Live Life Team
‘Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ is yet another of the comedy/horror films that Abbott and Costello made together. This time, Boris Karloff joins them (for the second time) in the dual roles of Jekyll and Hyde. The boys play Americans working in London as British police officers. Karloff is hopelessly in love with Vicky Edwards (Helen Westcott), but has no interest in her. Then Bruce Adams (Craig Stevens) comes into the picture, and it’s clear he’s got designs on Vicky. Turns out, Jekyll has been using his serum to transform into Hyde, and then killing fellow scientists who ridiculed his ideas about people having a beast inside them.
As with any Abbott and Costello film, there’s plenty of comedy, and no one believes Lou when he says there’s a monster on the loose. At one point, he gets jabbed with a syringe containing the drug, and he turns into a giant mouse! Bud is so wrapped up in himself, he doesn’t even notice.
Finally, Jekyll is revealed. He tries to kill Bruce and spirit Vicky away, and there is the usual climactic ending. Jekyll is defeated, and Bruce and Vicky get together. Of course, Bud and Lou have to get their little touch in at the end. Lou, again transformed (this time into Hyde), is grabbed by the police. He bites a bunch of them, and then returns to normal; even as they transform into a gang of Hydes!
While largely a comedy, the film does have a wonderful look to it, and it manages to deliver some great thrills.
