery-man’s maniacal plans?

Abbott and Costello do provide a lot of humor with many routines that you would expect in a murder mystery, including a few routines that are variations of bits they had done in other movies. Karloff is always fun to watch in any movie he appears in, and this film is no exception. Lenore Aubert also appears as Angela, one of the suspects, her second film with Abbott and Costello, who, like the Swami, is also trying to frame Freddy for Strickland’s murder, and Aubert is a bit of a Femme Fatale, and her character is both glamorous and dangerous.

Lot’s of action, lot’s of mystery, and some good laughs to boot makes Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff a fun film to watch and is one of the best films that Abbott and Costello made during their career together.

For more about this CineTV contest and more movie stuff – visit CineTV at @cinetv/cinetv-contest-67-favorite-suspense-movie

Posted using CineTV