''Lost in a Harem'' is a 1944 American
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Charles Reisner
Charles Francis Reisner (March 14, 1887 – September 24, 1962) was an American film director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s.
The German-American directed over 60 films between 1920 and 1950 and acted in over 20 films between 1916 and 1 ...
and starring the team of
Abbott and Costello
Abbott may refer to:
People
*Abbott (surname)
*Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist
* Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act
Places Argentina
* Abbott, Buenos Aires United States
* Abbott, Arkansas ...
alongside
Marilyn Maxwell
Marvel Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and entertainer. In a career that spanned the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War ...
.
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
"Slowly I Turned" is a popular vaudeville sketch wherein a character is relating a story and is triggered into violent outbursts when the listener inadvertently utters a triggering word or phrase. Versions have also been performed in movies and o ...
" 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
*
Bud Abbott
William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.
Early life
Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New ...
as Peter Johnson
*
Lou Costello
Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine "Who's on First?" ...
as Harvey Garvey
*
Marilyn Maxwell
Marvel Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and entertainer. In a career that spanned the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War ...
as Hazel Moon
*
John Conte as Prince Ramo
*
Douglass Dumbrille
Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s.
Life and career
Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed ...
as Nimativ
* Lottie Harrison as Teema
*
Lock Martin
Joseph Lockard "Lock" Martin Jr. (October 12, 1916 – January 19, 1959) was an American performer afflicted with giantism. Martin and a twin brother were born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his brother died in childbirth.
Martin would e ...
as Bobo (as J. Lockard Martin)
* Murray Leonard as The Derelict
* Adia Kuznetzoff as Chief Ghamu
*
Milton Parsons
Ernest Milton Parsons (May 19, 1904 – May 15, 1980) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 160 films and television shows between 1939 and 1978.
In 1927, Parsons performed with The Strolling Players of Boston acting c ...
as Crystal Gazer
*
Ralph Sanford
Ralph Dayton Sanford (May 21, 1899 – June 20, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films and in at least 200 episodes on television between 1930 and 1960, mostly bit parts or supporting roles. Sanford frequently ...
as Mr. Ormulu
*
Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra as Themselves
Production
''Lost in a Harem'' was filmed from March 22 through June 3, 1944, mainly using leftover sets and costumes from the
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
production of ''
Kismet''.
Abbott & Costello filmed ''Lost in a Harem'' for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer before they made ''
In Society
''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.
Plot
Eddie Harrington and Albert Mansfield are plumbe ...
'' for
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
, 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
''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood'' is a 1945 American black-and-white comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello alongside Frances Rafferty. Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was produced by Martin ...
''.
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
Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s.
Life and career
Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed ...
's character's name, "Nimativ", is "vitamin" spelled backwards.
International reaction
This film was banned in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
required that it be edited before it could be shown there.
[Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). ''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood''. New York: Perigee Books. ]
Routines
*In this film, Abbott and Costello perform the "
Slowly I Turned
"Slowly I Turned" is a popular vaudeville sketch wherein a character is relating a story and is triggered into violent outbursts when the listener inadvertently utters a triggering word or phrase. Versions have also been performed in movies and o ...
" routine with Murray Leonard. Here the trigger word is Pokomoko.
*In this film, Abbott and Costello also perform their routine from episode 6 of ''
The Abbott and Costello Show
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', "invisible friend". The invisible friend's name in this film is Mike.
*In this film, Abbott performs a brief version of the "Mirror Routine" used by many comedians from the silent film era onwards. In general, two different people think they are viewing their mirror image with one of them suspicious of that fact and trying to trip-up the "image" into demonstrating that it is another person. Abbott performs the routine with Douglass Dumbrille.
Home media
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
released the film on DVD along with ''
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood
''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood'' is a 1945 American black-and-white comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello alongside Frances Rafferty. Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was produced by Martin ...
'' as a double feature-disc on November 21, 2006.
See also
*
List of American films of 1944
Below is a list of American films released in 1944. ''Going My Way'' won Best Picture at the 17th Academy Awards. The remaining four nominees were ''Double Indemnity'', ''Gaslight'', ''Since You Went Away'' and '' Wilson''.
A
B
C
D
E-F
...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost In A Harem
1944 films
1944 comedy films
American comedy films
Abbott and Costello films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Charles Reisner
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films