Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Reviews

As two American cops sent to London to study crowd control, Abbott and Costello inadvertently become involved with mad scientist Dr. Henry Jekyll (Boris Karloff), who has been busy transforming animals into weird hybrids (a cat that moos like a cow, a rabbit that barks like a dog) and murdering colleagues who have mocked his theories. Jekyll does this by injecting a special serum that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde. (Stuntman Eddie Parker played the monster for the 66-year-old Karloff in the more athletic scenes.) Of course, comedic chaos ensues as Jekyll/Hyde becomes more crazed and decides to kill the Americans. In the climactic chase, Costello is jabbed with a syringe containing Jekyll's formula and turns into a snarling, hairy Mr. Hyde himself. By this--the seventh--entry in the "Abbott and Costello Meet" series, the concept had long run out of gas. One point in this film's favor is the appearance of Karloff, here playing a monster for the first time in 14 years. Unfortunately, the Mr. Hyde makeup by Bud Westmore, who inherited the Universal makeup department from the masterful Jack Pierce, is little more than an immobile mask and must be considered a disappointment. The next "Abbott & Costello Meet" entry, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955), would be the last.