Lost in a Harem (1944)

Director:

Charles Reisner

Writers:

Harry Ruskin (screenplay) &
John Grant (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

December 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A Show That Chases the Blues From Start to Finish!

Plot:

Two bumbling magicians help a Middle Eastern prince regain his rightful throne from his despotic uncle.

Plot Keywords:

Magician | Uncle | Prince | Palace | Guard

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Bud Abbott	...	Peter Johnson
Lou Costello	...	Harvey Garvey
Marilyn Maxwell	...	Hazel Moon
John Conte	...	Prince Ramo
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Nimativ
Lottie Harrison	...	Teema
Lock Martin	...	Bobo (as J. Lockard Martin)
Murray Leonard	...	The Derelict
Adia Kuznetzoff	...	Chief Ghamu
Milton Parsons	...	Crystal Gazer
Ralph Sanford	...	Mr. Ormulu
Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra	...	Themselves

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #10118) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Overseas program #820 for U.S. troops during the war.

Quotes:

The Derelict: I know a secret passage that will take us out.
Harvey Garvey: Swell!
The Derelict: [to Harvey] Shhh!
Harvey Garvey: [to Pete] Shhh!
Peter Johnson: [whispering] Go ahead.
The Derelict: Follow me.
Peter Johnson: Go ahead - follow him.
Harvey Garvey: Okay.
Peter Johnson: [impatiently] Go ahead.
The Derelict: Where are you taking me?

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

John Silver

A delightful film

This was always one of my favourite A&C's, and as a previous commenter stated, definitely their best for MGM! Imho their best period overall was with Universal during WW2, but this is on the same level and the generally higher production values more than compensating me for the loss of that special Universal atmosphere. It only came about because MGM wanted to re-use the sets from the film they'd just made of Kismet with Ronald Colman, so John Grant set about writing a pastiche version for the duo.

At Port Inferno in Africa Bud & Lou are travelling magicians Garvey & Johnson but only making a living thanks to the alluring insistence of the top star Marilyn Maxwell; they all get ravelled up in young Prince Ramo's attempts to overthrow the throne of his wicked uncle Nimativ (full of vitamins one supposes). On the way they also get ravelled up in many of A&C's wacky routines including Don't say Tin, a bit of piffle-diffle, the classic Pokomoko sketch, Lou trying to sleep with a mouthful of beard, and my favourite the Hi Mike sketch – poor devil: shot to death twice, once with a knife! Douglas Dumbrille played Nimativ perfectly as a despot with a human side, even wanting to take Maxwell as wife no. 38. Maxwell had a great song with What Does It Take, while Jimmy Dorsey and his Orch. unfortunately dressed as Arab tribesmen had a couple of interesting well staged and photographed numbers. I wonder if the scenes would have been condemned by todays professional critics if someone like Louis Armstrong (and his Orch.) had been ridiculously togged up thus instead of Dorsey?

For the fan there are many entertaining scenes, some snappy smart ass dialogue going on and the film is a toe-curling pleasure from start to finish; please refer to commenter no. 1 from 2000 if you're not a fan and have as much time to kill as he did.