So This Is Africa

Originally filmed at some 90 minutes, Wheeler and Woolsey's only film at Columbia was chopped at the insistence of the censors and never re-released until its emergence on TCM some sixty-odd years later.

Wilbur and Alexander are failed lion tamers, who have a small tribe of toothless tame lions they won in a raffle. These lions are of great interest to a film company who need a film about Africa. So, the hapless two and their animals go on safari, alongside the oversexed Mrs Martini.

The jokes are fairly thick and fast in this 65 minute print, which includes a passionate female Tarzan, a huge group of Amazons, a foot-licking bear, a gorilla called Josephine, and a couple of musical numbers (one spoofing Minnie the Moocher).

Although usual cutie Dorothy Lee is missing, Raquel Torres and Esther Muir do well as the love interests for the boys, and Wheeler and Woolsey themselves are on fairly good form.