Africa Screams (1949)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Charles Barton

Writers:

Earl Baldwin (story)
Earl Baldwin (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 May 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Adventure

Tagline:

You'll Go Ape Over This DVD!

Plot:

Abbott & Costello search for diamonds in Africa, along the way meeting a visually-impaired gunner, a hungry lion, and a tribe of cannibals...

Plot Keywords:

Africa | Lion | Diamond | Cannibal | Safari

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 19

6:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Bud Abbott	...	Buzz Johnson
Lou Costello	...	Stanley Livington
Clyde Beatty	...	Himself
Frank Buck	...	Himself
Max Baer	...	Grappler McCoy
Buddy Baer	...	Boots Wilson
Hillary Brooke	...	Diana Emerson
Shemp Howard	...	Gunner
Joe Besser	...	Harry
Burt Wenland	...	Bobo (as Burton Wenland)

Also Known As:

Abbott and Costello in Africa

Runtime:

79 min | Argentina:82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Nassour Studios - 5746 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Huntington Hartford Productions

Trivia:

There is a scene where Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are talking in their tent and Joe Besser dashes into the tent, grabs a glass of water and dashes out again. He repeats this several times until Abbott stops him and asks why he's so thirsty. Besser replies that he's not thirsty, it's that his tent is on fire. That was based on an incident in Costello's childhood, when he accidentally set some clothes in his bedroom on fire. His father was in the living room, which was between the kitchen and Costello's bedroom. Costello, not wanting to let his father know that he had set his room on fire, dashed back and forth between the kitchen and his bedroom with glasses of water until his father finally asked what was going on, whereupon Costello was forced to tell what he had done.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Stanley's real eyebrows are visible and obviously covered with makeup during the high eyebrow raise scene.

Quotes:

Buzz Johnson: [sees Harry with a glass of water] Where're you going with the water?
Harry: Oh my tent's on fire!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld (1994) (TV)

In Darkest Africa-----------NOT

Africa Screams, one of the least seen of Abbott&Costello's films was an independent production that was released through United Artists. The thin plot has Hillary Brooke believing Costello has the map to a hidden territory that is rich with diamonds. Bud and Lou go to Africa at her behest with her two companions, the fighting Baer Brothers. Of course the payoff she has in mind is different than the one boys are expecting.

Not that Universal studios exactly invested Abbott&Costello's films with much in the way of productions values, but this one is really really bad in that department. What budget they had they must have spent on getting both Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck to do guest appearances playing themselves.

On the plus side the boys do have some amusing moments, especially Costello in the cage with one of Clyde Beatty's lions which he thinks is just Abbott in a lion costume. Joe Besser and Shemp Howard also provide for some additional laughs.

My favorite moment in the film however is with the Baer brothers, Max and Buddy, both of them having fought Joe Louis and coming out on the short end, in Buddy's case twice, falling out and starting to fight as Max says he'll hit Buddy harder than Joe Louis ever did.

The film could have been a lot better, the boys are fine, but the production values give the film a look like something Ed Wood might have created.