7: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951, Charles Lamont)

Owned release: That 2008 Universal box. This is on Disc 11.

Acquired: Feb. 2013. Amazon.

Seen before?: Once from this disc - July 11, 2017, at which point I gave it an unaccountably-grumpy two stars.

So, best I can tell, my reaction to this one and ...Meet Jekyll & Hyde were swapped - that's the only way I can explain my flipping for the mirthless Karloff vehicle while poo-pooing this knockabout winner. The comedy here is more intensely (and understandably) physical than average, though there's still room for verbal shenanigans (my favorite exchange, after the Invisible Man has shed his clothing to escape a room undetected: "How'd he get out of here?" "In installments.") and the occasional inspired bit of random lunacy, like a hypnosis session that turns into a goof on the stateroom scene from A Night at the Opera. The script was constructed more or less in reverse, building from its delightful boxing climax, and while it generally feels that way - a lot of the plot beats are obligatory, e.g. the Mafia moll who tries to seduce Lou into throwing the fight and doesn't really exert much effort to do so, assuming it a more or less done deal right away - the strength of these later films, as previously discussed, is the points where they find inspiration in the familiar. We've seen Lou get scared by supernatural phenomena, but his reaction upon encountering the Invisible Man in a wood - a high-pitched eep, a levitating-hat gag and a quick in-camera effect that sees him diving completely under a car - is a winner. We expect that the plot will require the boys to catch the moll in the act of compromising Lou, but the gag being constructed so that he's trying to use a massive record player to capture her words is novel and amusing. When Lou feints at a speedbag so that the Invisible Man can sell him as a champion boxer, that's level one; the extra wrinkle comes when Lou hams it up and uses his forehead. The gags are given just enough of a twist to make them land, and the plot moves fast enough that the fact that it's senseless and dopey even by comedy-team standards is besides the point.

And just when you think there's no surprises and it's comfort all the way down the line, Lamont and the boys end on the image of Lou Costello in a diaper and his legs attached backward running in reverse through a glass hospital door. That may not be an ace in the sleeve, but that closing guffaw is worth at least a Queen of diamonds.