Africa Screams (1949)

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:

Lion | Diamond | Africa | Cannibal | Safari

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:

Features the only on-screen pairing of Joe Besser and Shemp Howard, who were respectively considered the 4th and 5th members of the Three Stooges.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Stanley Livington: That's the kind of girl I dream about. But you should see the ones I get.

Movie Connections:

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

Fairly funny jungle hijinks with Bud & Lou **

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.