Abbott and Costello at MGM. On paper, it shouldn’t work. This is a studio that around the same time was churning out two of the most soulless Laurel and Hardy films ever made. While they had their good moments with Buster Keaton and The Marx Brothers more than some would care to admit, as a whole their respective MGM careers were not on par with what came before. I haven’t seen MGM Our Gang shorts in over thirty years, but bigger fans of the series than I say MGM ruined that series. RIO RITA, Abbott and Costello’s first MGM film was respectable, but LOST IN A HAREM, miraculously, is one of the team’s better films so far, on par with PARDON MY SARONG. There’s a subplot, musical numbers and romance, all the elements MGM is famous for using to lessen their comedy films, yet here, they keep all the elements in check. For the most part, Bud and Lou work in harmony with all these other elements, it almost always feels like their film.
Let’s go over the other elements first. Leading lady Marilyn Maxwell gets one musical number and it opens the film. The placement is perfect as it interrupts no comedy since the comedians aren’t yet introduced. She’s a beautiful lady singing a fun and flirtatious song, totally void of the chick flick element that saturates so many of these musical numbers. All pluses in my eyes. Next, the romance is a small part of the plot, a plot in which Bud and Lou are integrated well. Whenever things are about to get too sappy, the scene cuts pretty quickly. Again, another plus in my eyes. The rest of the song and dance stuff is mostly well placed and good. That number where the men and women do that strange neck dance I don’t care for, but it goes quickly. There is a brief number earlier in the film where a bunch of Arab characters sing about being....wait for it....”sons of the desert.” The musical highlight, not just of this film but probably of the entire Abbott and Costello filmography is Jimmy Dorsey’s band. The production values of this thing are out of this world and the music is phenomenal. There are bits where you can even hear the occasional upright bass articulation, just on occasion. Still, in a pre multi track mono era, that’s a feat in itself. The best part is the drum solo. I do this review days after the death of Ginger Baker, so appropriate because I can imagine him and other drummers of his era appreciating this solo. The proper adjective for this drum solo and the Jimmy Dorsey scene in general is kick ass. The entire look of the film also exudes class. The Middle Eastern sets are fantastic state of the art MGM craftsmanship. I also want to praise Douglas Dumbrille as the villain, one of those great character actors who is in a million old movies.
As for the comedy itself, I’ll contrast it to IN SOCIETY. There are no scenes in LOST IN A HAREM as great as the plumbing or Susquehanna Hat scenes, yet every comic scene is good in its own right. IN SOCIETY is like a music album that has two amazing hit singles but is overall inconsistent. LOST IN A HAREM doesn’t quite have the high peaks, but is completely consistent throughout. No fast forwarding here. The magic routine is a wonderful example of Bud and Lou developing rapport in their most natural element - the stage. The hypnotic scenes are entertaining and I love seeing Bud and Lou eat wood when they think they’re termites. Bud Abbott and Douglas Dumbrille also revive the classic mirror routine done most famously in The Marx Brothers DUCK SOUP. Not as elaborate as there, but still very well done.
What is most striking about LOST IN A HAREM are the eccentric characters Bud and Lou deal with. That element very much reminds me of the television show, a world in which dealing with eccentrics worked wonders for the team. The first eccentric is an over seven foot tall bodyguard who completely towers Bud and Lou. Just the size difference alone is comical and he’s played by Lock Martin, later Gort from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Fun business with him as they lie to him saying they’re Hollywood agents who will get him a role if they let them through. The other eccentric is played by Murray Leonard, a wonderful character actor Bud and Lou would use a lot over the years. One great routine with Murray, later done in the television show, is the drawn out routine talking to the imaginary bartender. Wonderful pantomime holding a beer carton, breaking glass and cleaning up a mess. Also great verbal interactions that lead to an imaginary altercation. This kind of routine would be lame if the actors involved didn’t make it work, but here we have three master reactionary comics. There is one more scene of note they do together....
.....”Slowly I turn. Step by step.” Neither Abbott and Costello or The Three Stooges invented this, it’s an old comic routine. The Three Stooges do the definitive version as the slapping, in addition to Curly’s reactions, are tailor made for The Three Stooges. The Abbott and Costello version is still excellent in its own right. Murray Leonard’s dramatic telling of his rejected husband story, complete with equally dramatic soundtrack, is very effective. Lou Costello is no slouch himself in the reaction department and Bud blaming poor Lou for Murray’s outbursts is classic Bud Abbott. Niagara Falls is not the trigger, though. Instead, it’s Pokomoko. Wonderful how the routine is at the beginning of the film and used again later to advance the plot. That kind of linear writing is not common in these early Bud and Lou films.
I saw LOST IN A HAREM once before and remember really liking it. My second recent viewing confirms I still really like this film. A top tier Abbott and Costello film so far with what we’ve discussed. Most people don’t rank this one as high as I do, which makes me wonder what people actually look for in these Bud and Lou movies.
