Thunderbean Animation
has firmly established itself in the Blu-ray/DVD field as the go-to label for
classic cartoon releases, ranging from the oeuvre of
Willie
Whopper and
Cubby
Bear to their current project of restoring all 27 shorts from
the
Van Beuren Studio’s Rainbow Parade
series (1934-35). It’s a labor of
love for Thunderbean CEO Steve Stanchfield, a cartoon historian and film
preservationist dedicated to hunting up the best existing 16mm/35mm materials
for these outstanding sets. In May,
Thunderbean’s long-anticipated
Abbott & Costello Rarities—an outstanding
collection of odds and ends spotlighting the great comedy duo—finally hit the
streets, and if you’re as big a fan of Bud and Lou as your humble narrator, you
need to track this down with all deliberate speed.
|
Lou, Bud, and Kate |
I’ve had to cut back on the significant amount of DVD-age purchased for
the dusty
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
archives of late, so I was most fortunate to score a free copy of the
Rarities
Blu-ray/DVD combo from a longstanding member of the
TDOY faithful (he asked me to keep his identity secret so as not to
interfere with his sideline of bringing maniacal supervillains to justice). There’s something for everyone in this
collection…but I’ll come clean and admit that my favorite features were those
of the audio variety.
Rarities
includes a March 10, 1938 excerpt from
The Kate Smith Hour (the boys do a
variation of the “betting parlor” routine that was later recycled in 1943’s
It
Ain’t Hay) and the July 3 premiere broadcast of their 1940 summer stint
as replacements for Fred Allen’s show (I was only aware of one other
It’s
Time to Smile program in collector’s hands). Another uncirculated broadcast is from
November 4, 1943—the night that Lou returned to radio after he recovered from
rheumatic fever…and the same night he learned of the drowning death of his
infant son “Butch” earlier that day; Lana Turner is the guest, and Bud informs
the audience of Lou’s tragedy at the end of the broadcast. A rare recording of their Saturday morning
series (
The Abbott & Costello Children’s Show from June 20, 1948)
is also included among the audio gems (audience warm-ups, actualities, etc.).
|
Bud and Jerry Lewis |
The
Rarities collection includes
trailers from some of Bud and Lou’s classic film comedies (
Buck Privates,
In the Navy,
etc.) and “blowups” (bloopers) from others like
Pardon My Sarong and
Little
Giant (I really got a kick out of seeing the outtakes from
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein,
my favorite A&C vehicle). There are
newsreel clips, excerpts from Lou’s home movies, and an amazing collection of
footage (Kodachrome) from the team’s 1943 war bond tour (where they sold nearly
$85 million worth of bonds). A favorite
highlight of mine is an unearthed November 1, 1953 telecast of
The
Colgate Comedy Hour, in which Bud must work solo in Lou’s absence
(Costello is ill) with an assist from Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis. The program includes clips from previous
Colgate
shows featuring Lou—one their famous “Rubdown” sketch (with stooges Sid Fields
and Bobby Barber) and another hilarious skit where the duo goes to great
lengths to get rid of a stolen necklace (the two men have difficulty keeping it
together before the finish). In addition
to Dino’s singing (both solo and comedy songs accompanied by Jer’s clowning
with Al Goodman’s orchestra), Peggy Lee does a few numbers (including the Halo
shampoo jingle) and Gene Nelson dances (I kind of fast-forwarded through this).
|
Another favorite from this set: Lou, Bud, and Charles Laughton (as Bud's chauffeur!) make a plea for Christmas Seals. |
Chris Costello, whose outstanding biography of her father (
Lou’s on First)
was
written up for the blog in October of last year, provided much of the
material for this release…and I’ll admit, the content more than surpassed my
expectations (I was expecting a lot of the public domain A&C filler that’s
been previously released). At the risk
of sounding like a parrot…this is
a
collection that Abbott & Costello fans will want for their bookshelf—a more-than-justified
reward for those who have waited patiently all these years to see it come to
fruition.
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