Abbott & Costello in AFRICA SCREAMS w/ Shemp Howard & Joe Besser

Abbott and Costello were burlesque comedians who before Martin & Lewis were America's biggest comedy team. They kept burlyq comedy alive and did AFRICA SCREAMS with 2 of the 3 stooges!

The 1930 documentary film AFRICA SPEAKS was wildly popular and in constant re-release so audiences were aware of the film when AFRICA SCREAMS was released in 1949. Explorer Paul Hoefler leads a safari into central Africa and what was then called the Belgian Congo, in the regions inhabited by the Wassara and the famous Ubangi tribes. Here is the hour long AFRICA SPEAKS:

Abbott and Costello were as deep into burlesque as you could be- their routines were often word for word comedy sketches from burlyq, they married burlesque dancers and friends of theirs from burlesque often popped up for a days pay and few minutes in their films. This is a great introduction to their comedy work, if I do say so myself:

AFRICA SPEAKS had created a genre of pseudo documentaries led by Frank Buck and Clyde Beatty who are both in AFRICA SCREAMS but so is future 3 Stooge Joe Besser and original member Shemp Howard who returned after Curly had a stroke. Shemp had his own comedy career and even did his own short films:

Joe Besser also had his own comedy career:

Joe and his pal tussle with a trained gorilla (Ray "Crash" Corrigan). A remake of The Three Stooges' "Dizzy Detectives" (1943). Released 12/13/51:

Here is one of Clyde Beatty’s shorts (not for the squeamish):

Presented by Castle Films as part of the company's "Adventure Parade", "Clyde Beatty's Animal Thrills" show Clyde Beatty's Circus in South Florida. This tourist attraction opened in 1939 when animal trainer and circus manager Clyde Beatty bought out the McKillop-Hutton Lion Farm, which had opened in 1936 in a former rock quarry and served as a breeding farm for zoos and circuses rather than as a public tourist attraction. It was located in Fort Lauderdale at Northeast 10th Street near Federal Highway. Beatty turned it into a winter home for his circus and a tourist attraction, Clyde Beatty's Jungle Zoo, and opened in December of 1939. Beatty's zoo operated until 1945, a victim of tightening zoning regulations brought on by complaints from the neighbors as city development began to overtake the site. Beatty took the show back on the road. Clyde Beatty (June 10, 1903 – July 19, 1965) joined the circus as a cage cleaner as a teen and became famous as a lion tamer and animal trainer. He also became a circus impresario who owned his own show, which later merged with the Cole Bros. Circus to form the Clyde Beatty–Cole Bros. Circus.

Frank Buck also was famous for his capturing wild animal films, radio and eventually TV show. This film should not be watched by sensitive viewers- not kidding.

Now you know the people involved, enjoy AFRICA SCREAMS:

Today it is hard to imagine people capturing wild animals for zoos were celebrities (in the U.S. today almost all circuses have no animals) but both Buck and Beatty were known to all in America for years.

Abbott and Costello even worked a chimp into their TV show- a chimp named Bingo!

And speaking of Bingo..

WFMU DJ Dave The Spazz show MUSIC TO SPAZZ BY has 25 years of shows available to hear! Plus Thursday night is live 9 - 12pm Eastern, 8 - 11 Central

The cool and the crazy of music, make Dave and Bingo the chimp part of your daily experience! Like horror music? Check out a Halloween episode!

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Behind the paywall: Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) ABBOTT & COSTELLO

The classic fairytale is reimagined with songs and laughs by comedy legends ABBOTT & COSTELLO.