Good concept, poorly executed.

A different way of telling a story

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Abbott & Costello play Al Stewart & Wilbert Smith, who are a theatrical agent and his new discovery, Wilbert the escape artist, who proves to be a bust, but another discovery, a singer named Dorothy McCoy(played by Dorothy Shay) is more successful, though discovers that Wilbert is a relation, so convinces him to go back with her to Kentucky to prove it. Al tags along, and they learn of a legendary gold mine that could make them all rich(if they can find it). Of course, there is a family feud with the neighboring Winfields, which endangers their lives, with romantic entanglements for all. Sorry excuse for a comedy has bad songs and cringe-worthy humor, though the sequence with Margaret Hamilton as a witch matching voodoo doll skills with Wilbert is both amusing and scary,providing the film's only highlight, and saving it from total decay.

In "Comin' Round the Mountain" a 14-year-old girl (actually the actress who plays her looks about 25, but that's beside the point) has the hots for Lou Costello, and after they both drink a love potion Lou falls in love with her and she gets the hots for Bud Abbott! At another point Lou says "You can't marry a 10-year-old girl...unless you come from these hills". And I thought these films were supposed to be clean, wholesome entertainment!The comedy never gets beyond the mildly amusing, the portrayal of the "country hicks" is totally stereotypical, and although Dorothy Shay is quite beautiful, her singing takes up too much screen time. The ending (which I won't spoil here) is by far the cleverest part - it has the kind of absurdist inspiration that the film needed more of. (**)

There is too little of prime Abbott & Costello in this but there is some crackling dialog when they arrive in Kentucky and Abbott says to Costello "Smell that Kentucky Bluegrass.." Costellos retort to this is by far the best dialog in the film.The section with Margaret Hamilton is corny but well done. While not their best work, these highlights make it worth viewing. It does not sink as far as Africa Screams, & the music in it is almost as obtrusive as some of their early military comedies. At least Costello clowns around with some corny instruments in some of the jug-band sequences. I do think it is far from their worst film. If the plot was more centered on the family feud & less on insane romances, it would work a lot better.

The Hatfield/McCoy feud is legendary in history, and films have either spoofed it or filmed it seriously. There was the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy "Kentucky Kernels" in 1934, and then the Rod Steiger/Lee Marvin film of 1974. In between was this Abbott and Costello comedy which is not as well known as some of their other vehicles, but is definately worth a look.The opening of the film shows Lou as an untalented magician trying (rather unsuccessully) to do a Houdini routine. With his manager Bud,Lou meets a distant cousin (singer Dorothy Shay) who recognizes Lou's yell as a hereditary trait of the McCoy clan. Taking Bud and Lou into the backwoods (presumably Kentucky or nearby), the trio encounters their family (lead by character actress Ida Moore). The McCoys have been feuding for years with the local Winfield family. Granny Moore wants Lou to marry Shay, who already has a beau (Kirby Grant). Bud and Lou then go to visit a local mountain witch (Margaret Hamilton, the witch from "The Wizard of Oz") who gives them a love potion after a hysterical sequence where Costello and Hamilton make clay voodoo dolls of each other, and continuously poke them with pins. Hamilton, made up to look more like a hag than a witch, is hysterical in her five minutes on screen. She shrieks and laughs, giving no doubt that underneath that ugly makeup is the wicked witch of the west. This leads to a hysterical conclusion where the potion ends up in all the wrong glasses."Comin' Round the Mountain" came towards the end of the team's successful years; they were slowly being replaced by the younger Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, but were still giving it their all. There are few of the plot-diverting routines of their earlier films, making this faster moving and more entertaining than some of their other films. As usual (with the exception of Hamilton and Ida Moore), the supporting cast is upstaged by the boys. Dorothy Shay isn't all bad, but lacks the screen presence of some of the female comics they worked with in their earlier films.Available on video (but one I have not found easily for rent), "Comin' Round the Mountain" may be pure corn, but its a great time filler for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.