Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Charles Lamont |
Written by |
|
Produced by | Howard Christie |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Clifford Stine |
Edited by | Russell Schoengarth |
Music by |
|
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $762,446[2] |
Box office | $1.25 million (US)[3] |
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars is a 1953 American science fiction comedy film starring the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and directed by Charles Lamont. It was produced by Howard Christie and made by Universal-International. Despite the film's title, no character in the film actually travels to the planet Mars (although Abbott and Costello's characters believe they are on Mars at one point.)
Plot[]
Orville, the oldest orphan at the Hideaway Orphans Home, accidentally hides inside a truck headed to a top-secret laboratory. There he is placed under the supervision of lab worker Lester to help load supplies onto an experimental rocket ship. While on board with Lester, Orville flips the ignition button and the rocket ship blasts off, flying across the country and eventually landing outside of New Orleans, where Mardi Gras is in progress. Lester and Orville, dressed in their spacesuits, witness the grotesquely costumed celebrants and conclude that they have successfully landed on Mars.
Meanwhile, two escaped convicts, Harry the Horse and Mugsy, stumble upon the rocket ship, don another pair of spacesuits and head to New Orleans to rob a bank. Lester and Orville are wrongly accused of the crime and rush back to the rocket ship, where Mugsy and Harry force them to launch into outer space.
The rocket ship lands on Venus, where the four men are quickly captured by female guards and brought to Queen Allura. She informs them that Venus is inhabited only by women, as men were banished a long time ago. She takes more than a liking to Orville, however, and decides that he can stay if he is true to her. Orville agrees, and has Harry and Mugsy imprisoned. But Mugsy convinces one of the female guards to flirt with Orville to prove to Queen Allura that he cannot be trusted. Disillusioned with Orville, the Queen orders the men to leave Venus.
Upon returning to the Earth, the men are lauded as heroes in a parade, but Allura, who is watching the celebration from Venus, sends a spaceship to Earth that drops a cake on Orville's head.
Cast[]
- Bud Abbott as Lester
- Lou Costello as Orville
- Mari Blanchard as Allura
- Robert Paige as Dr Wilson
- Horace McMahon as Mugsy
- Martha Hyer as Janie
- Jack Kruschen as Harry
- Joe Kirk as Dr. Orvilla
- Jean Willes as Capt. Olivia
- Anita Ekberg as Venusian Guard
- Jackie Loughery as Guard
- Renate Hoy (Miss Germany) as Handmaiden
- Harry Shearer as Boy
- Dudley Dickerson as Porter
Production[]
Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein wrote a film treatment in 1950 called Abbott and Costello Move to the Moon that may have inspired the film's screenplay.[4]
Principal photography took place between August 1 and August 28, 1952.[5]
The Venusian women were played by 1952 Miss Universe contestants, including Anita Ekberg, the winner of the Miss Sweden competition a year earlier.[6]
The Venusian cars featured in the film were later used in the science fiction feature This Island Earth (1955).[7]
A nine-year-old Harry Shearer appears as a kid at the orphanage.
Shortly after the film's release, Abbott and Costello appeared on The Colgate Comedy Hour and did a comedy sketch in which they attended the film's premiere.
Home media[]
The film has had two DVD releases, the first as part of The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume Three, released on August 3, 2004, and the second as part of Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection, released on October 28, 2008.
In popular culture[]
In the 2018 film, Stan & Ollie, Stan Laurel, played by Steve Coogan, looks ruefully at a movie poster for Abbott and Costello Go To Mars just after learning that his last chance to make a new film with Oliver Hardy has fallen through.[citation needed]
References[]
- ^ Abbott and Costello Go to Mars at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ Furmanek p 236
- ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
- ^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
- ^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
- ^ Jim Mulholland (1977). The Abbott and Costello Book. Popular Library. p. 204.
- ^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
Bibliography[]
- Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo. Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books, 1991.
- Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties, 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009, (First edition 1982). ISBN 0-89950-032-3.
- Wingrove, David (1985). Science Fiction Film Source Book, Longman Group Limited.
External links[]
![]() |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Abbott and Costello Go to Mars |
- Abbott and Costello Go to Mars at IMDb
- Abbott and Costello Go to Mars @ EOFFTV
- Review of Abbott and Cosstello Go to Mars at Abbott and Costello - Who's on First?
- 1953 films
- English-language films
- 1950s science fiction comedy films
- American black-and-white films
- American science fiction comedy films
- American space adventure films
- American films
- Abbott and Costello films
- Films directed by Charles Lamont
- Films scored by Henry Mancini
- Films scored by Herman Stein
- Films set in New Orleans
- Venus in film
- Universal Pictures films
- 1953 comedy films