Abbott and Costello do the Dark Continent

Africa Screams (1949)
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Hillary Brooke, and Shemp Howard
Director: Charles Barton
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

After dimwitted but kindhearted bookseller Stanley Livingston (Costello) is mistaken by a scheming con-woman Diane Emerson (Brook) as an Africa expert, he is brought on an African safari that supposedly is hunting for a rare giant ape, but in actuality is searching for a secret tribe of cannibals deep within the African jungle who are rich in diamonds. With Stanley's greedy co-worker Buzz (Abbott) along for the ride, much confusion, double-crossing, and slapstick routines with lions, crocodiles, and giant apes (well, a guy in a monkey suit pretending to be a giant ape) ensue.

"Africa Screams" is a funny, fairly average Abbott & Costello vehicle. Abbotts routines with Shemp Howard (of Three Stooges fame, appearing here as perhaps the most effeminate manservant ever put on screen) are highlights of the film. It remains a solid effort up to the very end, where it erupts into a wild chase scene--with cannibals, crooks, and various kinds of apes and monkeys all chasing Stanley and each other around the set while Buzz tries to make his getaway with a bag of large diamonds--that comes to a sudden halt and leaves a number of plot-threads dangling. Now, I don't expect nice little story packages from an Abbott & Costello film, but the fate of a number of characters is left unresolved, and I would have liked to see a little more in the way of wrap-up.

"Africa Screams" is recommended for Abbott & Costello fans, so long as you go in knowing it's not their best effort. However, if you're one of those oversensitive types who take offense at racism whenever possible, you might want to leave this one alone. (I already mentioned the cannibals, so I think you can guess why I'm warning you.)

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Check out 'The Invisible Woman' (if you can see her)

The Invisible Woman (1940)
Starring: Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, John Howard, Charles Ruggles, Charles Lane, Donald McBride, Oskar Homolka and Shemp Howard
Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A runway model (Bruce) volunteers to test an invisibility machine so she can get back at her abusive boss. Things get complicated when gangsters decide they want the machine for their own purposes.


"The Invisible Woman" was touted as a sequel to Universal's 1933 sci-fi thriller "The Invisible Man"--the first sequel, in fact. However, it has nothing in common with that movie... other than the word "invisible" in the title.

This film is a light comedy with some screwball elements and slight romantic touches. Everything is played for laughs and the film is perhaps even funnier now because of some of the outdated social attitudes on display in the film. (At the time, the solution to dealing with the problem of having to pick up a passed out naked woman was the source of humor, but today it's the fact that both John Barrymore and John Howard's characters were too gentlemanly to touch her bare skin is the funny part.)

"The Invisible Woman" is a charming piece of fluff featuring a fast-paced script and a cast of fine comedic actors. It's the odd (wo)man out in Universal's "The Invisible Man Legacy Collection", but it still adds value to the set. (Click here to read reviews of all the movies included in "The Invisible Man Legacy Collection" at The Universal Horror Archive.)