User Reviews

Abbott and Costello created havoc in most branches of the U.S. military, so now they take their brand of mayhem to foreign shores, Algiers in particular, as members of the French Foreign Legion. The film opens uncharacteristically with a wrestling match of all things; the boys happen to be the managers of Abdullah the Assassin, the North African champion. Unwilling to take a dive, Abdullah decides to head back home, followed by Bud and Lou, who stand to lose their five thousand dollar investment in the grappler.

When Lou accidentally wins a six girl harem, the boys find themselves in trouble, unable to pay, and earning the outrage of Sheik Hamud. Tricked into joining the Legion by Sgt. Axmann (Walter Slezak), the boys proceed to tear up the desert in their own inimitable style. With the desert backdrop, the stage is set for some clever mirages, along with a gag involving a fish with false teeth. Fans of the boys will know the fish routine was borrowed from a frog in earlier movies.

Doglas Dumbrille is on hand once again as the all purpose Arab villain, and the pretty female chores are handled by Patricia Medina as a French Intelligence officer working undercover. Wrestling fans will recognize Wee Willie Davis as Abdullah; his opponent is none other than Tor Johnson, not as recognizable here as he would become in his more stellar efforts - "Plan Nine From Outer Space" and "The Beast of Yucca Flats". As expected, Lou is usually at the bottom when it comes to the wrestling pile ups, and when in an upright position, tries to have fun kissing the harem girls. Hey, he's not so dumb!

Some of Abbott and Costello's later films sure seemed like they were aimed more at kids than a wider audience. Some were obvious kids films (JACK AND THE BEANSTALK) and some merely featured rather juvenile humor that most adults would find less entertaining. While I enjoyed watching ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION a few minutes ago, I sure enjoyed it much more when I was a little kid--after all, this was the target audience. Let me give you a few examples. First, the fish with the dentures (a gag, by the way that the Three Stooges also used). I just can't imagine an adult laughing at the plastic catfish in this gag. Second, while they were a bit funny, the mirage scenes were also pretty low-brow--even by Abbott and Costello standards. Yet, despite all this, the film manages to do a decent job of entertaining--even with its rather modest pretensions.

The film begins with Bud and Lou as wrestling promoters. When their star stomps off to return to his home in the North African desert, the boys follow to try to convince him to return. Unfortunately, they walk right into the middle of a plot by the Sheik (Douglass Dambrille) to kill them. The boys take refuge in a foreign legion recruiting station and the rest is history.

As legionnaires, the two are pretty sad. Bud's in his mid-50s and Lou is....Lou. Although they are awful in their new jobs, they accidentally bump into adventure after adventure. First, they discover who the traitor is within the regiment. Next, they get lost in the desert and almost die. Next, there is a wild and crazy ending where they foil the plot to destroy the legion. And, finally, they get to go home and live happily ever after (especially Lou).

None of this is terrible, though not much is especially great or inspired either. Overall, it's a bit of a time passer--albeit a very good one. A couple of the highlights of the film include seeing Tor Johnson in a role many years before he shot to fame for his magnetic performance in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Another is a cheap but funny line by Lou: "She's either a very ugly woman, or a very pretty monster".

Inoffensive and I'm sure the kids will love it. And, if you've ever seen Abbott and Costello's LOST IN A HAREM, then you have a general idea what this film is about, as they both star Dambrille in very similar roles and the laughs are sometimes very similar--and both were clearly shot on sound stages and not on location (giving them both an echo that is noticeable from time to time).

In 1951, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello enjoyed a moment of glory when voted by British cinema exhibitors into second place as the previous year's top money-making stars. Only Bob Hope sold more tickets in 1950. The distributor quickly adjusted to the team's sudden surge of popularity and began releasing A&C efforts such as this one as well-promoted "A" features. In Australia, the absolute reverse was happening, whilst on their American home front, A&C were still raking in good money but not the windfalls of the early 1940s. (Available on an excellent Universal DVD).

COMMENT: After a none-too-promising opening, this Abbott and Costello comedy gets into stride once the comedians reach the land of Lost in a Harem. Charles Lamont's direction improves, the script becomes genuinely amusing, the photography is A-1, and we are introduced to two very personable villains, admirably portrayed by Walter Slezak and Douglass Dumbrille. There is a good climax, starting with a wrestling match which the comedians deftly turn into a free-for-all before the villains' dumbfounded eyes and ending with a glorious chase in which our heroes in a stolen jeep are pursued by a commendable number of dress extras mounted on camels.

Although the sets are nowhere as lavish as those in Lost in a Harem, art directors Bernard Herzbrun and Eric Orbom have created settings that are reasonably beguiling. Love the towels in the Sheikh's bathroom: a great big His and numerous small Hers. Our comedians are given plenty of mirthful opportunities to shine, what with verbal gags, slapstick, wild chases and mishaps galore. We love Costello loose with a machine gun and all the other Beau Geste legionnaire mayhem. Yes, plenty of action. A fast-paced, brightly photographed 79 minutes. And it's all stylishly narrated by Jeff Chandler! What more could any fan ask?

Bud and Lou had previously visited the North African desert in Lost in a Harem, one of the loan out films they did for MGM in the middle 40s. I guess their home studio Universal wanted to get in the action also, so they got a second engagement in the Sahara.

The boys are wrestling managers in search of their wrestler Abdullah who's taken a powder and left them holding the bag to the tune of $5000.00 to the syndicate back in Brooklyn. Of course, true to form they get themselves involved in some of the local power struggles and find themselves enlisting in the Foreign Legion.

Helping them along are such performers as Walter Slezak as the Foreign Legion sergeant, Douglass Dumbrille as the villainous sheik and the lovely Patricia Medina as the spy from French Intelligence.

Douglass Dumbrille was in fact their nemesis in Lost in a Harem. Dumbrille, who could be a real villain as well as a comic one, got caught up in their comedy much more in Lost in a Harem. Here, he's just a bad guy.

Sharp-eared fans might recognize the voice of Universal Pictures stalwart Jeff Chandler as the narrator in the beginning.

The film also borrows from the Road to Morocco quite liberally. In fact it's ground that's been covered before.

I guess the creative minds at Universal were getting a bit stalled.

Not bad at all in my opinion. Two wrestler promoters with scripts for the match (gee I guess they are rigged, maybe?) are trying to set up a fake match between two wrestlers, one of which is an Arab who belongs to a rather aggressive tribe. For whatever reason he decides to go back to Africa. Bud and Lou must go after him or die. Looking for him ends up with both of them in the French Foreign Legion through the machinations of a corrupt Legion sergeant who is working with the rebel tribe. There is a French intelligence agent who is trying to dig up evidence about the rebels. Man is she cute. Anyway the movie runs through the standard Abbott and Costello routines with a couple of variations. There is the fish scene at the oasis and the harem scene at the end of the the movie. This is another funny movie by the duo.

I liked it. If you never saw another A&C film, I'll bet you would like it's craziness. This was the first film the boys did after Lou's relapse of relapsing fever and gall bladder surgery.

The story begins in a Brooklyn wrestling rehearsal between the giant Abdullah(Wee Willie Davis) and another. Abbott decides they should also wrestle a bit with Lou, who gets slammed around and pounced upon for an extending period. The repeated pounding of his head into the canvas was particularly brutal. Apparently, it was really Lou taking this punishment, not his brother, who was often a stunt double for him. Lou must have had a thick skull with all the head hits over the years.

Abdullah is unhappy that he is scripted to lose this fight, as he has never lost a professional fight. Thus, he's going back to his tribe in Algeria, leaving the boys holding the bag for his $5000. long term contract.(Why didn't they just change the script for him to win??) A&C board a ship for Algiers, and ask around if anyone knows an Abdullah. This disturbs some of the residents, who are members of his tribe.

Axmann(Walter Slezak), a traitorous Legionnaire sergeant is talking to bad man Sheik Hamud(Douglass Dumbrille) and others about a plan to kill construction workers building a railroad.

Next, some menacing-looking Arabs with knives are intimidating Lou. A&C try to evade them by entering a room full of slave girls. Later, they encounter a slave girl market, where Lou unknowingly buys 6 girls for an exorbitant price. The boys skedaddle to the end of a line of marching Legionnaires, who take them to headquarters, where Sgt. Axmann tricks them into signing up for a 5 year tour of duty in the Legion. As in "Buck Privates", Lou is extremely inept in basic training, yet is not dismissed, even when he accidentally turns a non-stop machine gun on the compound, with no idea how to stop it. Some bullets knock a bunch of coconuts down which knock out a bunch of Legionaries. This whole segment is hilarious.

At a desert camp, Lou's camel gets loose and runs away ,at night. Incidentally, as usual, Hollywood used 2 hump Camels, instead of the proper one hump variety appropriate for North Africa and the Middle East. Meanwhile, Sheik Hamud's Arabs attack and kill all the legionnaires, save for the absent A&C, who are starving and in serious need of water. They see several enticing mirages before finding an actual oasis, where they refresh and take a nap. Soon, a party of Arabs come along, but does not see them. One loses his false teeth when he takes a drink. They leave, and the boys decide to fish to satisfy their hunger. Abbott catches a few small ones, but when Costello washes them off, a big fish with the Arab's false teeth snaps them up, then squirts him in the face. Hilarious! This would seem an adaptation of the squirting oyster in Lou's oyster soup, in "Abbott and Costello Meet the Co-eds".

The Arabs return, capture the boys and take them to the encampment of Sheik Hamud, where it's pronounced they must die. How? By being beat to death by Abdallah and another bruiser. Abdallah whispers that he won't harm them, as he needs them to get back to Brooklyn to escape having to marry the Sheik's obese daughter. During their fight, a general free-for-all erupts and the boys run out of the tent. They return in Arab garb, while 2 Arabs are wearing their clothes. Axmann has arrived in a jeep with Nicole Dupre(Patricia Medina), whom the boys have met several times as an Arab woman. Axmann says she is actually a French intelligence spy(and thus must die?). They plus Abdullah drive away in Axmann's jeep, with Arabs on horses pursuing them. They come upon a deserted Legion compound, and open the gate. The Legion arrives and fires at them, thinking they are Arabs. Then, the Arabs arrive and gallop into the compound. The boys close the gate, so they are trapped inside. I will stop here and let you see the conclusion for yourselves.

You've see it before, because other movies copy a lot of its gags. From the comedy team lost in desert, one short & fat, and one skinny & at times mean, it's like seeing R2D2 and C3PO before they ever existed.

Then there's the fight scene in which get chaotic and next thing you know everyone is fighting.

And Costello, he's trying to make out with every girl he can. These scenes are very clean, yet suggest that he's up to no good in the best way.

If you like watching old movies that get copied over and over then you'll like this one.