Abbott & Costello in Hollywood / Lost in a Harem (1944)

Buzz (Bud Abbott) and Abercrombie (Lou Costello) work in a Tinseltown haircut salon where they usually just take a little off the side. But why not take 10% off the top instead? So the fellas become movie talent agents, setting in motion the lights-camera-comedy antics of Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, including Costello being mistaken for a prop dummy during the filming of a saloon brawl, Bud and Lou coping with insomnia, and a pursuit finale in the cars and on the tracks of a roaring roller-coaster. You'll also find Lost in a Harem. Locked in is more like it, as the two land in the hoosegow twice, where their timing, repartee and monkeyshines shine. Douglas Dumbrille plays the evil potentate who uses hypnosis against the boys ? making this a tale of Arabian daze and nights. The grand wazir orders you to watch!

The boys create chaos outside of their home studio

These 2 films were made for MGM (outside of their home studio of Universal). I remember spending weekend afternoons watching these 2 comedies on T.V. as a kid, and loving them.
"Lost In A Harem" seems pretty by-the-numbers for an Arabian spoof. However, it's brightened by, of course, Bud & Lou's hilarious routines as they tangle with an evil sultan. There's even an outrageously surreal moment in which a hypnotizing ploy goes awry and the boys believe they are termites (!!); they both begin eating the furniture!
My personal pick is "Abbott & Costello in Hollywood", a fun romp in which the boys are set loose in Tinseltown. This gives bumbling Lou plenty of opportunities to harass the likes of Rags Ragland, Lucille Ball, etc. Playing Hollywood barbers who become agents for an up-and-coming young actor, they run afoul of an established (and very jealous) actor who will stop at nothing to stay at the top of the heap. Highlights include Bud teaching Lou how to shave a customer (done with lather, a balloon & a blade--you can just envision the results!); Lou posing as a prop dummy in a Western saloon scene ( I laughed until I cried here!); Lou the "teacher" getting outwitted by a class of Hollywood kids; and a rousing slapstick rollercoaster finale.
I gave the set only four stars because the distributors never bothered to clean up the prints--they still look scratched & blurred in places. Nor are there any featurettes, etc., about the boys or the making of the films.
However, I'm just glad they finally made it to DVD for their fans to enjoy! March 6, 2008

More A & C from A & C

Not their best or most memorable work but certainly solid entertainment for A & C fans. August 1, 2007

Classic A&C Humor, You Won't Find Anything Like It Today!

First, the issue of quality. The only quality defect I noticed on my copy were vertical white lines and specks due to scratches on the film throughout parts of the "Harem". As far as I could tell, the quality of the transfer of "In Hollywood" is flawless. I already had these two movies on DVD-R burnt from laser disc, and the quality of these releases is no worse than that of the laser disc. "Lost In A Harem" and "In Hollywood" are two movies Abbott & Costello did with MGM movies studios. The boys almost sign with MGM before their lucrative deal with Universal, so to appease MGM for their near-miss, Universal allowed Abbott & Costello to film three movies with for MGM. The other two being "In Hollywood", available on this disc, and " Rio Rita", mysteriously absent from this disc. The twenty-eight movies Abbott & Costello released under Universal can be found on four separate volumes available just about anywhere.

Lost In A Harem has the boys as Vaudeville performers stranded and looking for any kind of work in a faraway Arabian land, accompanied by beautiful blonde singer Hazel Moon, played by Marilyn Maxwell. All three are offered safe passage back home by Prince Ramo if they help him regain his thrown which was usurped by his villainous uncle Namativ. Throughout the movie, the boys dodge and evade all kinds of sandies and dunies who are threatening to kill them. In one instance the boys even pretend to be Hollywood talent scouts to gain safe entry into the palace. Twice the boys are captured and put in jail, where they run into a derelict with dementia, who goes crazy after hearing the word Pokomoko. While this is an unoriginal heist of The Three Stooges "Niagara Falls" routine, it contains enough discrepancies so as not to be a total rip-off. In most if not all Abbott & Costello movies, politically incorrect humor, which sadly lacks in today's films, is very abundant. "Lost In A Harem" is no exception. One classic scene between the boys and the villainous uncle, Natmativ question Costello's eyesight. The dialogue goes as follows:

Namativ: Eyes Bad?
Costello: Is you?

Scenes such as the preceding make "Harem" a very enjoyable classic.

"In Hollywood" has the boys working in a Hollywood barbershop. When an aspiring young actor/singer leaves his home town of Des Moines to search for fame in Hollywood, Abbott & Costello give up their hair-cutting gig to become his agents. The fast-flowing plot culminates in an amusement park movie set, including a chaotic chase scene atop a roller coaster, leading to an explosive ending. As is the case in all A&C movies, "In Hollywood" involves a romantic sub-plot, in this case between the aspiring youngster and a former beauty salon worker and friend of the boys who has "caught her break" in the movie industry. Skits here include Costello's first barbershop customer, Rags Raglan, who is in desperate need of a shave. That has disaster written all over it. Another hilarious skit features Costello being mistaken for a movie prop dummy by a director shooting an old West bar room brawl, and getting tossed all over the room! The obligatory (and much appreciated) politically incorrect scene has Costello disguised as an islamobaddie cab driver, equipped with a turban and beard, to avoid being detected. Why was he trying to avoid detection? I won't give that away. Watch the movie and find out.

There never has been another comedy duo quite like Abbott & Costello. These two movies confirm it! "Lost In A Harem" and "In Hollywood" will have you laughing for hours. Now if only someone will release their third (actually first in chronological order) MGM film "Rio Rita", another classic!
July 18, 2007

GREAT DVD

WORTH THE MONEY
I LOVE THIS DVD, BRINGS BACK LAUGHTER AND MEMORYS AND YOU NEVER GET BORED WITH IT, June 6, 2007

Good pair of movies

I found this DVD to have very good viewing quality and no noticeable blue coloring at the top of my HDTV screen. Enjoyed both movies and a good addtion for your A&C library. January 17, 2007

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