Sorry, this movie sucks

Overrated

Did you people see the same film I saw?

A Masterpiece!

Jonesy and Lou are in Algeria looking for a wrestler they are promoting. Sergeant Axmann tricks them into joining the Foreign Legion, after which they discover Axmann's collaboration with the nasty Sheik Hamud El Khalid.The plots of the various movies don't really matter one way or the other. What really matters are the gags. I felt like the gags in this one fell a bit short. The centerpiece is a scene concerning a mirage, which never really hit its peak. And the verbal banter that these two are best at is absent, and that is disappointing.The movie does work as sort of a cultural artifact about what Americans (or Hollywood) thought of the Middle East in 1950. While not outright offensive in any way, some of it seems surprisingly ignorant. But then again, I could probably argue that the situation has not improved in the last 60 years.

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.

Some of Abbott and Costello's later films sure seemed like they were aimed more at kids than a wider audience. Some were obvious kids films (JACK AND THE BEANSTALK) and some merely featured rather juvenile humor that most adults would find less entertaining. While I enjoyed watching ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION a few minutes ago, I sure enjoyed it much more when I was a little kid--after all, this was the target audience. Let me give you a few examples. First, the fish with the dentures (a gag, by the way that the Three Stooges also used). I just can't imagine an adult laughing at the plastic catfish in this gag. Second, while they were a bit funny, the mirage scenes were also pretty low-brow--even by Abbott and Costello standards. Yet, despite all this, the film manages to do a decent job of entertaining--even with its rather modest pretensions.The film begins with Bud and Lou as wrestling promoters. When their star stomps off to return to his home in the North African desert, the boys follow to try to convince him to return. Unfortunately, they walk right into the middle of a plot by the Sheik (Douglass Dambrille) to kill them. The boys take refuge in a foreign legion recruiting station and the rest is history.As legionnaires, the two are pretty sad. Bud's in his mid-50s and Lou is....Lou. Although they are awful in their new jobs, they accidentally bump into adventure after adventure. First, they discover who the traitor is within the regiment. Next, they get lost in the desert and almost die. Next, there is a wild and crazy ending where they foil the plot to destroy the legion. And, finally, they get to go home and live happily ever after (especially Lou).None of this is terrible, though not much is especially great or inspired either. Overall, it's a bit of a time passer--albeit a very good one. A couple of the highlights of the film include seeing Tor Johnson in a role many years before he shot to fame for his magnetic performance in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Another is a cheap but funny line by Lou: "She's either a very ugly woman, or a very pretty monster".Inoffensive and I'm sure the kids will love it. And, if you've ever seen Abbott and Costello's LOST IN A HAREM, then you have a general idea what this film is about, as they both star Dambrille in very similar roles and the laughs are sometimes very similar--and both were clearly shot on sound stages and not on location (giving them both an echo that is noticeable from time to time).

"Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion" never quite manages to approach the level of "brilliant", but at least it manages to stay fairly consistently on the level of "mildly funny". The best bits include the opening sequence (kind of surprising to see a 1950 movie so openly admitting that pro-wrestling is scripted), the mirages in the desert, and the "Oui" - "We" puns (the French lady: "O-U-I means Yes". Lou: "What does I-O-U mean? No?"). And, thankfully, there are no unnecessary songs to bog down the action. I would describe the film as a pleasant time-passer, but there is one troubling aspect: too many people (Legionnaires as well as Arabs) get killed - not graphically, of course, and mostly off-screen, but still....(**1/2)