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

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:

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)

Pardon Me, Are You a Gorilla or Just a Little Bit Hairy?

Wow! The usually frumpy Costello looks positively dapper in his snazzy salesman's suit at movie's start. Superior A&C comedy with good routines, productive premise, and unusual cast. The boys get to chase around the wilds of a Hollywood sound stage pretending (not very hard) to be adventuring in darkest Africa. Of course, Lou gets to do his slow-to-catch- on routine as crocodiles, gorillas, and other assorted man-eating critters nuzzle up in humorously menacing fashion. I love it, though, when that savage-looking kitten scares the be-Jesus out of him in a downtown department store, no less.

And whose great idea was it to load up the cast with some real characters. Take the giant Baer brothers, Max and Buddy, for example. Together they look like they could tear down the Empire State building without a wreaking ball. Not exactly, your usual movie types, and when they start scuffling, you can almost feel the ground shake. Then too, what an inspiration to stick coke-bottle glasses on Shemp Howard of Three Stooges fame and turn him into a nearly blind big-game hunter! So, better hide the house pets. But I really am curious how little, fat comedian Joe Besser snuck on set when the movie already had a little, fat comedian who's a lot funnier. Add real life adventurers Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck, along with the always regal Hillary Brooke who glitters, as usual, but never gets in on the fun, and it all adds up to a lively and entertaining bunch of characters.

Perhaps best of all, A&C are still looking fresh in their roles, and if some of the routines wheeze a bit, the boys are still able to give them the needed lift, something they did not do in the last few years before the final 1956 break-up. Sure, this kind of nonsense is not everyone's cup of tea. But I defy even the sourest sour-puss not to surrender a few chuckles as the boys bumble along Africa-style.