Abenteuer im Harem

This was always one of my favourite A&C's, and as a previous commenter stated, definitely their best for MGM! Imho their best period overall was with Universal during WW2, but this is on the same level and the generally higher production values more than compensating me for the loss of that special Universal atmosphere. It only came about because MGM wanted to re-use the sets from the film they'd just made of Kismet with Ronald Colman, so John Grant set about writing a pastiche version for the duo.

At Port Inferno in Africa Bud & Lou are travelling magicians Garvey & Johnson but only making a living thanks to the alluring insistence of the top star Marilyn Maxwell; they all get ravelled up in young Prince Ramo's attempts to overthrow the throne of his wicked uncle Nimativ (full of vitamins one supposes). On the way they also get ravelled up in many of A&C's wacky routines including Don't say Tin, a bit of piffle-diffle, the classic Pokomoko sketch, Lou trying to sleep with a mouthful of beard, and my favourite the Hi Mike sketch – poor devil: shot to death twice, once with a knife! Douglas Dumbrille played Nimativ perfectly as a despot with a human side, even wanting to take Maxwell as wife no. 38. Maxwell had a great song with What Does It Take, while Jimmy Dorsey and his Orch. unfortunately dressed as Arab tribesmen had a couple of interesting well staged and photographed numbers. I wonder if the scenes would have been condemned by todays professional critics if someone like Louis Armstrong (and his Orch.) had been ridiculously togged up thus instead of Dorsey?

For the fan there are many entertaining scenes, some snappy smart ass dialogue going on and the film is a toe-curling pleasure from start to finish; please refer to commenter no. 1 from 2000 if you're not a fan and have as much time to kill as he did.

John Conte is the renegade Prince in hiding with his desert tribesmen, with both a yen for Marilyn Maxwell and an interest in getting back the throne that his Uncle, Douglass Dumbrille, has stolen from him. The first I can understand, but who does he get to aid him in his second objective. Marilyn, stranded showgirl in the desert, and her sidekicks Abbott and Costello. If you're willing to suspend reality and believe' that anyone looking to pull off a coup d'etat is looking for help from Abbott and Costello, well then sit back and enjoy the fun.

I have to say that the boys are up to their usual monkeyshines and Marilyn Maxwell is inclined to make any self-respecting prince drool, but the real treat is Douglass Dumbrille. Dumbrille was a fine character actor who usually played smooth villains. He's probably best remembered for being the lawyer trying to cheat Gary Cooper out of his inheritance in Mister Deeds Goes To Town. However there are moments went Dumbrille shows a nice sense of comic timing and plays a very good straight man for Costello. Hypnosis is one of the tricks in Dumbrille's bag and he hypnotizes the boys, Marilyn Maxwell, and even the whole Jimmy Dorsey band. I guess they like swing music on the desert.

Dumbrille played a similar function in The Big Store with the Marx Brothers. He gets right into the clowning with them also.

There's a woman who plays one of Dumbrille's hare girls who looks a lot like Rosie O'Donnell. Naturally at one point the plot calls for Costello to get into drag and disguise himself as her to fool Dumbrille.

Good, funny, Abbott and Costello nonsense. Easily the best of the films they did on that MGM loan out from Universal.

Lost In A Harem is one of the best Abbott & Costello films for 3 reasons: One, unlike most of their films in the 1940s which were produced at Universal Studios (and available on DVD in a Universal set), this one was done at MGM with that studios usual higher production standards, including a few spectacular musical numbers. Two, it is one of only about a dozen filmed appearances of big band great Jimmmy Dorsey, who performs, with his band, a number called John Silver ("15 men on a dead man's chest") which I haven't found elsewhere, and a few other songs. Three, the "Pokomoko" routine ("Slowwwwly I turned, step by step I crept upon him . . .") is done to perfection by A&C with Murray Leonard as the Derelict, which I've always remembered as one of my favorite A&C routines since I was ten years old. Furthermore, there's a real live giant (Lock Martin), full costumes and exotic sets as you would expect from MGM, a magic skit by A&C, hypnotism, a fine performance from Douglas Dumbrille as the bad guy, and more good music. I would rate it below Abott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, In The Navy, In Society, The Naughty Nineties, and perhaps 3 or 4 others, but definitely in their top ten or twelve. But since it's not in the Universal set, it's not available on DVD anywhere.

Mildly amusing A&C. Moving over to big-budget MGM means bigger production values than usual. And some of the Middle-East cityscapes are really impressive. The boys are helping the prince of the realm (Conte) regain the throne from the evil usurper Nimativ (Dumbrille). Needless to say, their help is a lot funnier than effective. The sketches are okay but the connecting narrative is flatter than usual. And too bad we don't see more of the harem than the pudgy little keeper who looks a lot like Costello—a funny bit.

Actually, my favorite part is the frenetic dance routine imaginatively set to the exotic strains of Scheherezade—the long scarves flying fast and furious. Surprisingly, we don't see much of Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, despite their featured billing. At the same time, there's the lovely Marilyn Maxwell who mostly gets to stand around and look blonde.

Some of the funnier parts—pretending to be Hollywood talent scouts to get the harem girls on their side, the derelict (Leonard) doing his "Slowly I turn…" bit that usually ends with Costello looking like a pretzel, and the invisible man routine that turns Costello into a janitor. Anyway, it's a peppy 90-minutes and if not among their best, at least it has its share of laughs.

Like MGM's previous Abbott and Costello film, RIO RITA, LOST IN A HAREM has a sound and feel to it that is indicative of being filmed in a sound stage with lots of echo--an odd choice for a desert film. As a result, the film has a certain artificial and claustrophobic feel to it. Why MGM wouldn't take this immensely popular comedy team (one of the biggest box office draws of the era) and put them in a higher quality film is a mystery. MGM had a habit of misusing comedy teams--particularly in the post-Irving Thalberg era.

Now this doesn't mean that they cut lots of corners indoors, but what they did do wasn't exactly crowd-pleasing. These musical numbers were even more lavish than those in the Universal Pictures films the team made and starred Jimmy Dorsey and his famous orchestra--in the desert. All these songs didn't give the fans what they wanted--more Abbott and Costello. As a result, their three MGM films failed to make the money the studio had expected.

Despite these shortcomings, the film does have some laughs. While far from sophisticated, the prison skits with the seriously crazy cell-mate are pretty funny and are based on old Vaudeville routines--particularly the 'Pokomoko' skit. In fact, it was done in other films and by other comedy teams (such as The Three Stooges)--and was probably done by other comedy teams long before Abbott and Costello. Murray Leonard was very funny (though far from subtle) in these routines and worked well with the team.

As for the plot, it's a bit silly and unfortunately also has the formulaic lady and her love interest (who really do little in the way of plot or comedy). In this case, a beautiful blonde just happens to be in this desert country and the boys are trying to help her escape back to America. Unfortunately, there is an evil usurper (Douglass Dumbrille--who was pretty funny in a cartoony way) who has taken the throne and uses his cool hypno-rings to make people do his bidding. He immediately is taken by the blonde and the boys get caught up in a plot by the rightful monarch (is this an oxymoron?) to get the hypno-rings--helping him and the rebels to depose Dumbrille. Naturally, much of the film consists of the boys running about the palace and trying to avoid being executed.

Whether you like this film will depend a lot on whether or not you find these antics funny. Abbott and Costello fans will clearly find enough to merit watching, though those not familiar with the duo might find this hard-going, as the film is watchable but far from their best.