Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Abbott & Costello "Horror:" The Better Halloween Alternative, #5



Imagine Abbott and Costello in the midst of the legendary mountain feud of the Hatfields and the McCoys, and you have Coming Round the Mountain. It’s a very funny film, with Lou Costello as the ‘long-lost’ grandson of Squeezebox McCoy, whose concertina holds the key to a hidden treasure. Lou’s return to the hills of Kentucky re-ignites the long-dormant feud.

Funny bits include the ‘forefathers’ routine (see below in the quotes), and a voodoo duel between Lou and Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) as they make voodoo dolls of each other and keep jabbing each other - a very funny sequence.
Synopsis of Abbott and Costello’s Comin’ Round the Mountain

Al Stewart (Bud Abbott) and Wilbert (Lou Costello) are magicians doing a stage act when they run into Wilbert’s cousin Dorothy McCoy. Wilbert is the grandson of Squeez-box McCoy. They go back to the hills of Kentucky to and find that Squeeze-box had a hidden treasure. The boys find themselves in the middle of a family feud.

Funny movie quotes from Abbott and Costello’s Comin’ Round the Mountain (1951)

[after walking into an old beat-down cabin]
Wilbert (Lou Costello): How could my kin folks ever live in a joint like this?
Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): Probably your four fathers lived here.
Wilbert (Lou Costello): I beg your pardon?
Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): I said probably your four fathers lived here before you.
Wilbert (Lou Costello): My four fathers?
Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): Yes.
Wilbert (Lou Costello): I didn’t have four fathers.
Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): Sure, you did.
Wilbert (Lou Costello): If I did, only one came home nights.

Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): What’s going on out there?
Wilbert (Lou Costello): My in-laws are acting like out-laws.

[after seeing a goat]
Wilbert (Lou Costello): Funny-looking dog.

Wilbert (Lou Costello): “What’s she doing?”
Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): “She’s making Voodoo”
Wilbert (Lou Costello): “I do?”
Al Stewart (Bud Abbott): “Voodoo!”
Wilbert (Lou Costello): “I do what?”

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