I am writing this way ahead which feels really strange. It might mean I am organized. I should be recuperating in bed now, watching movies, reading and looking at my blog :) So the theme this week has a ton of films one can choose from. Wandering Through The Stars came up with another great theme and it will be fun to see what everyone else will choose. Here are my 3...
1. THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES-1946
This is one of my favourite Abbott & Costello films because it is not the usual film these 2 make. Lou Costello is a ghost along with a young pretty ghost who were wrongly accused during the American revolution and were shot for it. The home is bought by a young man who brings his fiancee, her aunt and his psychiatrist, Bud Abbott, to this estate. They soon realize the place is haunted and what they need to do to help the spirits leave this earthly domain. I guess the 2 leads had some falling out which is one of the reasons it led to this famous comedic duo to not be "friends" in the movie and have all these comedic bits not show up as they did in all their other films. It is entertaining and quite fun to sit back and enjoy.
2. THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN-1966
This stars Don Knotts (from the Andy Griffith Show) when he was quite big back in the 1960s who made quite a few films during this timen almost always as some bumbling oaf. I watched this a lot when I was a kid and just re-watched it about a year ago. There are some great character actors in this film with so many having been on Bewitched (like Dick Sargent who played the 2nd Darren in Bewitched). I love the music in this movie along with the eeriness of the home and that organ music! Poor Don is a typesetter for the local newspaper who dreams of hitting it big. Everyone is scared of this one home but scaredy-cat Knotts boasts that he will have no problem staying at the home. This man gets scared seeing dust! He enters the home and no sooner that he pays out his sleeping bag, he hears that organ music, finds a hidden door and shears in a woman's painting that is dripping blood. He runs from the home and tells everyone what he sees but no one believes him except for this one good looking girl who, somehow, has the hots for Don. It is fun and makes you wish they would make more silly movies like this.
3. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN-1974
I love Mel Brooks who made this classic film starring Gene Wilder as the nutty Frankenstein who inherits his granddaddy's castle. We meet Madeline Kahn as his fiancee, Marty Feldman as Igor (who steals every scene), Terry Garr as the lovely assistant, Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher, Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp and Peter Boyle as the Monster. This is ideal casting with a great director who loves all the old Hollywood Frankenstein films and must have watched them several times since you can see where Brooks was inspired by. I just watched the first 3 Frankenstein films and started to laugh with the last one because of the Inspector. Cloris Leachman is brilliant as the housekeepr who must have watched Una O'Connor in The Bride of Frankenstein to get some mannerisms down pat. Mel Brooks found the old set and equipment from the original 1931 film and re-used them here, plus he filmed it in black and white which is perfect. Of course Frankenstein builds a monster and the town is ready with pitchforks but just sit back and watch this and have a good laugh.
Sorry for any spelling and grammatical errors. I haven't the time to fix it.
What films would you choose?
I am not sure if I have seen your choices in their entirety. My first thought was Abbott and Costello and I had a theme within a theme: A and C Meet Frankenstein; Meet the Invisible Man; Meet the Mummy - which I loved.
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling well today. And hubby too.
A theme within a theme! I do love A & C including the monster ones. I am slowly getting better.
DeleteHi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteYour encouraging words yesterday came as a welcome relief, dear friend, and I hope you are continuing to get that lingering pain under control and feeling more like yourself every day.
I was exposed to the comedy films of Abbott & Costello at an early age. Lou always made me laugh, a genuinely funny fellow. I'm surprised I never saw their atypical film release The Time of Their Lives. It looks like one of their best. From 1953 through 1958, I watched Marjorie Reynolds in the main cast role of Wm. Bendix's wife Peg on TV's The Life of Riley. Regarding the headless ghost woman coming down the stairs - "I call bullcrap!" (I love to borrow that quote) - I'm pretty sure that scene relied on special effects!
Don Knotts was another truly funny man, even more so to me than Lou Costello. I watched and enjoyed his Mr. Chicken movie. As I'm sure you know, Barney Fife's Mayberry girlfriend Thelma Lou, actress Betty Lynn, died five days ago at the age of 95.
I admire Terry Garr and Cloris Leachman but, overall, I am not a huge fan of the Mel Brooks style of comedy or other actors in his troupe. When I laugh at his gags, it's not with the same spontaneity, surprise and delight I experience when watching the pathetic, underdog, born loser characters portrayed by Lou Costello and Don Knotts.
I would list the Three Stooges' shorts We Want Our Mummy (1939), Spook Louder (1943), Shivering Sherlocks (1948), Mummy's Dummies (1948), The Ghost Talks (1949) and Spooks (1953) along with the other fun-scary features made by Abbott & Costello in which they "Meet" Frankenstein, Boris, Jekyll & Hyde, Invisible Man, the Mummy and other creatures of the night.
Hope you are feeling better by the hour, dear friend BB. Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend!
I mean to write something very soon. I am feeling better but still pain from the operation. This will last a bit longer than the norm because of my connective tissue disorder. My brother is not a fan of Mel Brooks either. I love him, obviously. I hope you get to see this A & C film but I thought headless girl was real...lol. I do love their other horror comedy flicks too and the 3 Stooges.
DeleteYoung Frankenstein! Excellent choice. My second favorite Mel Brooks movie.
ReplyDeleteActually, the first thing that came to mind was Ghostbusters.
Yes and I too, love Blazing Saddles Ghostbusters is a great pick and so funny.
DeleteHi Birgit…just hoping your recovery is going well and you are not in too much pain….take care and go slowly…..xxx
ReplyDeleteI am resting a lot and am slowly getting better.
DeleteI hope by now you are feeling much better and the pain meds have taken the pain away.
ReplyDeleteI have never even heard of the first two, but what else is new, right? However, I hope you are lying down comfortably, because I have actually seen the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein. I saw it on Turner Movie Classics and I loved it. It was beautifully done, as with all Mel Brooks movies. Thanks for the synopses, dear. They are always great.
Still taking pain meds but I take longer to heal. I'm glad you saw my last pick which is very funny.
DeleteHi Birgit, I hope your recovery is going well! I haven't seen your first choice, but know the other two. Mel Brooks' comedies are such classics! ☺ My favourite funny horror film is Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
ReplyDeleteI have to look up your pick. It sounds familiar but I don't think I saw it. I am on the mend
DeleteHi Birgit I hope you are recovering well, and not in any pain.
ReplyDeleteYoung Frankenstein was and still is absolutely brilliant, I laughed till I cried, first time I saw it, I still find it hilarious, take care, Kate xx
Pain is still there but not as severe as last week. I'm glad you love my last pick which is so funny.
DeleteYou've got some really good picks. I would also go with any of the Abbott and Costello meet whatever horror character films. Loved those as a kid and still enjoy seeing them.
ReplyDeleteAlso I might go with the original Ghostbusters.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Yeah, I could have done a whole bunch of A & C films with Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, etc... Ghostbusters is excellent
DeleteHi Birgit!
ReplyDeleteHope you are mending well! Make sure to get plenty of rest, look forward to you being well enough to get back to commenting. Also hope the hubby is coming along smoothly too!
The Time of Their Lives is my very favorite A&C film!!! But I've used it before. It is an unusual one in their filmography, apparently they were so estranged when it was being made they didn't speak at all unless it was on camera. They patched up their differences to a certain extent but their relationship remained rocky until Lou's death. As unfortunate as that is this is a sweet cheery comedy with both guys seemingly rejuvenated by their new scene partners. The supporting cast is also a great one (I LOVE Binnie Barnes!!) though Lynn Baggett who is the romantic female lead for John Shelton had a tragic personal life ending in her suicide at 36.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken!! What an eclectic group of films Don Knotts made. I prefer The Incredible Mr. Limpet to this but it's an enjoyable ball of fluff with Don fussing and fluttering like crazy.
Though it's not one of Mel Brooks' films that I revisit often Young Frankenstein is so clever with each role cast to perfection.
Not being one for modern horror I reached back like you and was at first tempted like Denise to do a set of the A&C horror comedies but it's been a long time since I've seen them so I moved on, but I did include one of the fellas pictures along with two others from the same period.
Hold That Ghost (1941)-Inheriting a mobster’s dilapidated country tavern rumored to contain hidden treasure through an odd set of circumstances Chuck Murray and Ferdie Jones (Abbott & Costello) find themselves trapped there on a dark and stormy night. Along with some other stranded travelers the boys live through a night of wacky shenanigans including a ghost, hidden doors and a couple of vanishing detectives while looking for the loot. One of A&C’s better films, you even get a couple of musical numbers by The Andrews Sisters.
You’ll Find Out (1940)-Heiress Janis Bellacrest (Helen Parrish) books Kay Kyser (Kay Kyser) and his big band “The Kollege of Musical Knowledge” including singer Ginny Simms and Ish Kabibble to play her 21st birthday party at her country mansion. When an intense storm blows in the band finds themselves stuck along with Janis, her eccentric Aunt Margo (Alma Kruger) and trio of questionable “friends” professor Fenniger (Peter Lorre), Prince Soliano (Bela Lugosi) and Judge Mainwaring (Boris Karloff) as things go bump in the night. A trifle overlong but a chance to see three horror giants playing for laughs.
The Ghost Breakers (1940)-Inheriting a distant relative’s supposedly haunted castle of an isolated island off the Cuban coast young Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) decides to take possession despite a stranger’s (Anthony Quinn) warning to stay away. Setting sail Mary finds radio announcer Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope), on the lam because he thinks he’s bumped off a gangster’s henchman, stowed away in her trunk. Amid pratfalls and wisecracks Mary & Larry team up to get to the bottom of the voodoo magic, zombies and ghosts that curse the spooky estate.
I am slowly on the mend but it takes me a while. Hubby is doing really well which is great. I am glad you love my A & C pick because I love this one maybe because they were not like their usual selves. Yes, Knotts was great as the fish and is better than this one but just love this one. Funny that you also picked the other A & C film I almost went with which is a fun one too. I also was so close in picking The Bob Hope film which is funny and I love Paulette Goddard. I have not seen your middle pick, I don't think so but I might have whenni was little. I need to see it.
DeleteI have never seen Young Frankenstein. I know, a travesty. One of these days...
ReplyDeleteI did see The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Years ago. I was a kid, I'm sure. Those movies played on weekends on our channel 5. I don't remember much about it, though.
One day you will see Young Frankenstein unless you don't like Mel Brooks. We have Silver Screen Classics so The Don Knotts film was on again and I rewatched it.
DeleteYoung Frankenstein - it just never gets old. While I'm not Mel Brooks' biggest fan, Gene Wilder never fails to delight me and here he's as good as ever.
ReplyDeleteGene is great in this and I love it when he asks them to open the door.
DeleteHi Birgit - I do hope you're feeling easier ... take care - I haven't seen any of these - I hope I'll get to see them. Cheers and all the very best - Hilary
ReplyDeleteI am slowly feeling better but still it will take time. I am better from last week for sure.
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