Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1953
Running Times: 76m
Length:
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: black and white
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

DIRECTION

Director: Charles Lamont

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Universal International Pictures
Producer: Howard Christie

SCRIPT
Script: Leo Loeb, John Grant, Howard Dimsdale
Story: Sid Fields, Grant Garrett
Characters: Robert Louis Stevenson
Dialogue Director: Milt Bronson

DIRECTION
Assistant Director: William Holland

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: George Robinson
Editor: Russell Schoengarth

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Russell F. Schoengarth

MUSIC
Musical Director: Joseph Gershenson
Music: Miklos Rozsa (from Kiss the Blood Off My Hands); Hans J. Salter; Frank Skinner (uncredited); Eric Zeisl

SOUND
Sound: Leslie I. Carey, Robert Pritchard

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Bud Westmore
Hair: Joan St Oegger
Costume Designer: Rosemary Odell
Mask Des: Milicent Patrick

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Photography: David S. Horsley

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designers: Bernard Herzbrun, Eric Orbom
Set Decorators: Russell A. Gausman, John Austin

OTHER CREW
Dance Director: Kenny Williams

STUNTS
Stunts: Eddie Parker (Mr Hyde) [uncredited]
Stunt Pedestrians: John Daheim, Bert LeBaron, Teddy Mangean, David Sharpe, Ken Terrell, Sailor Vincent, Al Wyatt (all uncredited)

CAST

Bud Abbott (Slim)
Lou Costello (Tubby)
Boris Karloff (Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde)
Helen Westcott (Vicky Edwards)
Craig Stevens (Bruce Adams)
John Dierkes (Natley)
Reginald Denny (Inspector)

UNCREDITED CAST

Pattie McKay, Betty Tyler, Lucille Lamarr (can-can dancers)
Henry Corden (actor in Javanese costume)
Hanrry Cording (rough character in park)
Carmen De Lavallade (Javanese actress)
Marjorie Bennett (militant woman on soapbox)
Arthur Gould-Porter (bartender)
Clyde Cook, John Rogers (drunks in pub)
Herbert Deans (Dr Stephen J. Poole)
Gil Perkins (Oscar)
Judith Brian (woman on bike)
Hilda Plowright (nursemaid)
Betty Fairfax (suffragette)
James Aubrey (sleeping man in park)
Susan Randall (girl)
Harry Wilson (man with match)
Wilson Benge (stage doorman)
Michael Hadlow, Tony Marsh, Clive Morgan (bobbies)
Isabelle Dwan (Mrs Penprase)
Al Ferguson (Watkins the coachman)
Keith Hitchcock (jailer)
Duke Johnson (juggler)
Donald Kerr (chimney sweep)
Ken Terrell, John Daheim (hecklers in park)

PLOT SUMMARY

London is plagued by a series of mysterious killings. Smooth talking, two fisted American journalist Bruce Adams teams up with Slim and Tubby, a pair of dimwit cops on loan from an American police force to learn British policing methods, to help solve the crimes. Vicky Edwards, leader of a suffragette movement, strikes up a relationship with Adams, unaware that her guardian, Dr Jekyll, is the perpetrator of the heinous murders. Slim and Tubby are dismissed from the force on account of their staggering ineptitude and set about ingratiating their way back into their commanding officers good books by independently bringing the killer to book.

Portugal
Theatrical Distributor: Doperfilme

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures
Video Distributor: MCA/Universal
Laserdisc Distributor: MCA Home Video (41787)

Finland
Rating: banned in 1953; later K-16

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: X

USA
Rating: unrated

1953
December
11: Finland - theatrical release

1954
February
1: Sweden - theatrical release
3: Denmark - theatrical release

1956
January
20: Portugal - theatrical release

1968
July
14: UK - television broadcast (on ITV (ATV))

1975
February
22: UK - television broadcast (on ITV (Border))

1976
March
9: UK - television broadcast (on ITV (Ulster))

1984
February
5: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

1986
November
1: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

1989
July
9: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

1994
July
Day Unknown: USA - laserdisc release (MCA Home Video (41787))

1995
May
30: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

The Laughs Are Twice as MONSTER-OUS as Ever Before!

Abbott en Costelle Ontmoeten Dr Jekyll en Mr Hyde - Dutch title
Dr Jekyll and Mrs Hyde - working title
Gianni e Pinotto contro il dottor Jekyll - Italian title

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Coming Soon (1982)

SEE ALSO
Climax!: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1955)
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes (1981)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1908)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1910)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1912)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1913)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1968)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1973)
Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde (1995)
Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
I, Monster (1971)
Jekyll and Hyde (1990)
Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982)
Mary Reilly (1996)
Strannaya istoriya doktora Dzhekila i mistera Khajda (1985)
Le testament du Docteur Cordelier (1959)
The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960)

PERIODICALS

Film Daily, The vol.104 no.17 24 Jul 1953 p.10 (USA)
review

Hollywood Reporter, The vol.125 no.21 24 Jul 1953 p.3 (USA)
review

Kinematograph Weekly no.2430 21 Jan 1954 p.17 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.21 no.242 (March 1954) p.38 (UK)
credits, review

Motion Picture Herald vol.190 no.6 7 Feb 1953 p.26 (USA)
note

Motion Picture Herald vol.191 no.13 27 Jun 1953 p.1887 (USA)
note

Motion Picture Herald vol.192 no.5 1 Aug 1953 p.1934 (USA)
review

Sight and Sound vol.10 no.9 (September 2000) p.61 (UK)
illustrated video review (Video reviews: retail by Geoffrey Macnab)

Today's Cinema vol.82 no.6928 14 Jan 1954 p.6 (UK)
review

TV Times 4-10 February 1984 p.33 (UK)
credits

TV Times 1-7 November 1986 p.77 (UK)
credits

Variety 29 Jul 1953 (USA)
review

BOOKS

Aurum Film Encyclopaedia: Science Fiction p.136
credits, review

Creature Features Strikes Again p.10
credits, review

Cult Flicks and Trash Pics p.1
credits, review

The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film p.1
credits

The Essential Monster Movie Guide p.26
credits, review

Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide p.320
credits

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.14
credits, review

Horror and Science Fiction Films volume II p.1
credits

Horror Film Handbook p.10
credits, review

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.1
credits

Science Fiction Film Source Book p.20
credits, review

Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Television Credits II p.731
credits

Video Source Book 13th Edition (1992) volume 1 p.2
credits

Jekyll and Hyde, police, mad scientists, london, scotland yard, journalists, womens rights, spoofs, laboratories, mice, secret doors, wax museums

Last Updated: 28 November, 2009