Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) - Episode 70 - Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Ohhh, in other words, you don’t want to pick the pick because the pick is a pick and a shovel isn’t the pick. If you pick the pick to pick, the shovel isn’t the pick." "Now you’ve got it." "Now I got it. I don’t even know what I’m talking about." These quotes are all you need to know who stars in this episode’s film. Join this episode’s Grue Crew - Chad Hunt, Whitney Collazo, and Jeff Mohr - as they get lost in the desert with Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 70 – Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

Bud and Lou find themselves pursued by an Egyptian cult for a special medallion linked to a walking mummy.

IMDb

 

• Director: Charles Lamont
• Writers: Lee Loeb (story), John Grant (screenplay)
• Cinematography: George Robinson (director of photography)
• Cast
  • Bud Abbott as Pete Patterson
  • Lou Costello as Freddie Franklin
  • Marie Windsor as Madame Rontru
  • Michael Ansara as Charlie
  • Dan Seymour as Josef
  • Richard Deacon as Semu
  • Kurt Katch as Dr. Gustav Zoomer
  • Richard Karlan as Hetsut
  • Mel Welles as Iben
  • Eddie Parker as Klaris, the Mummy
  • Kam Tong as Chinese Busboy (uncredited)
  • Mazzone-Abbott Dancers as dance troupe
  • Chandra Kaly and His Dancers as dance troupe
  • Peggy King as vocalist
  • Donald Kerr as Newspaperman (uncredited)
  • Hank Mann as Waiter with Flaming Kabob (uncredited)

Your Decades of Horror Classic Era Grue-Crew chose Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy as their second Abbott and Costello Universal Monster film after covering Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in episode 44. Though Meet Frankenstein is obviously the cream of the crop, Whitney, Chad, and Jeff think this one is a bit underrated despite the ridiculous mummy costume. Whitney digs Marie Windsor’s portrayal of the smartest-one-in-the-room bad-girl and the way she puts up with the rest of the idiots surrounding her. Once again, Jeff overdoes it when it comes to delving into the character actors in the cast. Chad is all about Batman and connections to the Caped Crusader abound in this film.

If you dig the comic duo at all and are a Universal Monster fan (of course you are), Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is worth your time. Your faithful Grue-Crew laughed and you will too. It’s available on Blu ray in multiple releases, most recently Shout! Factory’s Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era is part of the Decades of Horror 3-week rotation with the 1970s and 1980s. In three weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968), a Dan Curtis production starring Jack Palance, Denholm Elliott, and Billie Whitelaw.

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