Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello
In Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion Bud Jones (Bud Abbott) and Lou Hotchkiss (Lou Costello) are wrestling promoters whose star attraction, Abdullah, skips town to return to his home in Arabia. While scouring the desert in search of Abdullah, Bud and and Lou inadvertently purchase slave girl Nicole Dupre, and with equal inadvertence join the Foreign Legion. In their own bumbling, inept fashion, our heroes manage to foil a desert uprising fomented by Shiek Hamud El Khalid and traitorous Legion Sergeant Axmann (Walter Slezak).
The filmâs highlights include an opening scene parody of pre-rehearsed wrestling matches (shades of the WWE), a “mirage” routine capped by one of the punniest vaudeville punchlines in history, and a runaway-jeep routine at the finale.
Quotes from Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion
Bud Jones (Bud Abbott): What’s the idea of teaching midgets to wrestle?
Lou Hotchkiss (Lou Costello): They’re for those small television sets.
Trivia for Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion
- Filming was originally scheduled to begin in December 1949, but was postponed when Lou Costello had to undergo an operation for a gangrenous gall bladder in November 1949. Despite having a stunt double, Costello did his own wrestling in the film, only to be rewarded with a wrenched arm socket and a stretched tendon.
- In the mirage sequence the skeleton is voiced by Candy Candido, who would team up with Bud Abbott after Lou Costello died.
