DVD Review: Africa Screams (1949)

The restoration of Abbott and Costello's indie feature "Africa Screams" has been eagerly anticipated by their many fans, and now it is available from ClassicFix on blu ray. Restored by the 3-D Film Archive using the best available pre-print materials, the picture and sound quality of this 1949 release is truly amazing.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's comedy features for Universal studios were top attractions during the war years, just as that studio's monster movies had been during the Depression. Both of these lucrative franchises were petering out after the war, until someone got the idea to pair them up for the masterpiece "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948). This movie was so huge, it shot Bud and Lou right back up among the top box office draws in the nation.

The following year, Abbott and Costello decided to do an independent production for Nassour Studios, with longtime Warner Brothers screenwriter Earl Baldwin supplying the script, and Charles Barton (director of A&C Meet Frankenstein) at the helm. The duo gathered a cast of friends like Hillary Brooke, Max and Buddy Baer, Shemp Howard (who was currently working with The Three Stooges), and Joe Besser (who would later work in the duo's TV series, and who would join the Stooges upon Shemp's 1955 death). "Africa Screams" was a jungle comedy, so cameos by Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck were tossed in to add a bit of authenticity.

Because it was an indie, its copyright was not renewed and the film's public domain status resulted in it being duped and sold by several low rent video distributors as far back as the Betamax era. A good print was hard to find. Until now. This careful restoration is truly remarkable, as good as any movie that has been released to blu ray.

The story has Bud and Lou going on an African expedition that is said to be about finding a giant ape, but is really an attempt to secure diamonds from a secret mine. Bud overhears the diamond plan and wants a piece of the action so he presents reluctant Lou as a big game hunter who knows the territory and would be beneficial to the expedition.

As usual, the duo's comedy combines wordplay routines, slapstick sequences, and gives Lou ample opportunity to employ his hilarious frightened reaction. Tried-and-true bits abound: Lou laughing merrily until, realizing he is in danger, transforming his merriment into sobs. Bud believing his partner has been killed, crying about it, and Lou joining his sorrow, until Bud sees that Lou is ok, slaps him, and calls him a dirty double crosser. And wordplay bits like "I forgot something at home!" "What?" "I forgot to stay there!"

While the supporting actors, for the most part, anchor the narrative with the serious part of the story, Joe Besser gets to whine his way through a typically amusing performance, while Shemp Howard scores good laughs as a nearsighted gunslinger.

"Africa Screams" contains one of Bud Abbott's best performances. Having scenes with the serious actors who are carrying the narrative, showing elements of his greedy con-man persona beyond the parameters of a comic straight man, Bud's character is much more layered than in most of his other movies. Perhaps "The Time of Their Lives" is the only other time Bud's skill as a character actor was explored as deeply. He rises to the occasion here, never letting us forget that he is also Lou's partner, and very funny in his own right.

Lou Costello is a comic powerhouse, enthusiastically playing scenes where he is accosted by an affectionate ape, takes a swim with a hungry alligator, and gets stuck in a fenced-in area with a real lion that he believes is Bud in costume. He has the same level of energy here as he'd exhibited when he was a much younger man, despite health issues that had since plagued him and would continue to do so.

The new blu ray is loaded with special features, including trailers, a TV sketch, some rare vintage interviews, outtakes and bloopers, photo galleries, a 3-D comic book (glasses come free with the blu ray), and an informative, interesting commentary track by Abbott and Costello expert-par-excellence, Ron Palumbo.

"Africa Screams" is a truly exciting new blu ray release that is highly recommended. If you already have this movie in your collection, replace your current DVD with this one. I assure you it is a major upgrade.

The blu ray is available at this link: A&C Africa Screams