Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950) on Netflix
Approved19501h 20mAdventureComedy
Wrestling promoters Bud Jones and Lou Hotchkiss follow their star, Abdullah, from Brooklyn to Algiers. There Sergeant Axmann tricks the pair into enlisting in the Foreign Legion.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.3/103,297 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Abdullah, the star attraction of a Brooklyn wrestling promotion run by Bud Jones and Lou Hotchkiss, will not go along with the matches they have arranged, including the next one, which he is supposed to lose. He leaves America for his homeland of Algeria, and the syndicate that lent the promoters $5,000 to bring him to the United States wants its money back. Bud and Lou follow him to Algiers, where Lou gives a woman in town a wrestling lesson and it is misconstrued. Sergeant Axmann tricks the pair into enlisting in the Foreign Legion.
Cast
- Jack Raymondas Ali Ami
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Originally set to start shooting in December 1949, the film was postponed for Lou Costello's operation for a gangrenous gallbladder, and Universal-International, doubting the illness was real, suspended the duo and withheld their $6,500 weekly pay just before Christmas.
- Lou Costello did his own wrestling for the film even though he had a stunt double, and the work left him with a wrenched arm socket and a stretched tendon.
- Universal wanted to add a comedic bit featuring the rabbit from its recent film Harvey, but Mary Chase, the author of the original story, refused to let the character appear.
- Abbott and Costello had fired their agent Eddie Sherman in 1948, but they reconciled with him and rehired him just before filming on Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion began.
