Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion

"Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion" never quite manages to approach the level of "brilliant", but at least it manages to stay fairly consistently on the level of "mildly funny". The best bits include the opening sequence (kind of surprising to see a 1950 movie so openly admitting that pro-wrestling is scripted), the mirages in the desert, and the "Oui" - "We" puns (the French lady: "O-U-I means Yes". Lou: "What does I-O-U mean? No?"). And, thankfully, there are no unnecessary songs to bog down the action. I would describe the film as a pleasant time-passer, but there is one troubling aspect: too many people (Legionnaires as well as Arabs) get killed - not graphically, of course, and mostly off-screen, but still....(**1/2)

Slight Abbott and Costello comedy has them playing wrestling promoters whose star attraction has quit and gone home to Algiers. The duo follow after him and are tricked into joining the Foreign Legion. This is not one of the boys' better efforts but it's still a decent way to pass the time. Most of the gags are pretty stale but I did laugh here and there. Walter Slezak and Douglas Dumbrille are good heavies but the script doesn't give them a lot to do. Patricia Medina looks like a Hedy Lamarr clone. Wrestlers Wee Willie Davis and Tor Johnson are fun to see. The wrestling gags are some of the movie's best. Maybe Bud and Lou should have made a wrestling movie instead and forgotten all this Foreign Legion stuff. Like I said, not their funniest but enjoyable enough to pass the time.

This movie is pretty much a combination of Abbott and Costello meet the Invisible Man and Lost in Alaska. A sheik/professional wrestler leaves the camp of Bud and Lou to return to his native Africa. Bud and Lou, on the verge of losing $5,000, follow him to try and bring him back. They get duped into joining the French foreign legion in the area and deal with a french spy and a traitor in the legion. For a former long time pro wrestling fanatic like me, this movie makes me laugh, mostly because I used to take wrestling so seriously. The intro is great, especially Bud Abbott, who shows passion that he would only show periodically in the team's later years. The chemistry is good in the scenes in Africa until the boys join the legion when the movie stalls slightly. There is a funny bit with Costello manning a machine gun and a hilarious miscounting scene that is the best bit in the film. Some great pro wrestling nonsense and a chaotic ending finish the film. This is one of the Abbott and Costello flicks that I missed seeing in my youth. Other then the wrestling bits and some really beautiful women, Abbott and Costello and their routines carry this one.

Abbott and Costello get tricked into joining the Foreign Legion; all they want is to get a brawny wrestler out of Algeria. Some good, hearty laughs in this A&C feature--their 26th film--which has surprisingly good production values, but feels a little rushed and has sloppy overdubbing. The wrestlers (William 'Wee Willie' Davis and Ed Wood's favorite actor Tor Johnson) are an added treat, and Costello as usual steals all his scenes. True, by this time the comedy duo were just relying on their proved shtick, but the movie is fast-paced and is much funnier and more tolerable than the Lewis and Martin pictures from this era. **1/2 from ****

Great addition to the Abbott and Costello film canon as Bud and Lou go after a wrestler in Algiers. Soon they are hunted by a local sheik and his men and a traitor in the foreign legion...none other than slimy(but wonderful) Walter Slezak. Charles Lamont directs the comedic duo once again, and adds some very funny gags to the proceedings. Some of the material has not dated particularly well, but most of it is still very amusing. Some of the highlights include Lou being pursued through the streets of Algiers, Lou training in the foreign legion, the boys out in the desert seeing various mirages, a trip to an oasis, and finally a wrestling performance for the sheik. Look for Tor Johnson as one of the wrestlers. For my money the funniest scene is Lou matching wits with a fish with dentures in the oasis pool. I laughed real hard. Good, clean fun!