Abbott and Costello meet the Keystone Kops.

1955 - Director: Charles Lamont. Bud: Harry Pierce. Lou: Willie Piper.

The end of Abbott and Costello started with this film. They had wrapped their TV shows and Lou's bouts with Rheumatic fever were getting more frequent, he had one both sides of making this film. Their act was totally different from the early days, Lou was relying on pulling silly faces, often at the camera and Bud was getting to old for the rigours of physical comedy. Also, they stopped using all their routines. After nearly 20 years, no wonder the public were getting tired, though 'Who's on first' remained popular. Their later films had hardly any routines in them. This one has one at the start that slightly resembles the opening routine from 'Here come the co-eds'. It also has a lengthy one near the end with the boys dressed as a cop and a burglar.

The story start with Willie watching a silent film (watch the pianist, his fingers do not coordinate with the music, a very obvious editing mistake). This bit for some reason goes on for absolutely ages, we just have to watch this silent film, it's a very curious sequence. Costello stands and shouts at the screen and walking backwards misses his chair and sits on an old woman's lap. She screams and he literally gets thrown out.

Outside, Harry is waiting for him and has a go for being late. The had arranged to meet so Williw can put $5,000 of his aunt's money in the bank. Harry asks if he has the money. He realises he left it in the picture house so he pays a ticket (the cashier is Lou's 15 year old daughter) so he can go in and get it. He rumages around under his seat to get it, the woman screams again and he literally gets thrown out again.

Harry shows him a newspaper advert. Someone is selling a fully equiped studio for $5,000. Harry wants to make comedies but Willie likes dramatic pictures and he promptly kneels infront of him and recites some lines to the sound of sad playing violins. A passer by thinks he is being serious and beats Harry up. After he gets up, Harry attempts to play the same trick on him but with no results, so Willie demonstrates what to do and to the sound of violins again, recites 'Don't beat me Poppa, I'll get the money for you Poppa, don't beat me Poppa!'. Abbott actually looks old enough to Lou's Poppa. That's why this scene works. The same passer by passes by and beats up Harry again. Willie them offers him the money to buy the studio.

Fred Clark plays Joseph Gorman who sells them the Studio. He was a great character actor during the fifties and sixties. I liked his performances best in Martin and Lewis' 'The Caddy' and 'Living it up'. Gorman introduces them to his leading ladies and for the only time in the picture do they take their hats off. They exit and we learn that Gorman and his lady (Leotta)are conartists. They sell the same old studio over and over again. Now they must get a way. He has plans of going to Hollywood to make pictures using a disguise. He adopts a Europen accent, wears a toupee, and wears a moustache.

The boys arrive at the studio only to be met by an old man who explains they have been conned. He shows them the signs that the previous suckers have left behind and explains that the studio is the oldest ever built by Thomas A. Edison and it isn't used anymore. He says it dates back to 1893, but this film is set in 1912 and they talk like it was the present day (1955) when this film got made.

They have to walk from New York to Califormia as they learn from the 'bunko squad' (whatever that is? Cops maybe? Does anyone know what they are talking about?) that Gorman disapeared while heading up there. They hope to actually find him even though he could of run off to another country! Naturally fate takes them right to him, they end up entering an outdoor scene in his first movie! But now the boys are penniless and have to walk all the way there and stow on trains and the like. They just bought a studio for £5,000. How were they going to run it with absolutely no finance?

They have several encounters on the journey that lasts a while, you never think they are going to make it in time to 'meet the Keystone Kops'. In fact, right up till you do meet them for the climax, you forget that they are going to be in this film. It never crosses your mind. There are several things to look out for on their journey. One is where Lou, on top of a train carraige full of cows. He jumps and bounces back out a couple of times. You can actually see the trampoline through the wood. They get their clothes robbed while sleeping wild, the only purpose of that to the story is that they find some dice that has the same number on all 6 sides. They gamble on a train (though how can anyone not notice??) and that's how they finally make their destination.

After getting off the train, they see a horse and cart they think it's an old man they lent money off earlier on. They run after it and jump on the back. For some reason, they are suprised that it's not the old man. It doesn't occur to them that more than one person can have a horse and cart that looks the same. It turms out Gorman (now calling himself Toumanoff) shooting a film about the indians. When the 2 drivers get hit by arrows, they fall out of the cart. The boys head to the front to drive the cart. Toumanoff is angry that someone is ruining his picture. The producer arrives and realises that their riding is very exciting and wants it captured on film, much to the disgust of the director.

The boys do an impossible stunt and as a result, the producer wants to hire them as stuntman. When they all go over to check they are all right, Toumanoff and Leotta (his leading lady) are amazed to discover who it is. Nevertheless, he hires Willie as his stuntman. Typically, Abbott lets Lou do the work. In the office, the boys tell the producer, Mr Snavelly, about Mr Gorman and his Aunt's money. Snavelly assures them he will try and locate Gorman and get his money back. The boys assume he is working in Hollywood.

So Lou is playing a stuntman, something he actually was twenty five years earlier. He is doubling for Leotta in an aeroplane sequence. This whole sequence is very reminicsent of 'Keep 'em Flying'. But under director Lamont, these scenes don't match the energy of the previous film. The whole strange part of this scene is when the plane takes off with Willie in it, doubling for Leotta, Harry actually climbs in and is taken airborne!! Totally uncharacteristic for Abbott to do. Toumanoff wants to kill the boys so in the scene which has an airplane following them trying to shoot them, he has arranged for live bullets to be inserted in the first plane. When they take off there is a slight dig at Hollywood as Snavelly learns the plane took off without the stuntdriver. He realises they will be killed and says 'Oh, I hope Toumanoff catches it on film' before catching himself. Another dig occurs when toumanoff is explaining the scene to the boys. First when Willie points out there were no aeroplanes when they were fighting the Indians, Toumanoff replies 'Can I help it if I am ahead of my time?' he is rewriting history. Hollywood has certainly been accused of that lately - especially here in Britain. He also explains that the sun will set where he wants it to set.

There are some nice touches in the scenes as the plane takes off then loses control as the bullets start flying. The cameraman (in the film) is laughing as he is shooting the picture but Toumanoff is angry and insists it's not a comedy. The boys finally bail out as Harry snatches the only parachute from Willie, they both jump (clumsily) out together and as they are sinking down, Willie is losing his grip and is slowly sinks down Harry himself. He pulls his pants (trousers) down and finally is left just holding on to his shoe. The buttons pop off and he drops! Magically, they are over the ocean by now and he falls in it. Toumanoff cries out 'cut' and smiles to himself. The cameraman wonders how he gets rescued, on the spot, the director insists a submarine should surface with him on it - that promptly happens. No sign of Harry though...

In the rushes office. Toumanoff and Snavelly are watching footage of the aeroplane sequence. Snavelly is not impressed. The man operating the projector, Harvey, is in hysterics. Unbeknown to anyone, Harry and Willie are in the back row, hiding, silently laughing at the antics onscreen. When it's over, Toumanoff explains how he will improove it in editing. There is a creaking noise and Tourmanoff asks 'who is in here?' Harry and Willie get up and stumble out the room. Now it's Snavelly who is in hysterics. He wants Toumanoff to direct a comedy starring the boys but Toumanoff is incencsed. When I watch this scene, I can't help wishing that Snavelly had discovered them twenty years earlier. Oh well, Snavelly tells Toumanoff he has discoverd his identity as Gorman and if he doesn't want to direct his picture then he may go to the police. Snavelly agrees that Gorman can keep his identity as Toumanoff.

Harry and Willie are lying face down on a road as Willie has dropped a dollar down a drain and they are trying to fish it out. A car drives past and Gorman sees it and thinks they have been murdered by the hitman he hired. He faints near them as they get up and his wig falls off. The begin to suspect who he is and decide to investigate. Abbott's line readings in this scene are probably the worst of his career.

In another lengthy sequence of the film, they decide to investigate themselves at his house that night. Abbott is dressed as a burgular and Costello is dressed as a cop (In the early days, it would of been the other way round methinks). They plan to have Harry break in and look around and if he gets caught then Willie will apear and take him away. Naturally, an identical burgular and cop are also mixed in with the sequence and the sequence is full of mistaken identities. It's an entertaining piece but goes on a little too long. It ends without properly finishing too. Abbott never gets away from the cop and Costello is half knocked out. Needless to say, they don't find anything out.

Toumanoff's money has been stopped by Snavely in order to pay all the people he swindled. Now he can't pay his hitman. So his hitman says unless he swipes the $75,000 from Snavelly's safe (for the first Piper and Pierce comedy - hhmmm, doesn't the straightman come first? I bet Lou was pleased to have top billing for a chage!). He also suggests that he can make a lot of money being a smart director in Europe.

So next day, he gets caught red handed by the boys robbing the safe and he belts them on the head with a chair in a VERY peculiar sequence, he runs out as Snavelly is arriving and throws him out of his car and drives off (with Leotta). The boys rush out and bump into Snavelly (watch actor Frank Wilcox catch his hat in a nice touch) and they rush to a load of cops and ask them to help bring back Snavelly's money. They all rush off with the films title music blaring and Snavelly shouts what we all expected 'Hey Piper, those are not real policemen'. Finally, the Keystone Kops have entered the picture. For the next 10 minutes we are treated to the best part of the movie an entertaining silent chase (director Lamont started off in those days and he must of been happy to shoot these scenes). There are loads of visual gags. It's all good humour and the music is entertaining.

They finally catch up with Gorman at his waiting Aeroplane and just as Gorman gets the upperhand, real police arrive to arrest him. In a good final scene to cap the film, Willie hands the bag of money to Snavelly and says 'Mr Snavelly, we saved your money for you' as the engine on the plane starts (somehow) and all the money is blown away.

It's by no means a dreadful film but the characters are far removed from the earlier films. Lou is not even stupid or like a little boy. Just has slightly childish mannerisms. Abbott is on a same level with him, slaps him just once. Lou is the main character in the film and you can see they are just acting as friends. Their is no chemistry. The music, often with Abbott and Costello's films, is wonderful and really captures the spirit of the film. Universal must of liked it as they reused it for the title music to 'The world of Abbott and Costello' though the tempo was slower in that film. This remains as one of the teams lesser known films. It has good cameos by names of the silent era. Hank Mann (who played Chaplin's boxing opponent in the wonderful 'City Lights', Herold Goodwin, Rosco Ates, Heine Conklin and of course, Mack Sennet makes brief appearance of himself.

For this film and 'meet the Mummy' the boys got the best pay deal of their career at Universal $200,000 + 50% of the profits!!. In 1941 (after the huge success of Buck privates), they signed for $35,000 a movie plus 10% of the profits. Of course, they had one more movie to go for Universal after this. Universal let them go!