Africa Screams

source: Abbott and Costello in Africa

Leonard Maltin gives 3 stars to this movie, and only 1.5 star to "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars". That's strange, because not only is "Africa Screams" easily worse than "Go to Mars", it's probably one of the worst films that Abbott and Costello ever made. There are some funny moments (Lou whispering threats to the bad guys when they have their backs turned to him), a lovely leading lady (Hillary Brooke), some impressively trained animals, and some good special effects. But there are also too many tedious stretches (this is one of the longest 78 minutes you'll ever spend), and too many predictable gags (hmmm, they have made a trap for a gigantic orangutan, do you think Lou will fall in it?). In some of those gags, Lou is made to look downright retarded instead of amusingly dumb. The scene where he mugs to the camera for about 3 minutes straight because he is scared of a gorilla is more excruciating than funny. (*1/2)

So it goes. There's always going to be that inevitable time when a person just runs out of ideas, and this film seems to be that moment for Abbott & Costello. The whole of this film seems to me, just a bunch of their old routines and gags run together in order to fill up the running time of a feature film. This is why it's so very difficult, even for veterans like A&C, to keep a film moving, especially at feature length. Difficult for the writers first of all, to keep a story together and include comedic bits without it all seeming to be just a patch quilt of non-related ideas. They all went through this at one time or another, i.e. Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, etc. That isn't to say that this is a totally bad film, just parts of it. The giant "kong like" ape that's being searched for, for instance, is just too much. Good comedy exaggerates the realistic but never should it traverse into the "Twilight Zone" just for effect. Something that's interesting about this film is that there appears a current "Stooge" with a future "stooge", namely Shemp Howard and Joe Besser. Joe Besser was not, in my opinion "stooge material" but here with A&C and Shemp, he's an actual riot. Ironic. This is certainly not one of the better A&C films but worth watching, maybe as a double feature with "A&C Meet Frankenstein".

While this isn't the best of the famous comedy duo's films (I personally think that A&C Meet Frankenstein has that honor), this is a decent comedy for fans of the pair. They manage to wring a few laughs out of a jungle theme that I personally feel was overused in films at that time. The actor who makes the film for me, however, is that wonderful "unknown" stooge, Shemp Howard, in a humorous supporting role.

Understand, I like Abbott and Costello films. Their two top films (...Meet Frankenstein and The Time of Their Lives) are comedic classics. This, alas, is a minor effort, though other movie comics appear in it. Possible spoilers in the following. The film takes a simple story and adds some comedic routines that could be applied to any equivalent film. Costello reacting to animal 'menaces" is usually good, and he's at prime form in this film. However, even in the most comedic situations, I'd have thought that even Lou's character would have noticed all the help he was getting from the gorilla. In the beginning of the film, the cover story is that an expedition is set up to go to Africa to hunt a legendary ape, Orang-Utan Gigantis. That translates to "great big Orang-Utan." But Orang-Utans aren't found in Africa! The chief of the cannibals mumbles some words, one of which is "ungawa," a Swahili word that means either "beat it," or "let's get moving," depending on context, but which is used as color in this one, having nothing to do with either meaning. Amusing, but not their top form.

Maybe the worst of the Abbott and Costello movies. I don't think that Universal did this movie and it really shows. The comedy team goes to Africa on a safari because some diamond hunters think that Costello can draw the map to it's location for them or seomthing like that. He really can't and trouble ensues. Bud Abbott dyfunctionally stumbles around this movie with diamond fever and Costello follows him like he's looking for his mother. The usual safari picture stereotypes and action are onhand, such as the typical fights with crocodiles and lions. Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck are onhand for the sold purpose of being onhand and the Baer brothers boringly play themselves. Hillary Brooke is beautiful and engaging but she is on an island here. The sets are cheap and the pivture quality is lousy. A depressing Abbott and Costello experience and one that they probably wish that they had never done.

Since this independent Abbott & Costello comedy wasn't produced by Universal or MGM it comes off less slick than some of their other films, yet still emerges as pretty funny and is worth a look for fans of the team. Bud and Lou are joined by sometime-Stooges Shemp Howard and Joe Besser, and also lovely Hillary Brooke, who would later join them for their regular weekly television show. Brooke is a crime boss looking for a certain map that's in A&C's possession, so she and the boys (including Shemp and Joe) journey to the jungles of darkest Africa to search for what the men think is a rare type of orangutan gargantua gorilla (or some sort of nonsense); but actually, Hillary's only hunting for a secret treasure trove of precious diamonds. When Abbott finds out what's really going on, he becomes quite the self-centered businessman and is really funny and more mean than usual (which always works for me in these comedies). Some jokes include Costello getting locked in a cage with a lion, the humorous "I Lost My Pal" routine, and Lou tangling with cannibals. Real-life lion tamer/big game hunters Frank Buck and Clyde Beatty are also on hand to do their stuff if you go for that sort of thing. **1/2 out of ****

Every year I seem to put myself through the torture of watching a film by Abbot and Costello. Now, I know that I don´t have to endure this pain, that I can quite easily do something much more enjoyable (flail myself, read medical reports, etc, etc), but for some reason I get a kind of perverse pleasure in watching these two comidic icons fail, yet again, to summons a single smirk to my countenance. This is awful, I say repeatedly to myself - crudge, crap, the unfunniest thing I have ever seen. But I secretly know that I am being dishonest with myself. I know that the worst is yet to come and should be on my screen within the coming twelve months. Yet another A+C masterpiece!. I can´t wait.

"Africa Screams" was Abbott and Costello's independent production for 1949, filmed at Nassour Studios. A&C are booksellers who find themselves on an African expedition; the leader of the expedition (lovely Hillary Brooke) is after diamonds. Hilarity ensues as A&C dodge lions and gorillas; Will A&C get their share of the diamonds? "Africa Screams" boasts one of the finest supporting casts A&C worked with. In addition to Hillary Brooke (who later co-starred on their TV show), the movie is aided greatly by the appearances of legendary funnymen Shemp Howard and Joe Besser. An air of authenticity is given with the appearances of Frank Buck and Clyde Beatty. The tough-guy roles are nicely handled by boxers Max and Buddy Baer. Bud is given more to do in this film, and he shines - he shows again that he would have made a wonderful character actor. He stands up to Hillary Brooke and her goons, and cuts deals for himself. Although he takes advantage of Lou once again, I can report that Bud does get his in the end! (How, I won't reveal. Watch for yourself and see.) What prevents me from giving this film a higher rating than "6" are the low-budget sets at Nassour. Bud and Lou never had a big-budget film at Universal, but this film looks paltry by comparison. What also hampers the enjoyment of the film is the fact that it appears to still be in public domain; low-grade, scratchy prints are usually what can be found in the bargain section of the video store. All in all, though, a fun film. 6 out of 10.

This Abbott and Costello film has fallen into the public domain and I can see why. It's not just because it was made by a tiny studio, but I just can't see why anyone would worry about renewing the copyright on this thing! It's a cheesy and silly mess...although I was surprised that in spite of many shortcomings, it still managed to be entertaining...especially if you just turn off your brain and enjoy it for what it is and nothing more. As far as what is to like, the most interesting thing about this film is the casting. I love odd and obscure film facts and this one sure offers some unusual casting. First, it's the only pairing of Joe Besser (who, I hate) and Shemp Howard--both of which were the 3rd Stooge. Following Curly Howard's stroke, his oldest brother, Shemp rejoined the Stooges (he'd been with them on stage in their pre-Hollywood days). After Shemp's death, the Stooges had Besser take his role--not realizing that he unfortunately is about as funny as cancer. How Besser and his very loud and effeminate shtick ever became a Stooge or regular on "The Abbott and Costello Show" has always amazed me. Second, Max and Buddy Baer both were cast as thugs working for the evil woman, Hillary Brooke. Max had been heavyweight boxing champion of the world and his son played Jethro on "Green Acres". Buddy, the larger of the two, was a pro wrestler. Third, the film features Frank Buck and Clyde Beatty as themselves. Both men were marketing geniuses. Buck was an adventurer and hunter who traveled the jungles making documentaries and fighting lions and the like before opening up his own zoo. Beatty was a big game hunter, lion tamer and circus owner. This certainly is an unusual group of fellas! Another thing I liked is the evolution of Bud Abbott. In almost all the films, he was a bit of a selfish jerk who used Lou whenever he could. However, here he is way off the deep end with greed--so much so that, for once, he got a lot of the laughs himself. His greedy disregard for others was very much like Daffy Duck's in ALI BABA BUNNY. In fact, he is the best thing about this otherwise dreary film. The final plus is that the film ended well. The ending was very unusual and offered a nice change of pace for the team. What was not to like? Well, where can I start? However, instead of focusing on everything I'll just mention a few of the major problems. The biggest one is the use of a guy in a gorilla costume--a very common (and stupid) convention of the 1940s and 50s. None of these looked the least bit convincing and this cliché really sucks, as it NEVER was funny...not even once. Even most 5 year-olds would immediately recognize the ruse, so you can't be afraid or laugh when it appears--just annoyed. I noticed that one reviewer gave this film a 9 or 10--how can you do that when some guy in a moth-eaten gorilla costume plays a prominent place in this film?! The other main problem was that at times the film was well done but others it was annoyingly unfunny because the writing was, at best, inconsistent and the production looked like it was made for $582.34. One example of bad were having Besser say or do anything--plus his part was ill-defined and unnecessary. This is somewhat the same with Brooke, as she could have been interesting but her part was both ill-defined and she just disappeared from the film. Another was how the plot seemed to morph into a remake of ROAD TO ZANZIBAR--copying so much of this film yet giving it no credit whatsoever. Overall, a very mixed bag that is mostly of value to film historians and film nuts like me, though others might be entertained by the film despite its high amount of cheese. Still, you can do better with almost any other Abbott and Costello film, so I recommend you see them first.