Africa Screams

This is a generally enjoyable Abbott and Costello comedy, with a light and often silly feel that nevertheless works well enough. Hillary Brooke adds an elegant presence as their antagonist, and the story makes relatively good use of its comic possibilities.

The plot has the kind of deliberately implausible setup that Bud and Lou usually handled well, as their two characters become part of an African expedition led by the scheming Brooke. Once there, there are plenty of lions and other beasts that get tangled up with the characters. Frank Buck and Clyde Beatty also appear as themselves, although they are mostly only incidental to the story.

Brooke and the Baer brothers, as her henchmen, make their end of things work well, and there are also some good moments from Shemp Howard and Joe Besser. Not all of the comedy ideas are of the same quality, but most of it works well enough as long as you don't take it too seriously.