Im Lande der Kakteen (1948)
55KIm Lande der Kakteen: Directed by Charles Barton. With Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Virginia Grey, Luba Malina. Two con men selling phony stock flee to Mexico ahead of the law, where they run into a woman friend from their earlier days, who is now a bullfighter.
“I donu0026#39;t know why people think so poorly of this film. Although it seems a little odd the way it begins in the middle of the story, it ticks along at a good rate; Pat Costello has an effective repartee with Lou, which is very interesting; Luba Malina, Fritz Feld, Sid Fields and Chris-Pin Martin are all funny. Costello is over the top, yet seems lovable and genuine in this movie. There are no gratuitous musical numbers to FF through, but there are a couple of comic musical numbers. It does not have the slow moments or the maudlin handling they had in u0026quot;Little Giantu0026quot; (which does have some good moments, by the way); Lou keeps things moving, and I can count 10 good skits off the top of my head–the one with Lou preparing tortillas has something close to a spectacular ending…if only the plot hadnu0026#39;t got in the way. Even the grand finale with a few rear-projections (and a u0026quot;trainedu0026quot; bull) turns out pretty funny.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s the logical extension of Abbottu0026#39;s character for him to be an all-around swindler, so that doesnu0026#39;t bother me; their teamwork is still top-rate, and Iu0026#39;m happy to see Costello get the better of Abbott once in a while. Itu0026#39;s also relieving that in this context (and maybe an off-screen agreement?), Abbott refrains from slapping Costello, which would make his character unacceptable.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo spend a few bucks and watch it on DVD. Not a classic, but a good Sunday afternoon comedy with two comedians still at their peak of performance. And thatu0026#39;s not bad.”
