Warning to potential buyers of Universal's Abbott and Costello Collection Vol. 2 (1 Viewer)

[Lyle H.]

Damn. I dunno why, but I'm obsessed with particular things in films: Snow, Trains, Diner's, Western Towns, Mexican Cities (i.e. Tampico in Treasure of the Sierra Madre), the way blacks and asians were portrayed in films of the 30's and 40's, etc.

*shrugs* I dunno why, but that's the way it is.

 

[Gary OS]

I've been a huge Abbott & Costello fan for over 30 years now, and I have seen all the films on multiple occasions. I received Vol. #2 in the mail on Monday from DDD, but due to a heavy work schedule, I've yet to watch any of the disks. I will say that my volume arrived with disk 2 sliding, but I couldn't see any scratches. Same thing happened with Vol. #1, but I never found any problems. The only issue I found was with Buck Privates, where it would skip some on my old dvd player. But once I played it in my progressive scan player, it worked fine. Perhaps this is something that will help others.

When it comes to Mexican Hayride, I will admit it isn't one of the boys' best films. But it isn't their worst either! That distinction will have to go to Dance With Me Henry, a truly terrible film (as much as it pains me to write that about my favorite comedy team of all time). There are others that are worse than Hayride as well, such as A & C Meet Captain Kidd, Little Giant, and Lost in Alaska. So I wouldn't view that film with a preconceived notion that it's terrible and you will hate it. That may not be the case.

As for some differing opinions here about which films are best, I'd have to respectfully disagree (understanding that all of this is personal taste). For instance, I find Wistful Widow to be a great A & C film, and can't comprehend anyone not enjoying it. On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of Little Giant, because Bud and Lou departed from their normal setup in this film because they were "feuding" off camera at the time. It just didn't work for me, because they were not their usual buddy, buddy selves in this movie, and it showed! Actually, the same held true for their next picture, Time of Their Lives, but the results were much better because the script was much better.

I love Buck Privates Come Home because it signaled a return to their standard format and they were once again on good terms. This came thru in the film, and I think it was appropriate that they started off their "second wave" of films (just my opinion on that) with a return to their roots by following up the story of Buck Privates. It worked well for awhile and they quickly put out some good films back to back to back just like they did at the beginning of their career. From the span of Buck Privates Come Home thru Africa Screams they had only one semi-poor film, the forementioned Hayride. But the rest in that span were very well done, IMHO.

As for which volume is better, I'd tend toward Volume #1 because there isn't one bad picture in that bunch. This was A & C at their freshest and best! They took the movie industry by storm, and single-handedly kept Universal afloat in the 40's! So I don't think you can go wrong with that first set. All eight films are magnificent! This second set isn't shabby by any means, mind you. It just isn't quite as good as the first set.

Well, I've rambled on too long now as it is. I will report in with any problems I have. Universal has priced these sets incredibly low, so it's hard to complain. But I would have gladly paid additional costs to get these sets boxed together better and especially to see them on one-sided disks only! I hate two-sided disks - yuck!

Gary "I hope new generations of fans are born thru these releases" O.

 

[Lyle H.]

EDIT: Double Post

 

[Lyle H.]

Not at all, Gary. A good post, and a good read.

Do you know if any of the A&C TV Show DVD's carry Abbott and Costello Meet The Creature From The Black Lagoon? That's a huge want of mine.

Obviously, everyone has different opinions on these films. Everyone has their favorite routines, settings, and even *gasp* musical numbers! For instance, I really like Ride 'Em Cowboy (Although it's not my favorite), however, I've found a lot of people DON'T like it, and prefer Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (Which I need to give another shot, by the way). I'm not sure A&C ALONE kept Universal afloat, since they were also putting out the monster movies, however, I'm sure that if it weren't for A&C, knowing Universal's financial track-record, Universal probably wouldn't be around today.



As I think I've already noted before in this thread, i'm 17 years old, but the only other person my age that likes A&C (and other classic films) is my friend Kevin. Hopefully he can join us here at HTF sometime soon.

 

[Gary OS]

Lyle,

Glad to see some younger fans of the boys! I became a fan as a child growing up in the early 70's and watching the films early Saturday mornings. Even at age 6 I was just captivated by them. And I've got two daughters, ages 10 & 8, that have loved the films for years now as well. So I know younger fans can be raised up, it's just a matter of being exposed to the duo.

A & C Meet the Creature was from a skit on the Colgate Comedy Hour, when the team hosted backed in the 50's. It's actually only a few minutes long, but I do have a copy on vhs from an old Colgate release back about 15 years ago. You might try a place like Amazon.com or something similar. I believe it's volume #5 of Abbott & Costello - again via the Colgate Comedy Hour, not their own tv show (which is also pretty good).

Please do give Wistful Widow a second chance. It really is a good one, IMHO.

Take care,

Gary "I love Ride 'Em Cowboy too!" O.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Bob Furmanek wrote:
I plan to run TREASURE as part of my Big Screen Classics series at the Lafayette Theatre next Fall. It's tentative, of course, based on availability and print quality, but keep an eye on the site here: BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

 

[Chris Stainton]

My disc 1 was loose in the case but thankfully no scratches.



I started watching these films as a kid. Every Saturday they used to show a cheesy horror film at 1:30, an A&C film at 3:00 and a Bowry Boys film at 4:30. I loved watching these every week. The comedy is timeless and can be appreciated by young and old alike.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Sorry 'bout the spit take Pete. I was just having a little fun with that post

Fans of widescreen films may like to know that Bud and Lou's last 2 for Universal (Keystone Kops & Mummy) were composed and presented theatrically in the 1.85 aspect ratio.

Don't count on the discs being widescreen transfers. They've always been shown on TV and video full-frame 1.33. I just thought you'd like to know.

Bob

 

[Randy Korstick]

Thanks for the widescreen info. Bob. I didn't know that.

Regarding Mexican Hayride, I too would say its far from their worst film. I agree that goes to Dance with Me Henry. Its an average or middle of the road A & C film. If your a fan you will like it but its not where a newbie would want to start either.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Based on the tremendous boxoffice success of the previous film (Meet Frankenstein,) Universal briefly considered shooting Mexican Hayride in Technicolor! It was the only time their home studio considered color for one of their films.

 

[Lyle H.]

Gary:

I'm going to eventually track down that Colgate Comedy Hour VHS tape, once I free up some cash.

I wonder if Warner ever plans on releasing The Noose Hangs High, Lost in a Harem, and A&C Meet Captain Kidd.

Pete:

I used Mapquest to determine how long it will take me to drive to Big Screen Classics; and according to the website it will take 1 Hour, 3 Minutes. Not bad, that's about how long it takes to get to NYC's Film Forum from where I am, give or take a few minutes, depending on traffic. I'll be there, but hopefully it plays during the weekend.

Chris:

Sorry to hear about (another! ) messed up disc. Hopefully it plays fine. Just a note: I believe the transfers for In The Navy, Buck Privates, and Buck Privates Come Home are BETTER than the transfers on the Image DVDs.

General question: How many A&C films have you seen? How many do you own? I've seen around 19 or 20. I own Meet Frankenstein and Meet the Mummy on DVD(I won't get rid of either, especially 'Meet Frankenstein', because I doubt Universal will port over the A&C documentary and the other extras), VHS tapes of a few of their films (All of their "Meet the Monster" films, Hold That Ghost, Who Done It?, and Go to Mars), and both 'Best Of' DVDs released thus far. I plan on buying Vol. 3 as well. I really want to see 'Mexican Hayride', 'Lost in Alaska', and 'Meet the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Short)' the most.

 

[Brian Cruz]

I got this set today and decided to fast forward through all the films to make sure they played properly. Well, when I got about 1 hour and 10 minutes into "The Time of Their Lives", my player started skipping ahead several seconds and eventually just stopped. I tried playing through it again and the same thing happened. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Lyle H.]

I'll try it tonight, Brian.

 

[Lyle H.]

Anyone ever see 'In Hollywood'?

It sounds good, and my local Blockbuster has it on VHS...I may have to rent it.

 

[Gary OS]

Lyle,

In Hollywood is a personal favorite of mine. Now, as we all know, tastes vary and you may not care for this one. But I enjoy quite a bit. It's certainly worth renting, if not purchasing out right on vhs.

Hopefully all the non-Universal films will eventually be released by WB (they actually own all the non-Universal Abbott & Costello films now). I think there's a great chance we will see them release a set to us containing:

Lost in a Harem
In Hollywood
The Noose Hangs High
Africa Screams
Jack & the Beanstalk
Captain Kidd

I too will check my disk for that problem during Time of Their Lives tonight or tomorrow.

Gary "thank you Mr. Furmanek for all this wonderful info" O.

P.S. Love your book on the boys too!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I like IN HOLLYWOOD very much. The first time I saw it I recall laughing my head off (almost) during the sequence where Lou is mistaken for a stunt dummy! This one's got some good stuff in it and is my favorite MGM film from the guys, along with THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH (some great routines late in this one!)

MEXICAN HAYRIDE is so-so, IMO. It's got its moments, including a beaut between Lou and Sidney Fields. But it's not one of their strongest.

DANCE WITH ME HENRY isn't the worst A&C film for me; that award might go to JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.

THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP is a pretty good A&C film, I'd agree.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm very disappointed in the transfers this time around (Vol. 2). Other than THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (which is one of my very favorites!) these things look rather haggard and not very sharp/new.

Too bad about IT AIN'T HAY not being available yet; it would have been nice to have on the set. Is this still going through music rights trouble?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I would agree that DANCE WITH ME,HENRY and several of their other later films are worse than HAYRIDE, but it just isn't a funny movie. And it's jarring to see such an unfunny A&C film from the same era and director of A&C MEET FRANKENSTEIN, THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH and the other great stuff from the same period.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I think the rights issue with IT AIN'T HAY is with the estate of Damon Runyon, the author of the short story it's based on. As far as I remember, it's never been available on video.

 

[Lyle H.]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=507846

 

[Gary OS]

Joe, I agree with you 100% about In Hollywood being my favorite MGM title. Most people I know seem to like Rio Rita better (and it is a good film), but for my money Hollywood is the best. There are many great moments in that film.

And I'm also in agreement with you about Noose being a great film. Very enjoyable stuff, IMHO.

As we've all been saying, Hayride is pretty mediocre. But believe it or not, I actually enjoy Jack & the Beanstalk. I don't know exactly why, but I don't think it's nearly as poor as Dance/Henry. I really love the ending of Beanstalk when Lou smacks Bud as he waltzes out the door singing "I fear nothing." The look on Bud's face is priceless and it's satisfying to see Lou finally get a slap in after taking so many from Bud.

Peter's right about It Ain't Hay. The problem rests squarely on the Runyan estate! I hate to say it, but I think someone is gonna have to die to get this thing released from film prison!

Well, take care everyone, and enjoy the films!

Gary "I've got to make time tomorrow to examine these disks and make sure there are no defects!" O.