Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.
Acting
Abbott's deadpan abuse vs Costello's manic cowardice — comedy alchemy.
Writing
Radio station setting lets them mock their own medium mercilessly.
Director
Erle C. Kenton
Bud Abbott
Chick Larkin
Lou Costello
Mervin Q. Milgrim
Patric Knowles
Jim Turner
Louise Allbritton
Jane Little
Mary Wickes
Juliet Collins
William Gargan
Detective Inspector Lou
William Bendix
Detective Sgt. Brannigan
Thomas Gomez
Col. J.R. Andrews
Ludwig Stössel
Dr. Anton Marek
Edmund MacDonald
'Murder at Midnight' Announcer
Jerome Cowan
Heller
Walter Tetley
'Shorty', a studio pageboy
Joe Kirk
Harry, 'Murder At Midnight' sound man
Don Porter
'Murder at Midnight' program manager
Norman Abbott
'Murder at Midnight' Organist
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Universal's attempt to merge their horror cash cow with their comedy cash cow — the original 'Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer' before they actually met Frankenstein.
The radio station setting captures peak 1940s broadcast culture — live dramas, sponsor interruptions, and the terrifying possibility of dead air.
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