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.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Hold That Ghost (1941) | Richard Carlson | 5.20 | 198.7 | 198.70 | 25 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.2 | |
| 3 | Who Done It? (1942) | William Bendix | 5.00 | 185.9 | 185.90 | 43 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 96.7 | |
| 5 | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) | Lon Chaney Jr. | 5.90 | 159.6 | 159.60 | 49 | 82 | 00 / 00 | 94.9 | |
| 2 | Pardon My Sarong (1942) | Virginia Bruce | 7.10 | 265.5 | 265.50 | 20 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 94.9 | |
| 6 | Hit The Ice (1943) | Sheldon Leonard | 5.10 | 184.8 | 184.80 | 56 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 93.3 | |
| 4 | Ride 'em Cowboy (1942) | Ella Fitzgerald | 7.40 | 276.1 | 276.10 | 17 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 93.2 | |
| 7 | The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947) | Marjorie Main | 6.50 | 189.0 | 189.00 | 42 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 93.0 | |
| 8 | Rio Rita (1942) | Kathryn Grayson | 5.50 | 204.7 | 342.00 | 33 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 92.3 | |
| 9 | Buck Privates Come Home (1947) | Tom Brown | 5.40 | 157.5 | 157.50 | 62 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 92.2 | |
| 10 | Buck Privates (1941) | Andrews Sisters | 4.00 | 154.0 | 154.00 | 51 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 91.8 | |
| 11 | It Ain't Hay (1943) | Shemp Howard | 4.60 | 164.3 | 164.30 | 67 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 90.9 | |
| 12 | Keep 'Em Flying (1941) | Martha Raye | 4.00 | 154.4 | 154.40 | 47 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 90.1 | |
| 13 | In The Navy (1941) | Dick Powell | 4.00 | 154.2 | 154.20 | 50 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 90.1 | |
| 15 | In Society (1944) | Thomas Gomez | 3.50 | 119.5 | 119.50 | 93 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 86.6 | |
| 14 | The Time of Their Lives (1946) | Gale Sondergaard | 2.70 | 82.8 | 82.80 | 110 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 86.4 | |
| 16 | Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) | William Frawley | 4.60 | 98.6 | 98.60 | 71 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 85.9 | |
| 17 | The Naughty Nineties (1945) | Henry Travers | 2.60 | 83.7 | 83.70 | 110 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 85.2 | |
| 19 | Lost in a Harem (1944) | Marilyn Maxwell | 4.20 | 141.3 | 141.30 | 81 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 84.3 | |
| 18 | Abbott & Costello in Hollywood (1945) | Mike Mazurki | 3.10 | 96.9 | 96.90 | 96 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 83.9 | |
| 20 | The Noose Hangs High (1948) | Joseph Calleia | 3.60 | 95.7 | 95.70 | 98 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 82.0 | |
| 21 | Here Come The Co-Eds (1945) | Peggy Ryan | 2.80 | 88.1 | 88.10 | 102 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 81.9 | |
| 23 | African Screams (1949) | Shemp Howard | 4.20 | 104.5 | 104.50 | 81 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 81.7 | |
| 22 | Little Giant (1946) | Margaret Dumont | 2.70 | 83.4 | 83.40 | 106 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 81.6 | |
| 24 | Lost in Alaska (1952) | Tom Ewell | 4.20 | 81.7 | 81.70 | 82 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 79.8 | |
| 25 | Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950) | Walter Slezak | 3.60 | 81.8 | 81.80 | 91 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 78.8 | |
| 26 | Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) | Boris Karloff | 3.60 | 65.3 | 65.30 | 109 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 76.3 | |
| 28 | Comin' Round The Mountain (1951) | Margaret Hamilton | 4.40 | 95.5 | 95.50 | 77 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 75.9 | |
| 27 | Mexican Hayride (1948) | Virginia Grey | 2.60 | 70.9 | 70.90 | 116 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 75.1 | |
| 29 | Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) | Buddy Baer | 4.40 | 87.1 | 87.10 | 71 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 71.8 | |
| 30 | Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949) | Boris Karloff | 1.80 | 46.4 | 46.40 | 150 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 68.9 | |
| 31 | Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) | Martha Hyer | 3.80 | 68.1 | 68.10 | 99 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 62.8 | |
| 33 | Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) | Charles Laughton | 3.30 | 65.1 | 107.00 | 111 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 61.8 | |
| 32 | Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) | Mack Sennett | 2.10 | 44.1 | 44.10 | 134 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 61.1 | |
| 34 | One Night in the Tropics (1940) | Robert Cummings | 0.90 | 33.0 | 33.00 | 179 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 56.9 | |
| 35 | Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) | Marie Windsor | 2.90 | 59.2 | 59.20 | 112 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 39.1 | |
| 36 | Dance with Me, Henry (1956) | Gigi Perreau | 1.20 | 23.8 | 23.80 | 168 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 34.4 |
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.
Thinking out loud. About a year ago we started adding trailer pages to some of the movies. I think we are closing in on 20% of the movies on pages have these pages…….but the question is…..is it worth the effort? So to answer that question…..I looked at our Abbott and Costello page.
We added the trailer pages to our A&C page on November 25th 2017. Since then the page has been read 22,255 times. The 36 trailer pages have been viewed a grand total of 4,494 times…roughly for every 5 visits to Bud and Lou somebody checks out a trailer page. Is twenty % enough to warrant spending the time to keep adding the trailers?
Breakdown by Rankings:
1. Bud and Lou’s Top 10 UMR movie trailer pages have been accessed 2,598 times…..or 260 times per movie.
2. Bud and Lou’s Movie trailer pages ranked 11th through 20th have been viewed 749 times or 75 times per movie
3. Bud and Lou’s Movie trailer pages ranked 21st through 30th have been viewed 692 times or 69 times per movie
4. Bud and Lou’s Movie trailer pages ranked 31st through 36th have been viewed 455 times or 76 times per movie
Maybe just doing the Top 10 is enough….though it looks like the movies at the bottom of the rankings generate some interest too. I guess people want to see the car accident.
Ok…done talking out loud.
I’ve been looking around but not sure where to find the one where A and C go to some hotel and Costello checks out the swimming pool and somehow is afraid to jump off the board! Some other guests step onto his back or side and he’s just trying to hold onto the board. Can you tell me more of where I can find this skit? Thank you.
Hey V Shingatok….not 100% sure…..but I am thinking the best bets might be Ride Em’ Cowboy or Rio Rita…both movies were made in 1942. Basing this guess on some movie stills that so Costello wearing a bathing suit. Maybe other UMR contributors will be able to provide a better answer. Thanks for stopping by.
Seen: 0/36 or 0%
Fav Top 10: Who Knows
UMR Snub: Couldn’t Say
Guilty Pleasure: One day I’ll know.
Catching up on comments.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting….sad to see that your tally is 0…..I feel I have failed you as a father…lol.
Hi, I have a question. Does anyone know which movie has a scene with the ‘little monkey” in one of the scenes? And where to get the movie Abbot and Costello meet Flicka
Hey George….thanks for stopping by and commenting. A google search provides two possible answers…with both probably being wrong. It might have been a skit on their A & C TV show……or it could have been African Screams….which has a big monkey….just not sure if it had a little monkey. As for Flicka….seems it is not currently being sold…..at least on the places I usually visit. Maybe one of the UMR regulars can help you out more than I did.
1 Up until his death Raymond Burr played Perry Mason in both long running TV series about the great lawyer and of course Perry Mason was mentioned in the title of the Burr outings and Raymond headed the cast
2 When Burr died the 2nd series continued briefly without him and Perry Mason was still mentioned in the title but Perry himself did not appear [eg in archives/flashback] and naturally Burr was missing from the cast lists
3 Instead first Paul Sorvino as Anthony Caruso*** and then Hal Holbrook as Wild Bill McKenzie who were “friends of Perry” stood in for Mason, it being explained that Perry was “out of town” and had allowed his “friends” to use his office and borrow his staff such as Della Street to continue with the Mason cases.
4 For someone not completely familiar with the Abbott & Costello movies [especially if dates and chronological order of movies were overlooked ] The Annual Reviews might create the impression that some similar situation to the Mason one had arisen in relation to the A & C series and that Bud who survived Lou had soldiered on without him in certain of their movies.
***A fictitious name of course and not to be confused with the real life supporting actor Anthony Caruso [Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle and several Ladd movies including Stampeded aka The Big Land]