Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952)

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire. Bela Lugosi plays a mad scientist with plans for world domination by creating an army of comical looking robots. He also sleeps in a coffin but whether he is an actual vampire isn't so clear. Can Mother Riley, played by Arthur Lucan in drag, thwart his evil plan? It's common knowledge that Lugosi's health went down hill at this time, as did the quality of the films that he appeared in, and this, in my opinion, is the worst. It's a British slapstick comedy which may have been funny in the 1950s but now is just a chore to watch. OK, there are a few funny moments, just not enough. Couldn't wait for The End. Interesting to see a young Hattie Jacques from the Carry On films. Had Lugosi not been in this film then I wouldn't have bothered to watch it. And I certainly won't again.

MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE is the last in a long-running series of films (going since the 1930s) featuring Arthur Lucan in the title role of Old Mother Riley, a bad-tempered Irish washerwoman who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This one's the only one in the series of interest to horror fans, thanks to a starring role for an aged Bela Lugosi, playing a sinister vampire with nefarious plans for England.Basically, this is MRS BROWN'S BOYS for the mid-20th century audience, and as juvenile and silly as it sounds. Most of the comedy involves groan-worthy slapstick, pitfalls, and dumb dialogue gags. Lucan is certainly an acquired taste, although I suppose he does grow on you a little bit as the film progresses, but it's still a very dated slice of British comedy. In fact the only part I really liked was the chase-based climax, which brings in some humorous Laurel & Hardy style sight gags. The cardboard robot is fun though, and narrowly predates the introduction of Robby the Robot in FORBIDDEN PLANET.Lugosi is given quite a fair bit of screen time to be menacing and is, well, Lugosi. What's impressive is that he takes this film just as seriously as his Universal classics, and is the best thing in this. However, MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE is also worthy of note thanks to the presence of some familiar British comedy actors, including Hattie Jacques in an unlikely song-and-dance routine. Dora Bryan (CARRY ON SERGEANT) has a minor role and there are cameos for Charles Lloyd Pack, John Le Mesurier, and George Benson, although I was unable to spot the latter two. Future Hammer director John Gilling helmed this one.

My soul-mate and I watched this movie in bed and found it outrageously funny. Arthur Lucan, as Old Mother Riley, is as funny as Tyler Perry is as Madea. Like Madea, Old Mother Riley is hilarious but often reinforces stereotypes more than she challenges them. The plot is quirky but moves along quickly and you don't get a chance to over-analyze it. Our favorite scene is the song-and-dance number "I Lift up my Finger and say 'Tweet-Tweet'" sung and danced by Arthur Lucan (Mother Riley), Richard Wattis (the rent collector), Hattie Jacques and Dandy Nichols (the two ladies in the store). It is classic British beer hall entertainment. It must have been a lot of fun to have acted in this film, as fun as it is to watch!

Arthur Lucan's drag character of old Mother Riley, whilst being somewhat of a big hit in England, never really made its mark here in America. Why? Well, for starters, the character of Old Mother Riley, a working class Irish woman who gets into all kinds of comedic situations, doesn't have the universal traits necessary to bring success out of England. There are jokes dealing with class and other very traditional English situations. I heard such awful things about this film in particular, being the last film Lucan did playing Mother Riley, and was honestly a bit pleasantly surprised. Sure this is pretty lowbrow stuff. A man in drag mugging for the camera at every opportunity. A series of comedic situations that were almost all slapstick oriented. One scene where Mother Riley breaks into song for no reason at all. And let's not forget the truly inane plot about confusing the names Riley and packages that were mixed up - with Old Mother Riley getting a robot that should have been sent to Bela Lugosi. But Lucan is talented to a degree and made me laugh a time or two. The film was very watchable. As for Bela Lugosi? He did this film as a means to make money so as to get passage back home for himself and his wife while they were in London after failing at a revival of Dracula on stage. This is probably his last good picture in terms of looking robust and relatively healthy prior to committing himself for drug rehabilitation. He looks good and he looks like he is having a lot of fun. There is one story circulating that Lugosi may not have even known Lucan was in drag at their first meeting - Lucan it seems never went out as himself in public but always as Mother Riley so as to preserve his personal life. At any rate, you might give this film a look while keeping a somewhat open mind. It's not Hamlet. It's not Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but it does have its moments and it has Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is enough for me.