Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy

When the murder of an archaeologist puts a valuable medallion into their hands, Abbott and Costello waste little time in trying to sell it--only to find themselves pursued by police, a slinky adventuress, an Egyptian high priest, and the mummy himself. The concept is amusing, but the real charm of any Abbott and Costello film is the charismatic comic interplay between the stars. Unfortunately, the 1955 MEET THE MUMMY finds the two at a creative low ebb.

Featuring such notable character actors as Richard Deacon and Marie Windsor, the film is competently made and very easy to watch, but to say it lacks the inspiration of Abbott and Costello's best work would be a tremendous understatement. At most, MEET THE MUMMY is mildly amusing in a broadly slapstick sort of way, good for an occasional chuckle at best. It would be their last film at Universal and their next-to-last screen appearance together, so it might be best regarded as a fond farewell.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This is the last hurrah for Universal Pictures from the dynamic duo of Bud & Lou. Tho the film finds them long past their best, with the overall material having to be severely stretched to sustain a feature length movie, it does however have some merit. The plot sees the lads mixed up in a murder mystery with an Egyptian cult. Cue lots of Mummy like staple scenario's as our bumbling duo bluster their way thru by luck more than any sort of guile. In the hands of lesser comedians this production would have sank without trace, but such is the vibrancy and comedic knowing of the pair the film at least remains watchable to the end. It may well find them on auto-pilot, but a couple of scenes show why they were such well loved comedians. With medallion hamburgers and a triple whammy of Mummies for the typically frenetic finale, the movie, if not even close to doing justice to their great careers, does remain engaging and thankfully stays above average. 6/10

This was the last feature for Universal that the two box office champs of the 40s did. Having met Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, Dr. Jekyll, Mr Hyde, and the Invisible Man...Universal paired the two comedians with their mummy for one last go-round. The effort is not entirely satisfying, yet all together bad either. Bud and Lou seek their fortunes in Egypt when brought into a circle of intrigue, murder, and a curse of a mummy. The rest of the film centers around their bumbling, situational comedy, and a couple of dance hall numbers. The sets are pretty good, but the make-up for the mummy is definitely sub-par for the studio that brought us The Mummy in 1932. Richard Deacon stands out in a supporting role. Some pleasant scenes involve Bud and Lou playing hide-go-seek with a dead body(much like was done in A&C Meet the Killer), a trio of mummies treading through a hidden fortress, and a routine of Bud and Lou playing revolving hamburgers. Not their best to be sure, but sure to bring a smile to you.

This was the boys last picture for Universal. Actually it is better than some of the prior ones.

It has a better supporting cast than some with Marie Windsor & Richard Deacon. It has a better drawn story line than others too, as the script almost gets the idea right.

For the first time in many pictures, it has some of Abbott & Costellos better comic dialog which had been missing for several films. It includes the crisp "take your pick" routine and it is a breath of fresh air for the first time in a while.

There is a clever sequence where A & C pull a clever escape using some stunts that are cleverly done. There is a little music but it is not as obtrusive as some previous films. Overall, this is just slightly below their best films, much better than their worst ones.

Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy is less of a movie then an episode of the Abbott and Costello show. Marjorie Windsor is a terrifically determined villainess and she helps to give the movie some drama and dark charisma but the movie is too unstructured otherwise. It's more on a final, undisciplined romp for Abbott and Costello. Even though their chemistry is long since gone, they are still brilliant comedians and they fake their way through the movie with a plethora of stand up bits. The good, clean comedy is a nice breath of fresh air. The opening slapstick gets the movie off on a good foot and the stage act (three women and one man) that performs is INCREDIBLE. The cult of Klaris is a major bore, ranging from the incredibly non-Egyptian "Egyptian" Richard Deacon to the cult, itself, that features a man who is clearly either Tibetan or Chinese. The routine that Costello does with the lady is hilarious and high spirted and the bit with the amulet is well timed. The plot point of Costello eating the amulet (in pieces) and then it appearing intact in his stomach is meaningless here as the whole movie is not for purists. The mummy is a major disappointment as the "bandages" look like a pajama outfit with a bandage pattern. Abbott gets into mummy's "wraps" for pretty much no reason other then to have three mummy's running around at one point. As if sensing that this is their last big blowout together, Costello is very natural with his criticisms of Abbott and Abbott seems almost too real with his abuse of Costello. Whatever dysfunction they had in their later years, they do their best here to slug it out. Costello acts like a man ready to jump off ship and he seems to be lightening his load for his journey. He gives a very light and a very funny performance. Abbott is sharper then he has been in years. Abbott was so sharp in his younger days that he looks bad in comparison here but his worst is still better then most people's best. The plot is pretty much garbage and unenthralling and the mummy is completely impotent but the performances of Abbott and Costello and Marie Windsor help move the show.