william steig drawing

Ted Lewis

Race in Film: Hold That Ghost

This clip is from Abbott and Costello’s 1941 film Hold That Ghost directed by Arthur Lubin, who also directed several other of the duo’s films including Buck Privates and In the Navy (also excellent). In the movie Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play waiters Chuck and Ferdie respectively at the Chez Glamour nightclub. Due to a series of circumstance they become the beneficiaries of a gangster’s will and inherit a haunted house. For those of you unfamiliar with this brilliant duo, Abbott and Costello were a comedy team in the tradition of Laurel & Hardy, or Martin & Lewis. Budd Abbott was the straight man who frequently took advantage of of the baby faced Lou Costello, the idiot with the […]