Twilightfa
Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.
Grimossfer
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
MartinHafer
Although this film was made very late in their film careers, this Abbott and Costello film is amazingly enjoyable--proving that even as late as 1955, the team was still capable of making good movies. In fact, 1955 was a very good year, with the equally enjoyable ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY also coming to the screen.The film gets very high marks for being focused on the comedy team and not filling the movie with padding such as song and dance numbers (this is so in at least half their films). There also, thankfully, is no parallel romantic plot--another part of the formula that didn't help their earlier films.ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEETS THE KEYSTONE KOPS begins with the boys buying a movie studio from a shady character (Fred Clark). However, when they go to take possession of the place, they find that the crook had sold this to many people--and it wasn't his to sell in the first place. So, for the first third or more of the film, Bud and Lou are trying to cross the United States to go to Hollywood, as the trail of this crook has led there.Once in L.A., the fall into a movie shoot and don't realize it. However, their amazing driving of a runaway wagon wasn't lost on the film's producer--he loved the boys and wanted them to work in upcoming films. The director, in contrast, wasn't thrilled as this was Clark in disguise as a "great European director" and so far, no one had caught on that he had been a con man. And, to keep this a secret, Clark hired Slapsie Maxie Rosenblum to "arrange an accident" and get rid of Abbott and Costello once and for all. There's more to it than that as well as a crazy tribute to the Keystone Kops in the finale, but you'll just need to see the film to find out what happens.Overall, it's a funny film and a decent homage to silent comedy. Not their best but probably among their better films, this should make most Abbott and Costello fans quite happy.
gridoon
"Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" is a film about the early days of cinema, and contains a lot of cinematic tricks itself: stunt doubling, back projection, fast motion, reverse motion, freeze frame, special effects, etc. Some of these tricks work (the horse jump over a cliff is a fantastic shot which I still can't figure out how they pulled off), some don't (the plane scenes look especially fake), but the real problem is that the story is episodic and A&C have only two routines worth mentioning: one at the start, with Abbott mistaken as Costello's violent father, and one involving two pairs of cops and burglars, one fake (Bud & Lou) and one real. The climactic chase, involving the title "Kops", is frenetic but unfunny. This type of slapstick will still appeal to young kids, but anyone over the age of 12 will probably be begging for some more verbal humor. (**)
lzf0
There is a real change in the role portrayed by Bud Abbott in this picture. In past films, he has had the role of Costello's straight man for dialogue scenes. He played a sharp, smart, heavy. No one was meant to take this seriously, but Abbott played the bad guy! He usually gets the best of Costello. (This is not true of their famous "Dice Routine", "The Lemon Bit" and that oh so satisfying conclusion of "Africa Screams".) When it came to physical comedy, Costello was on his own, with Abbott nowhere to be found. But starting with this film, and continuing with "A & C Meet the Mummy" and "Dance with Me, Henry", Bud Abbott has become a buffoon. He takes more pratfalls in this film and in "The Mummy" than he did in all of his other films combined. Now it is obvious that a stunt man is doing the physical bits for him, but it is nice to see Abbott become funny. Why didn't this happen sooner? Maybe it was Lou Costello's ego. Maybe it was Bud Abbott's illness. Maybe Abbott just didn't care and let Costello carry the team.
With "Keystone Kops", the writers have finally made Bud Abbott funny. He tries to be gruff and mean, but it just isn't in him. He tries to show that he is braver and smarter than Costello, but no one believes him. There is finally some depth to the team. Costello is still silly and innocent, but now Abbott is a phony to the world. In the past he was able to fool everyone but Lou.Now I am not saying that I do not enjoy the previous A&C efforts. Some of them are brilliant comedies and John Grant's routines are always marvelous. However, it took so much time for the characters of Bud and Lou to grow. I only wish there were more films to see their metamorphosis.
Leahcurry
"Abbott and Costello meet the Keystone Kops" gives a nice homage to the silent film era, in most ways. In that and every other respect, this film is flawed only by the long and eventually tedious chase scene involving the fake Keystone Kops. I admit it is enjoyable to watch people run in fast motion (typical of silent films), but that scene gets boring before long. I am a big Abbott and Costello fan. Here, the acting is good. Fred Clark is good as Joseph Gorman, and the man who plays the producer (I don't remember his name) was billed last, and he is one of the best actors in the cast, better than Fred Clark, even! Also, Roscoe Ates (the hillbilly who stutters) was perfect! The mistaken identity scene of the two policemen and crooks is hilarious. This film also has many other hilarious touches: Costello being thrown out of the theater (twice), the train scenes, the stop-motion when Joseph Gorman (disguised as Sergei), yells Cut!, Abbott and Costello being carried by each other at various times, and many more. This is not the best A&C film (only one film is reserved for that honor), but this is not a badfilm. It doesn't need to be better, really. It all depends on your expectations (and that should never be very high anyway).
