Lost in a Harem

Last updated
Lost in a Harem
Lostinaharem.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charles Reisner
Written by Harry Ruskin
John Grant
Harry Crane
Produced byGeorge Haight
Starring Bud Abbott
Lou Costello
Marilyn Maxwell
Murray Leonard
Cinematography Lester White
Edited by George Hively
Ben Lewis
Music by David Snell
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's Inc.
Release date
  • August 31, 1944 (1944-08-31)
Running time
89 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,225,000 [1]

Lost in a Harem is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Marilyn Maxwell.

Contents

Plot

When a traveling vaudeville show becomes stranded in the Middle East, their singer, Hazel Moon, takes a job at a local cafe. Two of the show's prop men, Peter Johnson and Harvey Garvey, are hired as comedy relief, but their act unfortunately initiates a brawl. The two men, along with Hazel, wind up in jail (where Abbott and Costello perform the "Slowly I Turned" routine with a crazy derelict with Pokomoko as the trigger word). They encounter Prince Ramo, a sheik, who offers to help them escape if they agree to help him regain the throne that his Uncle Nimativ had usurped with the aid of two hypnotic rings.

After escaping jail, Peter and Harvey join Ramo and his desert riders and hatch a plan to have Hazel seduce Nimativ, as he is quite vulnerable to blondes. Once Nimativ is distracted, Peter and Harvey plan to retrieve the hypnotic rings to facilitate Ramo's reclamation of the throne.

Peter and Harvey enter the capital city, posing as Hollywood talent scouts, and meet up with Nimativ. He is quickly enamored with Hazel and manages to hypnotize Peter and Harvey, who then reveal their plans. They are imprisoned (and encounter once again the derelict, who this time introduce them to an invisible friend named Mike with clear sound effects from a door, a piano and a broken glass), while Hazel is hypnotized into being one of Nimativ's wives. After Ramo helps the boys escape, they enlist the aid of Teema (Lottie Harrison), Nimativ's first wife, by promising her a movie career. Harvey then disguises himself as Teema, while Peter dresses up as Nimativ. They manage to steal the rings during a large celebration and turn the rings against Nimativ, who abdicates the throne. Ramo again becomes ruler, with Hazel as his wife, and the boys return to the United States with the derelict as the driver.

Cast

Production

Lost in a Harem was filmed from March 22 through June 3, 1944, mainly using leftover sets and costumes from the 1944 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production of Kismet . [2]

Abbott & Costello filmed Lost in a Harem for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer before they made In Society for Universal, but it was released afterwards. It is the second of three films that Abbott and Costello made on loan to MGM while under contract to Universal, the other two being Rio Rita and Abbott and Costello in Hollywood .

Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra perform several musical numbers, the first of which backs Maxwell singing What Does It Take early in the film.

Douglass Dumbrille's character's name, "Nimativ", is "vitamin" spelled backwards.

International reaction

This film was banned in Morocco, and Syria required that it be edited before it could be shown there. [3]

Routines

Home media

Warner Bros. released the film on DVD along with Abbott and Costello in Hollywood as a double feature-disc on November 21, 2006.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbott and Costello</span> American comedy duo

Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in the world during the Second World War. Their patter routine "Who's on First?" is considered one of the greatest comedy routines of all time.

<i>Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man</i> 1951 comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man is a 1951 American science fiction comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Nancy Guild.

<i>Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy</i> 1955 film by Charles Lamont

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is a 1955 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the 28th and final Abbott and Costello film produced by Universal-International.

<i>Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd</i> 1952 film by Charles Lamont

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is a 1952 comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, along with Charles Laughton, who reprised his role as the infamous pirate from the 1945 film Captain Kidd. It was the second film in SuperCineColor, a three-color version of the two-color Cinecolor process, and which utilized an Eastmancolor negative as Cinecolor did not offer three-color origination, only two-color origination via bipack.

<i>The Naughty Nineties</i> 1945 American film by Jean Yarbrough

The Naughty Nineties is a 1945 American film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is noteworthy for containing a filmed version of the duo's famous "Who's on First?" routine. This version is shown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

<i>In the Navy</i> (film) 1941 American film directed by Arthur Lubin

In the Navy is a 1941 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was the second service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team appeared in two other service comedies in 1941, before the United States entered the war: Buck Privates released in January and Keep 'Em Flying released in November.

<i>Abbott and Costello Go to Mars</i> 1953 American science fiction comedy film directed by Charles Lamont

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars is a 1953 American science fiction comedy film starring the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and directed by Charles Lamont. It was produced by Howard Christie and made by Universal-International. Despite the film's title, no character in the film actually travels to the planet Mars

<i>Ride Em Cowboy</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Arthur Lubin

Ride 'Em Cowboy is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, Johnny Mack Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Samuel S. Hinds, Douglas Dumbrille, Morris Ankrum, and directed by Arthur Lubin. The film focuses on Abbott and Costello as they play the role of two peanut vendors on the run from their boss. Despite their lack of knowledge in the trade, they get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch. The film is set in the West.

<i>Rio Rita</i> (1942 film) 1942 comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon

Rio Rita is a 1942 American comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Abbott and Costello. It was based upon the 1927 Flo Ziegfeld Broadway musical, which was previously made into a 1929 film also titled Rio Rita that starred the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. Kathryn Grayson and John Carroll replace the 1929 version's Bebe Daniels and John Boles.

<i>Pardon My Sarong</i> 1942 film by Erle C. Kenton

Pardon My Sarong is a 1942 comedy film starring Abbott and Costello.

<i>Who Done It?</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Erle C. Kenton

Who Done It? is a 1942 American comedy-mystery film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It is noteworthy as their first feature that contains no musical numbers.

<i>In Society</i> 1944 film by Jean Yarbrough

In Society is a 1944 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was the first of five Abbott and Costello films to be directed by Jean Yarbrough. It was re-released in 1953.

<i>Here Come the Co-Eds</i> 1945 film by Jean Yarbrough

Here Come The Co-Eds is a 1945 American comedy film starring the comedy team Abbott and Costello.

<i>Little Giant</i> 1946 film

Little Giant is a 1946 American comedy drama film directed by William A. Seiter and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film was released in the UK with the title On the Carpet.

<i>The Noose Hangs High</i> 1948 film by Charles Barton

The Noose Hangs High is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is a remake of the Universal Pictures film For Love or Money (1939).

<i>Mexican Hayride</i> 1948 film by Charles Barton

Mexican Hayride is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is based on Cole Porter's Broadway musical Mexican Hayride starring Bobby Clark. No songs from the stage musical were used in the film.

<i>Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion</i> 1950 film by Charles Lamont

Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion is a black and white 1950 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.

<i>Lost in Alaska</i> 1952 film by Jean Yarbrough

Lost in Alaska is a 1952 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.

John Grant was a comedy writer best known for his association with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Costello called him their "chief idea man". Grant contributed to Abbott and Costello's radio, film and live television scripts, as well as the films of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and Ma and Pa Kettle.

Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948) is a musical comedy film produced by Universal Studios, starring Donald O'Connor. Also featured are Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride,, with Penny Edwards as the perky love interest.

References

  1. ↑ Furmanek p 114
  2. ↑ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN   978-0-399-51605-4
  3. ↑ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN   978-0-399-51605-4
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.