Book Review: The Annotated Abbott and Costello
There are several books on Abbott and Costello’s films, the last really good one being Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo’s Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, which is now out of print. This makes room for Matthew Coniam and Nick Santa Maria’s new study, which is deep, thorough, and definitive.
Too often dismissed as superficial entertainment, the Abbott and Costello filmography is a collection of timeless comedy classics that not only still make us laugh, but serve as cultural artifacts in presenting entertainment styles of another era. The authors cover the rat-a-tat wordplay of the war years surrounded by period popular music, the monster and sci-fi satires, the experiments with expanding their style and challenging their comic formula, and, finally, concluding with reflective looks at the men themselves.
The authors go film-by-film and give all of the background information for each movie as well as a careful analysis. Their insights are layered and detailed, breaking down each movie into sections and commenting on what works and what does not. They remain respectful, even in those cases where they are covering a movie that is not one of the duo’s better efforts. And they realize the impact each film has made.
The wartime comedies are celebrated, the scare comedies and sci-fi satires are not only respected but further respect is given those films they’re satirizing, experiments where the team acted more as co-stars than a comedy team are put in their proper context, and when the boys start to slow down and seem tired, the authors admit this but still find some worthy moments therein.
How did the duo respond to different directors? How did they feel about their own movies? How did these movies do at the box office? What did period critics think? It’s all here. Nothing’s missing.
It is most gratifying that the authors treat these movies with such respect. As author Nick Santa Maria states, “It’s about time Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was placed alongside City Lights, The General, Duck Soup, Sons of the Desert, and It’s a Gift.” This reviewer agrees.
The Annotated Abbott and Costello is subtitled A Complete Viewer’s Guide to the Comedy Team and Their 38 Films. But this is more than just a guide, it is, quite frankly, one of the most comprehensive film study books that this reviewer has ever encountered
This highly recommended book is available here: ANNOTATED A&C