Aventure au harem

Mildly amusing A&C. Moving over to big-budget MGM means bigger production values than usual. And some of the Middle-East cityscapes are really impressive. The boys are helping the prince of the realm (Conte) regain the throne from the evil usurper Nimativ (Dumbrille). Needless to say, their help is a lot funnier than effective. The sketches are okay but the connecting narrative is flatter than usual. And too bad we don't see more of the harem than the pudgy little keeper who looks a lot like Costello—a funny bit.

Actually, my favorite part is the frenetic dance routine imaginatively set to the exotic strains of Scheherezade—the long scarves flying fast and furious. Surprisingly, we don't see much of Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, despite their featured billing. At the same time, there's the lovely Marilyn Maxwell who mostly gets to stand around and look blonde.

Some of the funnier parts—pretending to be Hollywood talent scouts to get the harem girls on their side, the derelict (Leonard) doing his "Slowly I turn…" bit that usually ends with Costello looking like a pretzel, and the invisible man routine that turns Costello into a janitor. Anyway, it's a peppy 90-minutes and if not among their best, at least it has its share of laughs.

The review dated 21 May 2000 is indeed amazing. The reviewer states that he never cared for Bud and Lou. Well, dear reader, I sure hope that y-o-u never waste your time on a topic that you have no interest in. Profit from Ron's time-wasting and do what you enjoy. This film, which may be a step-up, budget-wise, may also be a step down in content, to some. It is definitely a product of its time and audiences of World War II couldn't get enough of Abbott & Costello. If you enjoy big band music, the idea of Jimmy Dorsey's band will excite you. To see one of the era's prettiest women, Marilyn Maxwell, this is a fine showcase. Just as every Bogart film isn't CASABLANCA, every A & C film isn't MEET FRANKENSTEIN. But this one will do ...

John Conte is the renegade Prince in hiding with his desert tribesmen, with both a yen for Marilyn Maxwell and an interest in getting back the throne that his Uncle, Douglass Dumbrille, has stolen from him. The first I can understand, but who does he get to aid him in his second objective. Marilyn, stranded showgirl in the desert, and her sidekicks Abbott and Costello. If you're willing to suspend reality and believe' that anyone looking to pull off a coup d'etat is looking for help from Abbott and Costello, well then sit back and enjoy the fun.

I have to say that the boys are up to their usual monkeyshines and Marilyn Maxwell is inclined to make any self-respecting prince drool, but the real treat is Douglass Dumbrille. Dumbrille was a fine character actor who usually played smooth villains. He's probably best remembered for being the lawyer trying to cheat Gary Cooper out of his inheritance in Mister Deeds Goes To Town. However there are moments went Dumbrille shows a nice sense of comic timing and plays a very good straight man for Costello. Hypnosis is one of the tricks in Dumbrille's bag and he hypnotizes the boys, Marilyn Maxwell, and even the whole Jimmy Dorsey band. I guess they like swing music on the desert.

Dumbrille played a similar function in The Big Store with the Marx Brothers. He gets right into the clowning with them also.

There's a woman who plays one of Dumbrille's hare girls who looks a lot like Rosie O'Donnell. Naturally at one point the plot calls for Costello to get into drag and disguise himself as her to fool Dumbrille.

Good, funny, Abbott and Costello nonsense. Easily the best of the films they did on that MGM loan out from Universal.

"Lost In A Harem" is Abbott and Costello's second Universal loan-out to MGM. As such, the film benefits from MGM's always excellent production values, but loses much in the fact that MGM didn't have a big comedy unit.

Bud and Lou play entertainers stranded in the Middle East with singer Marilyn Maxwell. They are enlisted by a Sheik who schemes to overthrow his evil uncle with their help.

A&C aren't bad, but there appears to be some energy missing from their performance. This is probably due to Lou's tough year in 1943; his bout with Rheumatic Fever, coupled with his son's tragic death, undoubtedly contributed to this (this was their first filmed effort in 1944, although "In Society," filmed after this, was released earlier.) A&C's carbon copy of the Three Stooges' "Niagara Falls" routine doesn't help either. Musical numbers abound, padding the film length to an unwieldly (at least, for A&C) 89 minutes. Also probably contributing to the downturn in humor was the team's pay cut at MGM! The print used in the video version is scratchy, which also doesn't help matters.

There are other funny moments, including seeing Jimmy Dorsey in a fez, but the tedium in the film outweighs moments of hilarity, keeping "Lost In a Harem" a notch below the team's middling efforts. All in all, A&C were better off at Universal. 5 out of 10.

In Port Inferno, singer Hazel Moon performs in a club with bumbling magicians, Peter Johnson (Bud Abbott) and Harvey Garvey (Lou Costello). The guys' act goes badly and the trio gets thrown in prison. They encounter a crazed prisoner who goes nuts whenever he hears the word Pokomoko. Prince Ramo helps them escape and they join him to regain his throne from his uncle Nimativ.

This is Abbott and Costello going crazy in a lot of unreal situation comedy. See this for their comedic routines. There is lots of it. They can get long but enjoy them for what they are. It's a couple of comedy masters doing their work.