Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The first must-see film of the year.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Jonesy and Lou are in Algeria looking for a wrestler they are promoting. Sergeant Axmann tricks them into joining the Foreign Legion, after which they discover Axmann's collaboration with the nasty Sheik Hamud El Khalid.The plots of the various movies don't really matter one way or the other. What really matters are the gags. I felt like the gags in this one fell a bit short. The centerpiece is a scene concerning a mirage, which never really hit its peak. And the verbal banter that these two are best at is absent, and that is disappointing.The movie does work as sort of a cultural artifact about what Americans (or Hollywood) thought of the Middle East in 1950. While not outright offensive in any way, some of it seems surprisingly ignorant. But then again, I could probably argue that the situation has not improved in the last 60 years.

Some of Abbott and Costello's later films sure seemed like they were aimed more at kids than a wider audience. Some were obvious kids films (JACK AND THE BEANSTALK) and some merely featured rather juvenile humor that most adults would find less entertaining. While I enjoyed watching ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION a few minutes ago, I sure enjoyed it much more when I was a little kid--after all, this was the target audience. Let me give you a few examples. First, the fish with the dentures (a gag, by the way that the Three Stooges also used). I just can't imagine an adult laughing at the plastic catfish in this gag. Second, while they were a bit funny, the mirage scenes were also pretty low-brow--even by Abbott and Costello standards. Yet, despite all this, the film manages to do a decent job of entertaining--even with its rather modest pretensions.The film begins with Bud and Lou as wrestling promoters. When their star stomps off to return to his home in the North African desert, the boys follow to try to convince him to return. Unfortunately, they walk right into the middle of a plot by the Sheik (Douglass Dambrille) to kill them. The boys take refuge in a foreign legion recruiting station and the rest is history.As legionnaires, the two are pretty sad. Bud's in his mid-50s and Lou is....Lou. Although they are awful in their new jobs, they accidentally bump into adventure after adventure. First, they discover who the traitor is within the regiment. Next, they get lost in the desert and almost die. Next, there is a wild and crazy ending where they foil the plot to destroy the legion. And, finally, they get to go home and live happily ever after (especially Lou).None of this is terrible, though not much is especially great or inspired either. Overall, it's a bit of a time passer--albeit a very good one. A couple of the highlights of the film include seeing Tor Johnson in a role many years before he shot to fame for his magnetic performance in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Another is a cheap but funny line by Lou: "She's either a very ugly woman, or a very pretty monster".Inoffensive and I'm sure the kids will love it. And, if you've ever seen Abbott and Costello's LOST IN A HAREM, then you have a general idea what this film is about, as they both star Dambrille in very similar roles and the laughs are sometimes very similar--and both were clearly shot on sound stages and not on location (giving them both an echo that is noticeable from time to time).

Bud and Lou had previously visited the North African desert in Lost in a Harem, one of the loan out films they did for MGM in the middle 40s. I guess their home studio Universal wanted to get in the action also, so they got a second engagement in the Sahara.The boys are wrestling managers in search of their wrestler Abdullah who's taken a powder and left them holding the bag to the tune of $5000.00 to the syndicate back in Brooklyn. Of course, true to form they get themselves involved in some of the local power struggles and find themselves enlisting in the Foreign Legion.Helping them along are such performers as Walter Slezak as the Foreign Legion sergeant, Douglass Dumbrille as the villainous sheik and the lovely Patricia Medina as the spy from French Intelligence. Douglass Dumbrille was in fact their nemesis in Lost in a Harem. Dumbrille, who could be a real villain as well as a comic one, got caught up in their comedy much more in Lost in a Harem. Here, he's just a bad guy.Sharp-eared fans might recognize the voice of Universal Pictures stalwart Jeff Chandler as the narrator in the beginning.The film also borrows from the Road to Morocco quite liberally. In fact it's ground that's been covered before.I guess the creative minds at Universal were getting a bit stalled.

Not much going on in this film that is going to amuse anyone over the age of 8. The gags are very simple and it is obvious that most of the movie was shot in a studio, but still the film retains a silly juvenile charm. The best parts occur when A & C are lost in the desert and Lou is seeing mirages of a malt shop and of an oasis. A great gag occurs when he hallucinates that a newsboy is selling newspapers in the desert. When Lou asks him how he got there, the newsboy answers that he got stuck with a bad corner. The rest of the film has the usual slapstick nonsense and tired old gags about oil Sheiks and harems. On the whole only worth seeing if your brain is stuck in idle (or stupid).