Abbott und Costello als Legionäre

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.

In Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, Bud and Lou head to Algieria to find a wrestler named Abdullah who left them high and dry and owing a mobster quite a bit of money. Once there, the boys get mixed up with Sheik Hamud El Khalid (Douglas Dumbrille) and draw his ire at a slave auction. In their attempt to escape, Bud and Lou inadvertently sign-up for the French Foreign Legion. Things only get worse when they learn that their Sergeant is in cahoots with the Sheik. Now how are they going to get back to Brooklyn?

As a general rule, I'm a fan of A&C. Some of their movies (like Who Done It?, Hold that Ghost, and A&C Meet Frankenstein) I consider to be true classics. Unfortunately, by the time the boys made A&C in the Foreign Legion, much of their comedy had started to get tired and old. The movie has a "been there, done that" feel to a lot of it. For example, the "Oui vs. We" bit reminds me of several of A&C's more classic routines. Or take a look at the scene with the fish and the false teeth. To me, it shows how desperate the boys were. It's completely ridiculous and not in the least bit funny. A solid cast, however, almost makes this movie worthwhile. Douglas Dumbrille and Patricia Medina are a lot of fun. However, even though I think Dumbrille makes for a perfect villain, he's about as Algerian as I am (which is none).

Finally, one thing I really enjoyed about A&C in the Foreign Legion was the chance to see some classic, old-school wrestlers. Wee Willie Davis vs. Tor Johnson! How cool is that?

Two wrestling promoters from Brooklyn go to Algeria, after their main wrestler quits. They want to convince him to get back in order to avoid paying back the money. The duo gets attacked by Arabs after being mistaken to be spies, leading to them getting tricked into joining the Foreign Legion, to serve for 5 years. As they struggle with their training and Arabs still seeking to kill them, the duo need to team up with a gorgeous spy and find their wrestler, to escape. The humorous situations they create during these shenanigans forms rest of the story.

The comedy lines were pretty dated, some clicked and most didn't. What worked however is Lou Costello's physical comedy. Though the humor itself was not hilarious with Bud Abbott taking the backseat a bit more than usual, letting Lou Costello to drive the film, there were scenes especially the mirage one that delivered. Patricia Medina looked gorgeous throughout and her scenes with Lou got me to chuckle a couple of times. The ending jeep chase however was too generic and barely serviceable.

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.

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!