Mexican Hayride

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.

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.

MEXICAN HAYRIDE (1948) **1/2 Bud Abbott, Lou Costello.

A&C comedy south of the border with con man Bud bilking samba-loving Lou who unwittingly foils some phony silver stock plans. Highlight: the bull fight.

Before writing this review I took a look at George Eells biography of Cole Porter which has a good reference section listing his Broadway shows and original film productions.

To make this film fit for Abbott and Costello whole sections of the plot and entire characters were junked as well as Cole Porter's entire musical score. The barebones of the book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields was retained and the whole business about stock swindling and the Amigo Americano was from the musical. For instance listed as characters in the play were the then Vice President of the United States Henry A. Wallace and the former King Carol of Rumania and his notorious mistress Madame Lupescu. I can't even imagine what they might be doing as characters in an Abbott and Costello comedy.

Cole Porter's scores rarely made it intact to the screen. Usually it was because of his risqué lyrics not playing well in Peoria. However as we learn it was simply because Abbott and Costello fans didn't want their favorites clowning interrupted by musical numbers as they were in so many of their World War II era films.

If that's the case why in heaven's name did Universal buy Mexican Hayride and rework it for them? I'm sure there must have been any number of Cole Porter fans who wanted to see a film adaptation of one of his Broadway shows. Once they had bought their tickets and were seated in the movie house, they must have been sorely disappointed.

The boys have some good routines here, Costello has some funny moments in an interview with reporter Sid Fields and also with elocution teacher Fritz Feld. The highlight of the film of course is Costello in a bull ring trying to get money Abbott swindled in some watered stock case. Problem is the money is in a hat that was tossed in the ring and landed on the bull's horns.

One routine they did was previously done in the Bing Crosby film Double Or Nothing by Martha Raye. Costello won a marathon dance contest doing the Samba for 36 hours and goes into autopilot the exact same way Martha Raye did in Double or Nothing.

It's not the best film from Abbott and Costello and boy are those Cole Porter lovers in for a disappointment.

I don't know why people think so poorly of this film. Although it seems a little odd the way it begins in the middle of the story, it ticks along at a good rate; Pat Costello has an effective repartee with Lou, which is very interesting; Luba Malina, Fritz Feld, Sid Fields and Chris-Pin Martin are all funny. Costello is over the top, yet seems lovable and genuine in this movie. There are no gratuitous musical numbers to FF through, but there are a couple of comic musical numbers. It does not have the slow moments or the maudlin handling they had in "Little Giant" (which does have some good moments, by the way); Lou keeps things moving, and I can count 10 good skits off the top of my head--the one with Lou preparing tortillas has something close to a spectacular ending...if only the plot hadn't got in the way. Even the grand finale with a few rear-projections (and a "trained" bull) turns out pretty funny.

It's the logical extension of Abbott's character for him to be an all-around swindler, so that doesn't bother me; their teamwork is still top-rate, and I'm happy to see Costello get the better of Abbott once in a while. It's also relieving that in this context (and maybe an off-screen agreement?), Abbott refrains from slapping Costello, which would make his character unacceptable.

So spend a few bucks and watch it on DVD. Not a classic, but a good Sunday afternoon comedy with two comedians still at their peak of performance. And that's not bad.