Wonderful character development!

Sick Product of a Sick System

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Slight Abbott and Costello comedy has them playing wrestling promoters whose star attraction has quit and gone home to Algiers. The duo follow after him and are tricked into joining the Foreign Legion. This is not one of the boys' better efforts but it's still a decent way to pass the time. Most of the gags are pretty stale but I did laugh here and there. Walter Slezak and Douglas Dumbrille are good heavies but the script doesn't give them a lot to do. Patricia Medina looks like a Hedy Lamarr clone. Wrestlers Wee Willie Davis and Tor Johnson are fun to see. The wrestling gags are some of the movie's best. Maybe Bud and Lou should have made a wrestling movie instead and forgotten all this Foreign Legion stuff. Like I said, not their funniest but enjoyable enough to pass the time.

In Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, Bud and Lou head to Algieria to find a wrestler named Abdullah who left them high and dry and owing a mobster quite a bit of money. Once there, the boys get mixed up with Sheik Hamud El Khalid (Douglas Dumbrille) and draw his ire at a slave auction. In their attempt to escape, Bud and Lou inadvertently sign-up for the French Foreign Legion. Things only get worse when they learn that their Sergeant is in cahoots with the Sheik. Now how are they going to get back to Brooklyn? As a general rule, I'm a fan of A&C. Some of their movies (like Who Done It?, Hold that Ghost, and A&C Meet Frankenstein) I consider to be true classics. Unfortunately, by the time the boys made A&C in the Foreign Legion, much of their comedy had started to get tired and old. The movie has a "been there, done that" feel to a lot of it. For example, the "Oui vs. We" bit reminds me of several of A&C's more classic routines. Or take a look at the scene with the fish and the false teeth. To me, it shows how desperate the boys were. It's completely ridiculous and not in the least bit funny. A solid cast, however, almost makes this movie worthwhile. Douglas Dumbrille and Patricia Medina are a lot of fun. However, even though I think Dumbrille makes for a perfect villain, he's about as Algerian as I am (which is none).Finally, one thing I really enjoyed about A&C in the Foreign Legion was the chance to see some classic, old-school wrestlers. Wee Willie Davis vs. Tor Johnson! How cool is that?

Abbott and Costello created havoc in most branches of the U.S. military, so now they take their brand of mayhem to foreign shores, Algiers in particular, as members of the French Foreign Legion. The film opens uncharacteristically with a wrestling match of all things; the boys happen to be the managers of Abdullah the Assassin, the North African champion. Unwilling to take a dive, Abdullah decides to head back home, followed by Bud and Lou, who stand to lose their five thousand dollar investment in the grappler.When Lou accidentally wins a six girl harem, the boys find themselves in trouble, unable to pay, and earning the outrage of Sheik Hamud. Tricked into joining the Legion by Sgt. Axmann (Walter Slezak), the boys proceed to tear up the desert in their own inimitable style. With the desert backdrop, the stage is set for some clever mirages, along with a gag involving a fish with false teeth. Fans of the boys will know the fish routine was borrowed from a frog in earlier movies.Doglas Dumbrille is on hand once again as the all purpose Arab villain, and the pretty female chores are handled by Patricia Medina as a French Intelligence officer working undercover. Wrestling fans will recognize Wee Willie Davis as Abdullah; his opponent is none other than Tor Johnson, not as recognizable here as he would become in his more stellar efforts - "Plan Nine From Outer Space" and "The Beast of Yucca Flats". As expected, Lou is usually at the bottom when it comes to the wrestling pile ups, and when in an upright position, tries to have fun kissing the harem girls. Hey, he's not so dumb!

Okayish piece of nonsense wherein Bud and Lou are on the case of a wrestler in Algiers. Not their greatest work (or their worst). Some laughs, some groans but hey, did anyone ever have the pathos of poor old Lou?Some funny stuff when the dynamicless duo are lost in the desert. Few cornball gags and some really really crappy production effects. It was obviously shot principally in a studio and it shows!Next please!