Want to know the best Abbott and Costello movies? How about the worst Abbott and Costello movies? Curious about Abbott and Costello box office grosses or which Abbott and Costello movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Abbott and Costello movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Our most recent Ultimate Movie Ranking page asked the question….”Which Screen Duo was the most successful of all-time when looking at box office grosses?” The answer turned out to be the Screen Duo team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Abbott and Costello made 36 movies together from 1940 to 1956. Those 36 movies grossed $2.58 BILLION in adjusted domestic box office dollars.
Abbott and Costello were listed as Top Ten Box Office Stars 8 times from 1941 to 1951. They ranked number one in 1942, when their four movies grossed over $540 million in adjusted box office dollars. This page looks at all the Abbott and Costello movies. The movies are ranked from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. You can decide which is the best way to rank their movies……just pick the category and sort the results.
Abbott and Costello Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Abbott and Costello Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Abbott and Costello movies by the year they were made
- Sort Abbott and Costello movies by co-stars of their movies.
- Sort Abbott and Costello movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Abbott and Costello movies by domestic box office rank by year
- Sort Abbott and Costello movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort Abbott and Costello movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
Bud Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1895. In 1909, Abbott dropped out school and started working with his father at Dreamland Park on Coney Island. At 15 he found himself shoveling coal on a Norwegian steamer. He returned home and starting working at carnivals and at the Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1923 he produced a low budget vaudeville show. He began performing as a straight man in the show when he could no longer afford to pay one. Abbott would become known as one of the best straight men in the business. Abbott was married one time and had two children. He passed away on April 24th, 1974.
Lou Costello was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1906. Costello first attempt at Hollywood stardom did not work. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1927…but could only find work as a laborer or extra. In 1930, discouraged by his lack of success, he tried to hitchhike back home, but ran out of money in Missouri. While stuck in Missouri, he started appearing in an act in a vaudeville show. In the 1930s he started running into Bud Abbott on the vaudeville circuit. One night when Costello’s regular partner was ill….Abbott stepped in and played opposite Costello….the rest is history. Their most famous bit was Who’s On First and the catchphrases “Heeeeyyy, Abbott!” and “I’m a baaaaad boy!” Costello was married once and had 4 children. He passed away on March 3rd, 1959.
Check out the Abbott and Costello career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
AFI’s Top 25 Screen Legend Actors….with links to my movie pages on the Screen Legend
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For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
I grew up in Niagara Falls, NY. When I was a child (1970’s), we started to receive cable stations out of NYC. WPIX showed A&C movies every Sunday morning. It was my routine for years to race home from church school in time to watch. They only had the rights to the movies they did for Universal Studios – which is all but a few. I’ve seen all their movies at least twice – some as many as 5 or 6 times. I’ve since purchased some of the movies on a box set in hopes of passing my love of A&C on to my sons. They enjoyed the movies I showed them but it’s so dated now that a lot of the comedy didn’t connect with them. I still enjoy them when they show up on television. Hold That Ghost, Lost in Alaska and The Time of Their Lives were always my favorites.
Hey Tim….those are some great memories. I did the same think only in Virginia. I remember going through the tv guide and circling the Abbott and Costello movies that were coming on the UHF channels. The Universal Horror movies were another high light for me.
I know what you mean about trying to get your kids to enjoy them as well. My mother-in-law bought my little daughters a 20 movie Shirley Temple collection….they watched one movie for about 10 minutes before giving up. Even worse I try and get them to watch the Disney Hand Drawn Movies like Snow White, Fox and The Hound and such….and they stick their noses up because they are not computer animated movies.
Can you imagine their horror of watching a black and white television that requires constant antenna moving….while you try to watch a movie that has a screen covered in static snow?
Hold That Ghost was one of my favorite A & C movies too. Not sure I saw Lost in Alaska….but The Time of Their Lives is one of their better ones. Thanks for the visit and the comment.
Hi, Bruce.
RE: your comment to Steve:
Abbott and Costello are favourites of mine. Their ‘Who’s on First” scetch in The Naughty Nineties has always been a favourite. I searched for that one once I figured out that it was the title with that sketch. I finally found it. Thus, I have seen more than 2 of them….
As to totals:
Most of the films of theirs I have seen are the monster movies as they are most readily available. They air on TV quite a lot. I have seen all of these. These are found near the top, middle, and bottom of your ranking.
The highest rated title I have seen is No. 4.
The lowest rated film I have seen is No. 35
As to titles I haven’t seen I am looking forward to Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops.
I have seen 11 of their titles.
My favourites are Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
The Naughty Nineties is a film full of sketches. I watch the movies specifically for “Who’s On First.”
Looking to Laurel and Hardy as you mention as a potential next topic, this is my favourite comedy duo. But the availability of the titles of non-shorts makes me not sure if my total will reflect that I am a fan of theirs.
Maintenance note:
I noticed that some of your links at the bottom of the page actually go to your old site of cogersonmoviescore rather than your new website. I noticed this because you replaced no. 20 of AFI screen legends with Abbott and Costello. You’ve also not got your link to Laurence Olivier up
Cheers,
Flora
Hey Flora.
1. As always thanks for stopping by and commenting.
2. Tally count…Steve 15, Flora 11, and me a safe 1 (although I know I watched more when I was younger).
3. Pretty sure the only time they did the entire “Who’s On First” sketch was in The Naughty 90s.
4. I agree the A & C Monster titles seem to be the ones that have most “staying power”….their early 1940s work was more popular….but did not seem to have much “lasting power”.
5. I have to admit that after 3 days of searching….I have been able to locate box office information on only one Laurel and Hardy movie….The Rogue Song…..the rest I have struck out on. So sadly they will not be the next classic page. This was probably the most empty handed I have ever come up with….in the almost 5 years of writing these pages. At this point they are sitting beside Buster Keaton….as their wait continues.
6. Thanks for the heads up on the link issues…..those issues have been corrected. Not sure what happened to have all of those issues.
7. Thanks for stopping by and talking movies.
Hey, this duo was not my favorite but they did supply lots of entertainment with their movies. Slap stick comedy is not my thing. By the way at the beginning of this site you mentioned that their movies (36) went from 1940 to 1936 – I believe you meant 1956.- SECOND PARAGRAPH. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE INTERESTING STATS AND FACTS.
Hey Bern1960….thanks for stopping by and thanks for the headsup on my mistake…it has been corrected.
Nice work Bruce, Abbott and Costello were Hollywood’s top comedy team of the 1940’s, Martin and Lewis took over the no.1 spot in the 1950’s. Personally I prefer Bob Hope and the Marx Brothers.
I’ve seen at least 15 of the 36 films you’ve listed here, I’m sure I’ve seen more when I was younger can’t remember the titles. I bought a box set of their monster ‘meets’ on DVD a few years ago. My favorite is A & C meet Frankenstein, notable for having Bela Lugosi play Dracula for only the second time in his movie career, he was Dracula on Broadway in the late 1920’s before the classic 1931 movie. But back to A & C, Pardon my Sarong is no.1 on the Moviescore, I don’t think I’ve seen that one, I will have to check it out. I should also check out Ride em Cowboy, which tops the box office chart.
Plenty of facts and stats on the comedy legends, voted up!
Thanks Steve. I know I have seen many A & C movies….but as I look to count the ones that I have seen….I don’t seem to have any solid memories of the ones that I have seen. The only one I know for sure that I have seen is A & C Meet The Mummy…and that was because I saw it a year or two ago. So I guess my tally will stay at 1. Not thinking Flora is a huge A & C fan….but I feel she has seen at least 2 A & C movies.
I screwed up the box office number for Ride em Cowboy….it is no longer their biggest box office hit. Pardon My Sarong now has that honor….Ride Em Cowboy lost 37 million with my mistake…but it is still in 2nd place when looking at their box office numbers.
I picked up two books on Laurel and Hardy….as they might be the next comedy legends I do a page on…..as always thanks for stopping by.
This brings back memories. I used to watch a Abbott and Costello movie every Saturday afternoon when I was a kid. I loved the Abbott and Costello Meet movies and still do. They were beloved by so many.
Hey David….I have those same memories. We had something called the green sheets here…..and every Saturday morning I would look to see which classic movie was on my
UHF station that week….and many times I would target a A & C movie. I agree with you 100%.
Thanks for the visit and the comment.