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

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

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
Director: Charles Lamont
Assistant Director: William Holland

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: George Robinson
Editor: Russell Schoengarth

EDITING
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

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
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

MISCELLANEOUS
Dance Director: Kenny Williams

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

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.

Like most of the Abbott and Costello Meet... series, Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde strikes up an uneasy blend of slapstick comedy, music hall burlesque and straight Universal style horror. It's a pretty poor show and really no more than one might expect from this hideous and untalented duo. If the sight of grown men falling over, the spectacle of Boris Karloff reduced to playing second fiddle to the title duo (sadly, this was his second such encounter with them, having already appeared in the equally dreadful Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)) or simply if you have less than two brain cells to rub together this childish farrago may appeal. Otherwise, be advised to steer well clear. (Full Review)

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)

MAGAZINES

TV Times 4-10 February 1984 p.33 (UK)
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TV Times 1-7 November 1986 p.77 (UK)
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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
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The Essential Monster Movie Guide p.26
credits, review

Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide p.320
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Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.14
credits, review

Horror and Science Fiction Films volume II p.1
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Horror Film Handbook p.10
credits, review

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.1
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Science Fiction Film Source Book p.20
credits, review

Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Television Credits II p.731
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Video Source Book 13th Edition (1992) volume 1 p.2
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jekyll and hyde, police, mad scientists, london, scotland yard, journalists, womens rights, spoofs, laboratories, mice, secret doors, wax museums

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008