"Africa Screams" (Nassour Studios, released through United Artists, 1949), directed by Charles Barton, is a better than average Abbott and Costello comedy which places the popular team in one of their rare independent productions outside their home base of Universal Pictures. With military themes, ghost stories, college musicals, westerns, murder mysteries and everything else imaginable behind them, it would be a matter of time before Bud and Lou attempted a jungle comedy. The original screenplay by Earl Baldwin doesn't have Bud and Lou meeting Tarzan, Jungle Jim, Bomba the Jungle Boy, King Kong or The African Queen, but do team up with notable animal trainer, Clyde Beatty, and animal hunter, Frank Buck, in guest starring roles playing themselves.
The story revolves around a couple of store clerks in the book section at Klopper's Department Store. Stanley Livington (Lou Costello), is approached at the counter by Grappler McCoy (Max Baer) and Boots Wilson (Buddy Baer), a couple of tough looking thugs inquiring about an out of print book, "Dark Safari" by Cuddleford, a notable explorer. The men, who are more interested in the map enclosed in the book, find that Stanley can reproduce the map by memory. They offer him $1,000 with the reproduction at their address later that night. At the same time, Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) inquires about the same book to Stanley's friend and partner, Buzz Johnson (Bud Abbott). Knowing Stanley to be more familiar with the book than he, offers his services at her asking price of $2,500, arranging their meeting at her home later that evening. Upon their arrival, Buzz introduces Stanley to Diane as the world's greatest explorer who accompanied Cuddleford on an African expedition, never revealing Stanley has a phobia towards animals. Stanley also gets to meet Diane's present guest, Clyde Beatty, who's hired to lead the safari in search for an orangutan gargantuan (while in actuality seeking for uncut diamonds depicted on the map of the book) . Overhearing Diane offering Beatty $2,000 for the expedition, finding he could obtain more money than offered, convinces Diane to take he and Buzz on the expedition as well, which she does, at the price of the drawn map by Stanley. Once in the jungles of Africa, with the safari crew with Diane's henchmen; Harry (Joe Besser), her cook and butler; Gunner (Shemp Howard), an extremely near-sited sharpshooter as their protector (!); Buzz and Stanley soon realizes their lives are in greater danger with Diane and her thugs than coming face to face with lions, crocodiles, a giant gorilla, and cannibal tribe from the Ubangi territory as Stanley's map turns out not to be quite the one depicted from the book in question.
Although its title "Africa Screams" is reportedly depicted from a 1930 documentary,"Africa Speaks," a product made so long ago for 1949 audiences not to even recall, is, what it appears, to be a parody to the Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour "Road to" series of the 1940s, especially the jungle African ventures of ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941) and ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942). In fact, with Bud, Lou and Hillary Brooks doing a Crosby, Hope and Lamour take, minus the song and dance interludes and Hollywood in-jokes, who could ask for anything more when it comes to certain gags and situations that could be just as fun to see with either Hope or Costello clowning in their own individual comedic style.
Overlooking the aforementioned ROAD series format, "Africa Screams" is pure 79 minute comedy in the best Abbott and Costello tradition. Aside from Costello's frightful expressions and reactions, he naturally gets the biggest laughs here, especially with his shared sequences with other famed comics as Shemp Howard and Joe Besser (individually part of the Three Stooges comedy team at one point in their careers). Interestingly, both Besser and Hillary Brooke would become semi-regulars on their two-season television series of "The Abbott and Costello Show" (1952-53). Best moments for Costello occur when trying to impress Diane by doing a Clyde Beatty by locking himself inside a cage with a real lion who turns out not to be Buzz in lion costume; unknowingly swimming with a crocodile; and frightful reaction when approached by a giant gorilla, among others.As Costello gets the last laugh, it's his partner Abbott who, in state of confusion, who responds, "I just don't understand it." The audience does. Watch for it.
With well thought out gags and some unexpected surprises, it's a wonder why "Africa Screams" has become the least known of all of their comedies combined. Once shown on New York City television (1956-1961) before disappearing from view, "Africa Screams" never became part of New York's television package of Abbott and Costello comedies (1940-1956) commonly shown Sunday morning/afternoons on WPIX, Channel 11 (1971-89). Falling into public domain with some poor reproductive copies, "Africa Screams" resurfaced on television after a long hiatus on cable, public television and independent stations as well as the early stages of home video in the early 1980s. In later years, "Africa Screams" turned up on DVD, and on cable TV's Turner Classic Movies starting in 2006. With availability readily accessible in recent years, "Africa Screams" should be an interesting rediscovery and real treat for anyone familiar with every Abbott and Costello movie ever made but unaware of the existence of this one. Availability in colorized format is quite good. (***)
