“Some mummies are men. Some mummies are women”
In the second to last film that they would make together, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello dig up some laughs in 1955’s Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy. The movie isn’t as funny as some of their other films, but it’s still a pretty serviceable comedy.
Trying to get out of Egypt, Abbott and Costello attempt to hitch a ride with a mummy back to the United States. Instead, they walk into a murder, recover a medallion that leads to hidden treasure in the tomb of Princess Ara, and become caught in the crossfire between two groups after the medallion.
The duo bumble their way through Cairo and the tomb of the princess, dodging a greedy woman named Madame Rontru (Marie Windsor) and her thugs, the leader of the cult of Klaris (the mummified protector of Ara) named Semu (Richard Deacon), and the revived mummy of Klaris (Eddie Parker).
Abbott and Costello cycle through a number of routines in the film including one in which they attempt to slip each other the medallion once they learn that it is cursed. They also revisit one of their most famous routines (Who’s On First?) while fighting over a shovel and a pick. At numerous times in the movie, Costello breaks the fourth wall by staring directly at the audience in disbelief.
One running gag throughout the film is Costello playing a flute and charming a snake. Eventually Abbott gets a chance to charm a snake and, instead, charms a lady. Costello, jealous, attempts to charm a lady for himself. The result is quite funny.
Klaris really doesn’t have much of a role in this film. He shuffles about and almost catches a few people, but he’s mainly window dressing for the comedy bits of Abbott and Costello. Windsor vamps things up and Deacon plays a pretty good foil to her plans, but ultimately this is sort of a bland film. The gags are funny but forgettable and while I didn’t feel as if I wasted my time watching this movie, I have no desire to watch it again any time soon.
Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy was okay. The comedic pair definitely have better films under their belts, but this one is at least worth checking out once. It neither adds nor takes away from the Mummy franchise nor does it really add anything to Universal’s Monster Legacy. It’s simply a decent movie with decent laughs.
I’ve got three more days left in my Thirty-One Days O’Horror event. I’ve really enjoyed watching these movies over the month of October. I viewed some of them for the very first time. I viewed others so many times before that I’ve lost count. Watching these films has given me ideas about more posts in the future. I won’t reveal those ideas now, but be on the lookout in the coming months for posts focusing on other aspects of these films.
As always, thanks for reading my post. Three…..more….days!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 