Africa Screams

In their on-going tradition of poking fun at popular film genres, it was only a matter of time before the comedy team of Abbott and Costello got around to spoofing exotic travel documentaries, especially those set in the Dark Continent. Africa Screams (1949), a playful title reference to Walter Futter's 1930 documentary Africa Speaks, not only parodies the type of real-life safari treks made popular by explorer Frank Buck in the early 1930's (Bring 'Em Back Alive, 1932, Fang and Claw, 1935), it even features Buck playing himself in a supporting role! In fact, the film is unique for its eclectic cast which includes circus performer Clyde Beatty (famous for his lion taming act), two former heavyweight boxing champions (Max Baer and his younger brother, Buddy) and two part-time members of The Three Stooges - Shemp Howard, an original founding member who would later rejoin the group in 1946 after his brother Curly left for health reasons, and former vaudeville comic Joe Besser who replaced Shemp in 1955 as the third stooge in a series of shorts for Columbia. Making no attempt to duplicate the look of a travel documentary, Africa Screams wastes little time in packing off Lou and Bud to a backlot Africa complete with a guy in a gorilla costume and Hollywood extras pretending to be Ubangi tribesmen. Lou plays Stanley Livington, a bookstore clerk whose co-worker Buzz (Bud) convinces him to pose as a famous explorer so they can join a profitable expedition to Africa. Once there, the boys discover the real intent of safari financier Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) - to locate a remote tribe that guards a fortune in uncut diamonds. A race among the safari members to find the treasure first ensues with various distractions along the way such as Stanley being chosen as the main entree for a cannibal feast. Shot on a sixteen day schedule with a budget of less than $500,000, Africa Screams was filmed on Stage 4 at United Artists where two hundred thousand gallons of water mixed with condensed milk were piped in to replicate the Ubangi River while prop technicians wrestled with operating an eleven foot synthetic crocodile for key sequences. The film's producers, Edward and William Nassour, came from a background in industrial films though they had shared a connection with Lou on a previous short, 10,000 Kids and a Cop (1947), which promoted the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center. Africa Screams was the Nassour brothers' first commercial feature but it would be the end of their partnership with Lou and Bud, mainly due to the Nassours' penny-pinching budgetary concerns. Of course, the producers were probably right to object to the boys spending over $3,500 on pies for the cast and crew. According to writer Martin Ragaway, who visited the set during production, "There seemed to be a friendly feud between the Abbotts and the Costellos. Different people on the set had been enlisted on different sides. Somebody would blow a whistle and suddenly, on this jungle set, people began throwing pies at one another. There was a pie war!...I remember saying to myself, well, this is how pictures are made. Apparently they had to have something to relieve the tension, and this was it" (from Abbott and Costello in Hollywood by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo). The Nassours were not amused and tensions eventually reached the breaking point according to the cinematographer Charles Van Enger, "Eddie Nassour had the studio painted and charged it to our production. Lou refused to pay it. They had a hell of a fight. Eddie came down to the set with a gun, looking to kill Lou. Really! I took the gun away from him." After the film was released, Abbott and Costello filed suit against the Nassours over alleged production costs; the case was eventually settled to the satisfaction of no one. Co-star Hillary Brooke, who plays the safari organizer, enjoyed a much better relationship with the comedians. Africa Screams was her first film with Bud and Lou (they would reteam for Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd in 1952) but she had some major reservations in the beginning. After her first day on the set, she called up her agent in frustration. "I can't do it, Ed. I can't keep up with them. I'm a nervous wreck. I never get a cue!" she recalled. "Ed said, 'Stay with it, Hillary, you're going to have a wonderful time.' And, of course he was absolutely right. I loved working with Abbott and Costello. Lou and I had a very unusual, wonderful friendship....He taught me more about comedy than anyone I ever worked with. I was not a comedienne by any means, but he taught me timing and how to handle a joke...And I must say that Bud was one of the greatest straight men that ever existed, and he never got the credit for it" (from Abbott and Costello in Hollywood). One unexpected curve ball: Africa Screams attracted the attention of the Breen Office, Hollywood's self-appointed censorship board, who expressed their concern over two points. First, they inquired about the use of some stock footage from an earlier Clyde Beatty film; they wanted to make sure that a particularly violent encounter between two lions was not used. Secondly, they pointed out a disturbing subtext in the film: "We refer to those instances in your story in which the comedy is based upon, or bordering upon, the idea that the animals are falling in love with Stanley. Such a suggestion, in any form, would cause serious, unfavorable reactions generally, as well as being a Code violation. We direct your attention to...Page 75, where Leota [the female gorilla] falls for Stanley." As absurd as it seems, the producers had screenwriter Earl Baldwin change the gorilla's gender, prompting writer Andrew Dowdy to state in his book, Movies Are Better Than Ever, "Presumably, the alteration cleared up the context of the gag, but writers along the Strip were quick to spread the word that this year gay gorillas were in with censors" (from Abbott and Costello in Hollywood). By Abbott and Costello standards, Africa Screams was deemed a success by the studio. Critics, as usual, were mixed in their assessments with Cue stating "If you've been making a point of avoiding these Abbott and Costello comedies, you'd do well to continue the practice." But there were positive notices too with the Los Angeles Examiner proclaiming Africa Screams as "Far and away the funniest picture the boys have made in years..." And the Los Angeles Daily News wrote, "[A] movie considerably better than the stuff they've been turning out in recent years...The audience...laughed so hard it was difficult to hear the dialogue, which must mean the picture satisfies Abbott and Costello fans." Producer: Huntington Hartford, Edward Nassour Director: Charles Barton Screenplay: Earl Baldwin, Martin Ragaway, Leonard Stern Cinematography: Charles Van Enger Film Editing: Frank Gross Art Direction: Lewis H. Creber Music: Walter Schumann Cast: Bud Abbott (Buzz Johnson), Lou Costello (Stanley Livington), Clyde Beatty (himself), Frank Buck (himself), Max Baer (Grappler McCoy), Buddy Baer (Boots Wilson), Hillary Brooke (Diana Emerson), Shemp Howard (Gunner), Joe Besser (Harry). BW-79m. by Jeff Stafford