Abbott und Costello auf Safari

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. **1/2 out of ****