Im Lande der Kakteen

Abbott & Costello play two con-men who sell phony stock to gullible would-be buyers, who are now pursued by the police. They then flee to Mexico, where they travel incognito, and meet up with an old friend who is now a bullfighter, which of course creates lots of opportunities for Lou to get chased around by an angry bull, and who also has recently been in some kind of a dance marathon, so now whenever he hears a Samba, can't help himself dancing uncontrollably, no matter the situation. Entirely forgettable(and forgotten) comedy is competently made but utterly unfunny, and the team play rather unlikable characters this time, despite their ineptitude.

Two con men selling phony stock flee to Mexico ahead of the law, where they run into a woman friend from their earlier days, who is now a bullfighter.

The plots of the various movies don't really matter one way or the other. What really matters are the gags. I loved the painting gag, even though I saw the punchline coming. And the Smith / Jones routine is the sort of back and forth people love from this duo (myself included).

I think the comedy duo tends to be best remembered today (2017) for their series of films meeting the Universal monsters. But let's not forget some gems like this one, which has aged surprisingly well.

This film is a bit unusual for an Abbott and Costello film in that Bud and Lou work against each other. In other words, they are not friends in the film and Lou is hiding out in Mexico. It seems that Bud is a swindler and has made it look like Lou is guilty. Naturally, Lou's goal is to get the money back so that he can pay off everyone back home and get the police to drop the case against him. Again and again throughout the film, Bud promises to give Lou all the money...in a few days.

Complicating things is that the police have just spotted Lou and are hot on his trail. But, they aren't positive it's the right guy and they are forced to back off when Lou is designated the "Guest of the People of Mexico". In other words, he was supposedly randomly chosen to be wined and dined as a sign of good will between the US and Mexico. In a very ironic scene, just when the Mexicans are set to honor Lou, the American police are ready to arrest him. What stops them is that one of the cops also matches this vague description! And, in reality, this part is played by Pat Costello--Lou's older brother in real life! Low points in the film include Luba Malina's performance. At times, she speaks with a typical American accent and in others she tries (in vain) to approximate a Mexican accent...and fails miserably. Why the director didn't bother to fix these scenes or notice is beyond me. Apparently, Malina was Russian-born and lived all around the world and if you listen, you can clearly hear this in her voice! Another is the scene late in the film where Lou is hiding out as an old lady with a tortilla wagon. His fake Spanish is really, really lame and sounds like Spanish only to someone with severe brain damage--and it's not really very funny--though the scene otherwise isn't bad at all. Could audiences back in 1948 have actually thought this was an approximation of Spanish?! High points are the lack of musical numbers and irrelevant secondary characters in the film. There is no handsome couple (unless you count Lou and Luba) and the film tends to focus exclusively on Bud and Lou.

Unfortunately, though, there aren't a ton of laughs in the film and it is a rather bland affair compared to the rest of the comedy team's work. An mildly interesting diversion and that is all.

Lesser Abbott & Costello film sees the boys hiding out in Mexico because Lou is wanted for being a forger and swindler. Except Lou is just an innocent dupe of Bud, who's the real crook. Part of the problem with this one lies right there in that description. Abbott & Costello aren't friends in this and Bud is kind of a tool. So you have Lou performing several routines with other characters instead of Bud. There are lots of pretty senoritas hanging around, so that's a plus. Lovely Virginia Grey is another plus. Some of the gags are pretty corny. A repeated gag involving Lou and samba music is particularly unfunny. It's not a bad movie and there are some laughs but something just doesn't click.

Fresh from the hit "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," the comedy duo set out on "Mexican Hayride." Costello plays Joe Bascom, who is on the trail of Harry Lambert (Bud Abbott). Lambert coerced Bascom into swindling friends in Iowa, and Bascom has followed him into Mexico to force him to pay up. Through a series of misunderstandings, Bascom becomes "Amigo Americano" and is honored and feted. Lambert sees this as an opportunity for further land swindles in Mexico, and again tries to use Bascom as an unwitting pawn.

If this description sounds like an unusual plot for an Abbott and Costello film, you would be right. The story is based upon a Broadway show. A&C stalwart screenwriter John Grant does his best to interject A&C humor and routines into the existing Broadway storyline. Two of his best examples are the scene where Abbott rips off Costello's clothes in an effort to hide his initials, which are sewed on every piece of clothing; and the scene with Fritz Feld as an diction specialist.

"Mexican Hayride" is considered one of the weakest films in the A&C series, and I agree. The main problem lies in trying to interject A&C into a Broadway storyline built for other actors. A&C give it their best as usual, but the storyline simply isn't for them. One expects Abbott to take advantage of Costello here and there; it was seen in many of their best comedies. But for Abbott to swindle many people besides Costello simply isn't funny. There are also many gaps in the humor that result in dull moments. I really tried to like "Mexican Hayride," but the storyline simply didn't fit A&C snugly, and the humor is not consistent enough to generate many laughs. 3 out of 10.