Fans of both Abbott and Costello and The Three Stooges know that two Stooges sometimes appeared with the comedy team. Shemp Howard had appeared in some of Abbott and Costello's earliest movies. Joe Besser had would be a regular on the first season of the duo's TV series. There was however one Abbott and Costello movie where these two Stooges crossed paths and that was Africa Screams.
In this film, Abbott and Costello play two men working in a bookstore. Stanley (Lou Costello's character) has read a book that has a map that leads to a diamond mine. When treasure hunters cannot find this book, they enlist the help of the two book salesmen.
This is an often intermittently funny comedy. There are moments here that are truly hilarious but then often long gaps between real laughs with a lot falling flat in-between. Highlights include Lou Costello impersonating Joe Besser, every scene with Shemp (he plays a gunman who can barely see his hand in front of his face) is very funny (he even at times steals the show from Abbott and Costello) and the perfect ending. However, it is hard to make a feature length comedy because it is hard to remain funny for that long of a time. Because of this there are scenes where it feels like the gag men are trying too hard to fit a gag into every scene. This leads to a lot of comedic moments that feel forced and tend to fall flat. The scene with Lou Costello locked in a cage with a loin should have been a surefire comedy set piece but somehow falls flat. This movie also benefits from a great supporting cast. As mentioned before Shemp is the scene stealer and is very funny here. Joe Besser also gets some good chances to shine. I love the gag where he is putting out the fire.
Hillary Brooke (who would later become a regular on the Abbott and Costello TV show) is one of Abbott and Costello's best female leads and she works very well with the comedy duo. She later recalled how nervous she was to work with the popular comedy team. "I can't do it, Ed [producer Edward Nassour]. I can't keep up with them. I'm a nervous wreck. I never get a cue! Ed said, 'Stay with it, Hillary, you're going to have a wonderful time.' And of course he was absolutely right. I loved working with Abbott and Costello. Lou and I had a very unusual, wonderful friendship.... He taught me more about comedy than anyone I ever worked with. I was not a comedienne by any means, but he taught me timing and how to handle a joke...And I must say that Bud was one of the greatest straight men that ever existed, and he never got the credit for it"
This film’s cast would also feature a pair of real-life big game hunters, Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck. The two were already very familiar to movie goers as they had starred in their own series of short films that would showcase their hunting exploits (personally I can’t understand how someone killing innocent animals could be considered entertainment to anyone). Still, they were not actors and are easily the weak links of the cast. Frank Buck’s acting ability is especially lacking.
Unlike most of Abbott and Costello's films that were made for big name studios like Universal (where they made the majority (and the best of) their movies), Warner Brothers and MGM, this movie was made for the low budget Nassour Studios run by brothers Edward and William Nassour. This would in fact be the Nassour Brothers' first commercial feature. However the studio had produced a short film called 10,000 Kids and a Cop (1947), which would feature Lou Costello and be used to promote the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center. It was shot in sixteen days on a budget of less than $500,000. One usual expense for Bud and Lou was objected to by the brothers Nassour. They understandably objected to spending $3,500 on pies that would be thrown in between filming. Bud and Lou often did this to relieve tension and keep the comedic momentum going. Writer Martin Ragaway remembered, "There seemed to be a friendly feud between the Abbotts and the Costellos. Different people on the set had been enlisted on different sides. Somebody would blow a whistle and suddenly, on this jungle set, people began throwing pies at one another. There was a pie war!...I remember saying to myself, well, this is how pictures are made. Apparently, they had to have something to relieve the tension, and this was it." Cinematographer Charles Van Enger remembered, "Eddie Nassour had the studio painted and charged it to our production. Lou refused to pay it. They had a hell of a fight. Eddie came down to the set with a gun, looking to kill Lou. Really! I took the gun away from him." Bud and Lou would file suit against the Nassour brothers for supposed production costs. This case would be settled to no one's satisfaction.
This film's director would be Charles Barton, one of the duo's best directors (who directed their most popular film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)). He would direct Abbott and Costello in a total of nine films. Barton would go on to direct two live-action feature films for the Disney studio, The Shaggy Dog (1959) and Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960). Fans of TV series of the 1950's and 60's will be familiar with his work. He directed episodes of The Amos 'n Andy Show (for which he directed all 78 episodes), The Great Gildersleeve, Disney's Zorro, Dennis the Menace (for which he directed a total of 90 episodes), McHale's Navy, Hazel, Petticoat Junction and Family Affair (for which he directed 106 episodes).
Filming of this movie was briefly paused because Shemp got seasick floating in a raft in a studio tank, which was only a few feet deep. Bud Abbott's nephew Norman Abbott was the dialogue coach on this film.
Unlike most of Abbott and Costello's films that were made for big name studios like Universal (where they made the majority (and the best of) their movies), Warner Brothers and MGM, this movie was made for the low budget Nassour Studios run by brothers Edward and William Nassour. This would in fact be the Nassour Brothers' first commercial feature. However the studio had produced a short film called 10,000 Kids and a Cop (1947), which would feature Lou Costello and be used to promote the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center. It was shot in sixteen days on a budget of less than $500,000. One usual expense for Bud and Lou was objected to by the brothers Nassour. They understandably objected to spending $3,500 on pies that would be thrown in between filming. Bud and Lou often did this to relieve tension and keep the comedic momentum going. Writer Martin Ragaway remembered, "There seemed to be a friendly feud between the Abbotts and the Costellos. Different people on the set had been enlisted on different sides. Somebody would blow a whistle and suddenly, on this jungle set, people began throwing pies at one another. There was a pie war!...I remember saying to myself, well, this is how pictures are made. Apparently, they had to have something to relieve the tension, and this was it." Cinematographer Charles Van Enger remembered, "Eddie Nassour had the studio painted and charged it to our production. Lou refused to pay it. They had a hell of a fight. Eddie came down to the set with a gun, looking to kill Lou. Really! I took the gun away from him." Bud and Lou would file suit against the Nassour brothers for supposed production costs. This case would be settled to no one's satisfaction.
This film's director would be Charles Barton, one of the duo's best directors (who directed their most popular film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)). He would direct Abbott and Costello in a total of nine films. Barton would go on to direct two live-action feature films for the Disney studio, The Shaggy Dog (1959) and Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960). Fans of TV series of the 1950's and 60's will be familiar with his work. He directed episodes of The Amos 'n Andy Show (for which he directed all 78 episodes), The Great Gildersleeve, Disney's Zorro, Dennis the Menace (for which he directed a total of 90 episodes), McHale's Navy, Hazel, Petticoat Junction and Family Affair (for which he directed 106 episodes).
Filming of this movie was briefly paused because Shemp got seasick floating in a raft in a studio tank, which was only a few feet deep. Bud Abbott's nephew Norman Abbott was the dialogue coach on this film.
Resources Used
The Abbott and Costello Story: Sixty Years of Who's on First by Stephen Cox and John Lofflin
https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/19050/africa-screams#articles-reviews?articleId=92545
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