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Rating:  -
I am a big fan of Abbott and Costello, but this title is not one of their best films. Later this summer the superior ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN is slated for DVD release, and I hope it is a better reproduction. What is the point of releasing these old titles on DVD if there are no extras? MCA/Universal is very bad at this. At least the old box set laser discs of A&C films had the trailers included. A complete filmography would be nice. Another reviewer mentioned this release was supposed to be in widescreen, but that is doubtful because it was not a widescreen film when it was released in theatres almost 50 years ago. MCA/Universal, though, is notorious for being cavalier with their video releases and making mistakes. Read the liner notes put out by the studio for this title, and you'll see that they misdescribe events and get character names wrong. They also identify a fish as a crab! Abbott and Costello may have been low budget but their pertformances and routines were quality. Their films made a lot of money for the studio when the studio needed it, and I would expect the studio to have greater respect for the boys.
Rating:  -
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION (1950)
Universal-International Pictures
Release Date: February 19, 1950
Runtime: 80 minutes
Director:
Charles Lamont
Producer:
Robert Arthur
Writing Credits:
D.D. Beauchamp
John Grant
Martin Ragaway
Leonard B. Stern
CAST:
Bud Abbott....Bud Jones
Lou Costello....Lou Hotchkiss
Patricia Medina....Nicole Dupre
Walter Slezak....Sergeant Axmann
Douglass Dumbrille....Sheik Hamud El Khalid
Leon Belasco....Hassam
Marc Lawrence....Frankie the Loan Shark
William 'Wee Willie' Davis....Abdullah
Tor Johnson....Abou Ben
Sammy Menacker....'Bert' Bertram (as Sam Mancker)
Jack Raymond....Ali Ami
Fred Nurney....Commandant
Paul Fiero....Ibn
Henry Corden....Ibrim
Music by:
Elizabeth Firestone
Johnny Green
Cinematography by:
George Robinson
Film Editing by:
Frank Gross
Art Direction:
Bernard Herzbrun
Eric Orbom
Set Decoration:
Russell A. Gausman
Ray Jeffers
Sound Department:
Leslie I. Carey
Robert Pitchard
Other Crew:
Joseph Gershenson....musical director
David S. Horsley....special photography
Mahmud Shaikhaly....technical advisor
Plot Summary:
Bud Jones and Lou Hotchkiss are wrestling promoters whose star attraction, Abdullah, skips town to return to his home in Arabia. While scouring the desert in search of Abdullah, Bud and and Lou inadvertently purchase slave girl Nicole Dupre, and with equal inadvertence join the Foreign Legion. In their own bumbling, inept fashion, our heroes manage to foil a desert uprising fomented by Shiek Hamud El Khalid and traitorous Legion Sergeant Axmann.
The film's highlights include an opening scene parody of pre-rehearsed wrestling matches, a "mirage" routine capped by one of the hoariest vaudeville punchlines in history, and a runaway-jeep climax.
ROUTINES & HILARIOUS MOMENTS:
Lou as wrestling demo
Us?, Oui
Lou's Legionnaire training
Desert mirages
Fish with false teeth
Lou's thought dead
Rating:  -
This was one of my first A&C movies and I still think its one of their funniest. Even though this was probably their 28th or 29th movie, they seem especially energized and comical. The film just rolls along with gags about wrestling, boot camp, mirages,pretty girls and you name it. There are plenty of bad guys and Costello gets to do his famous "scare take" several times to great effect. A hit in its day, and a hit for all fans of classic comedy today.
Rating:  -
I was looking forward to a widescreen version, but it seems this is NOT on the dvd even though its referred to in the Amazon blurb.
Rating: -
Bud and Lou play the manager and trainer of a professional wrestler named Abdullah. When Abdullah decides to back to his native land, Bud and Lou give chase to bring him back to the U.S. and UNWITTINGLY enlist in the Foreign Legion.
The BEST highlight of the film has the boys lost in the desert, where they begin to experience a series of OUTRAGEOUS mirages. One has Lou 'meeting' a newsboy selling newspapers who shouts to people to read all about a water shortage. When Lou asks him what he's doing way out in the desert the kid replies: "Can I help it if they gave me a bad corner?"
This is Bud and Lou at their BEST.
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