Monstrous Crowd at the Alex

Alex Theatre COMPHere’s a snapshot of the line waiting to get into Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA on October 25. Tough crowd!

John King Tarpinian was on hand not just to see the movie, but to flash his replica of the Dracula ring Lugosi wore in the film. You all know how hard it is to find social occasions to wear your finery.

Abbot-and-Costello-meet-Frankenstein

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello join forces with Universal’s menagerie of famous monsters… a perfect blending of classic comedy and terror. The boys were never funnier, combining verbal routines with their best slapstick gags. A top-notch supporting cast plays it absolutely straight, with Bela Lugosi as Dracula for only the second time, Lon Chaney Jr. making his full moon change into The Wolf Man, and Glenn Strange stalking the boys as Frankenstein’s Monster. Even Vincent Price gets a cameo as The Invisible man. This top grosser for Universal still holds all its charm.

4 thoughts on “Monstrous Crowd at the Alex

  1. Bela Lugosi, Jr. honored those who attended the evening’s performance. He talked about his father, of course, and gave a slide show on him on his father’s sets. I once had the honor of breaking bread with Jr. along with Sara Karloff and Ron Chaney at Musso & Frank’s Restaurant after Carla Laemmle’s 100th birthday party. Yes, Ray Bradbury was there also.

    At the matinee performance Bud Abbott’s daughters were the guests of honor.

  2. An absolutely stunning memory….

    Some years back, when they were still holding the erstwhile, annual Old Time Radio convention in Newark, New Jersey… ‘Just around this time of year, in fact:

    Sarah Karloff was one of the guests…

    By that point in time–the late ’90s–the dealers room was spread out across the main floor of the airport Holiday Inn. There was a main room, and across the other side of the hotel, several small meeting rooms filled with a few dealers tables.

    It was almost like, ultimately, exploring a warren of memorabilia.

    (And not James Warren, ‘ya wiseguys!)

    At some point on the gettogether’s first afternoon, I was looking for a magazine dealer friend, sticking my head in the various doorways…

    Suddenly, I was locking eyes with Boris Karloff.

    I knew immediately what had happened, but there was this senses-altering aspect of being back in the Autumn of 1969, watching the Universal monster classics for the first time…

    Beyond that passage, was an eternity of dreams.

    Because as Sarah Karlloff would be the first to tell you, her father’s immortal eyes live in her lovely face.

    James H. Burns

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