Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

Infobox Film
name = Abbott and Costello Go to Mars


caption = Theatrical Poster
director = Charles Lamont
producer = Howard Christie
writer = D.D. Beauchamp
Howard Christie
John Grant
starring = Bud Abbott
Lou Costello
Mari Blanchard
Dudley Dickerson
music = Joseph Gershenson
cinematography = Clifford Stine
editing = Russell Schoengarth
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = April 6, 1953
runtime = 77 min.
language = English
budget = $762,000
country = United States
preceded_by = "Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd" (1952)
followed_by = "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953)
imdb_id = 0045468

Abbott and Costello Go To Mars is a 1953 science fiction comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film follows the misadventures of Lester and Orville who accidentally find themselves on a rocketship bound for Mars, which accidentally lands at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. The pair are forced by bank robbers Mugsy and Harry to fly to Venus where they encounter a civilization comprised entirely of women. Despite the title, no one in this film actually goes to Mars.

Plot

Orville (Lou Costello) is the oldest orphan at the Hideaway Orphans Home. He accidentally winds up inside a truck heading to a top secret laboratory, where he is placed under the guidance of lab worker Lester (Bud Abbott) to help load supplies onto a rocketship. While onboard, Orville hits the ignition button and the rocket launches, and flies across the country to New Orleans, where the Mardi Gras is in progress. They exit the ship and witness "hideous creatures", which are actually costumed celebrants, and conclude that they have landed on Mars.

Meanwhile, two escaped convicts, Harry the Horse (Jack Kruschen) and Mugsy (Horace McMahon), enter the rocket, put on the available spacesuits, and head to New Orleans to rob a bank. Lester and Orville, also clad in spacesuits, are wrongly accused of the crime and rush back to the rocketship, where Mugsy and Harry force them to launch.

After landing on Venus, the four men leave the rocketship, and Orville is quickly captured by local guards and brought to Queen Allura (Mari Blanchard), who informs him that Venus is only inhabited by women as men were banished a long time ago. She takes a shine to him and decides that he can stay if he promises to be true to her. He agrees, and has Harry and Mugsy imprisoned for their crimes. Mugsy then convinces one of the female guards to flirt with Orville to prove that he cannot be trusted. Orville "takes the bait", and the Queen orders all of the men to leave her planet. Upon returning to Earth, they are lauded as heroes, and Allura, who is watching the celebration from Venus, sends a spaceship to drop an egg 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
* Renate Hoy as Handmaiden (Miss Germany) (as Renate Huy)

Production

"Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" was filmed between August 1 and August 28, 1952.

Shortly after the film's release, Abbott and Costello appeared on "The Colgate Comedy Hour" and did a sketch in which they attended the film's premiere.

The Venusian cars featured in the film were later used in "This Island Earth" (1955). [Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). "Abbott and Costello in Hollywood". New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0]

Robert Heinlein did a story idea in 1950 called "Abbott and Costello Move to the Moon" [http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/ftp/nhol.pdf] that may have inspired the screenplay.

DVD Release

References

* Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)

External links

*
* [http://www.eofftv.com/a/abb/abbott_and_costello_go_to_mars_main.htm "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" @ EOFFTV]