Africa Screams (1949) is a comedy/adventure film that stars Bud Abbott and Lou Costello as they bumble into and through an Africa safari. This funny lark of a movie was directed by Charles Barton and features fine comic performances from Shemp Howard and Joe Besser. Along for the action are real-life lion-tamer Clyde Beatty, famed hunter Frank Buck, and professional boxing brothers Max and Buddy Baer.
Buy Africa Screams from MovieZyngBuzz Johnson (Abbott) and Stanley Livingston (Costello) are in charge of the book section at a large department store. One day the lovely Diane Emerson (Hillary Brooke) and her two goons (the Baer Bros) arrive separately looking for a rare book on Africa that contains a very important map. They offer to pay big bucks if Stanley can recreate the map for them. Pushed on by Buzz, Stanley agrees to draw up the map before the two are heavily persuaded to join Diane’s team on a safari to Africa in search of a mythical giant ape.
Once in Africa, the boys manage to get into all kinds of trouble that find them running from lions, fleeing from crocodiles and doing their best to stay out of the stew of a cannibal tribe. Thankfully, adventurer Clyde Beatty and mighty hunter Frank Buck are there to save their hides and return them safely back to the states with great tales to tell of coming face to face with a monstrous ape.
Africa Screams remains hilarious throughout while the mix of live animal performers and guys in monkey suits adds to the fun. Abbott and Costello are at their best here, playing off each well and providing solid laughs as they stumble into various comic misadventures. Adding to the humor are Shemp Howard as the near-sighted hunter and Joe Besser as the fussy butler. The Baer brothers are good as Diane’s goons, delivering their lines and some exhibition boxing skills quite well. Clyde Beatty’s lion tamer segment is an entertaining look at how nature acts were performed before they became more thoughtful and humane. The humorous portrayals of the cannibal tribe are also indeed a product of their time but aren’t overdone to a sickening point in Africa Screams.
Buy Africa Screams from AmazonShoreline Entertainment’s Blu-ray picture quality is clear but they neglect to mention that their version is the colorized one. There are no extras, no menu, and it is not divided into chapters, so moving to a scene for a specific laugh can only be done by fast forwarding or rewinding. Nostalgic in a sense to relive the days of VHS tapes (possibly how I first watched Africa Screams) but if fans are not looking for a clean, colorized version on Blu-ray, I’d pass on this Shoreline release unless the price point is an absolute scream.
