Book Review: Advertising Anarchy: Selling Bud Abbott and Lou Costello To War-Torn America

Uncannily surpassing his magnificent similar book on Martin and Lewis, author Richard S. Greene has compiled a massive near-800-page oversized volume on Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. They are known by all time and generations for their Who’s on First routine (and, recently, their 13 x 7 = 28 bit is getting a lot of YouTube reaction videos). But their film and TV appearances are their legacy.

Comedy changed in the 1940s. The slapstick stars from the silent era who made their way successfully through the 1930s were replaced by the rat-a-tat verbal comedy of comedians from Burlesque and radio. Bob Hope, for instance, flourished in this decade. Abbott and Costello spent some time at the top of the box office with hit films about such timeworn situations as military life, haunted houses, murders, and cowboys. Their quick timing, wordplay, and slapstick combined with romantic sub plots and pop music to make strong entertainment packages for a war weary public.

Author Greene covers the duo’s entire film output from 1940-1956, not only discussing each film, but providing all manner of publicity material from posters, press kits, magazine and newspaper ads, endorsements, and promotional stunts, each one more fascinating than the other. It is a large, heavy, mammoth book that is endlessly fascinating to read, or just page through.

This isn’t just a book for Abbott and Costello fans. This is a handsomely mounted, colorful collection that is a must for film buffs, advertising people, art enthusiasts, and certainly libraries and research centers. I give it my most powerful recommendation

Here is the link to purchase: ABBOTT/COSTELLO