Radio review – “Fred Allen” – “Bela Lugosi” (1943) **1/2

I’m not familiar with Fred Allen – he had a great voice, raspy like William Demarest, and he was great with a joke. But in this one he kind of sulks when he doesn’t get a laugh with his material – not as bad as Steve Vizard but along the same lines. Still this picks up when Bela Lugosi comes along as a mad scientist (surprise) who wants to operate on Fred Allen to steal his nerve. That’s quite a funny concept – reminiscent of Bela wanting to operate on Lou Costello in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Comics are normally good against mad scientists (easy sources of gags, strong stakes) and this is no exception. Bela is a good straight man, and gets in some laughs himself.