David Cranmer's Blog, page 125
June 26, 2011
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
My all-time favorite old school comedy act is the Marx Brothers with a close second being Buster Keaton. But it seems Bud Abbott and Lou Costello somehow escaped my attention, except when I was a kid at grandma's laughing at the classic Who's On First, and then later at the video store where I worked (David's college years, folks) enjoying Hold That Ghost and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. That's about it, even though I've had Volume 3 of their movie collection sitting on the shelf for quite awhile. I finally decided it was time to catch up on this famed duo.The Best of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Volume 3 contains eight movies from 1948-1953. I started with Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. The boys work at a hotel where a guest is murdered and suspicion falls on Costello the bellhop and for good reason—bodies begin piling up in his room at a side-splitting alarming rate. Abbott plays the hotel detective who is only a tad smarter than his friend the bellhop and tries to clear him regardless of the evidence that is stacking up against his innocence. Boris Karloff does well playing it straight as a hypnotizing swami who attempts to convince Costello to off himself. Many other fine supporting characters you'll immediately recognize come together for a classic Ellery Queen style whodunit.
The funniest scene for me was Abbott and Costello urgently trying to rid themselves of the bodies and at one point they set two stiffs up at a card table for a game of poker. Interestingly, every scene with a corpse was removed prior to distribution in Australia and New Zealand, and Denmark went so far as to ban the film completely.
I can't say I laughed a lot at this film but several scenes like corpse poker brought big chuckles and I'm looking forward to watching the other films in this collection which include Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Mexican Hayride, Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Comin' Round the Mountain, Lost in Alaska, and Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.
June 25, 2011
June 24, 2011
The Robert J. Randisi Book Giveaway Winners
I tossed all the entrants into my fancy $10 fedora and my Charmer drew the names. Jodi MacArthur, Ed Lynskey, and J. Kingston Pierce are the winners in our Robert J. Randisi Book Giveaway. I'll make sure Mr. Randisi receives your names and e-mails so he can ship the books off. Congrats to all!
June 23, 2011
Mystery eBook Giveaway -- Westlake and others
From Adrienne Harth:
I wanted to let you know about two great offers at www.thecopia.com, the new social eBookstore that lets readers share notes in the margins of their books, form online book clubs and much more.
We are giving away Donald Westlake's Edgar Award-winning novel, GOD SAVE THE MARK. Free.
Here is the short URL.
http://goo.gl/toJNV
Our ongoing free Books-to-Movies collection also has books of interest to mystery fans: free copies of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and LITTLE CAESAR.
All anyone has to do is spend a minute to sign up for an account, download the books, and then download our free eReader software for PC, Mac, Ipad, Win 7, etc.. You can read the book on any device that takes adobe ePub files (Nook, Sony eReader, etc).
We hope you enjoy these free books and please feel free to spread the word by blog or tweet.
Sincerely,
Adrienne
June 22, 2011
Cash and Miles: Peeling thin layers off of America's mythology
What a terrific review from Alec Cizak. I hope you get a chance to check it out and leave a comment.
