Abbott and Costello: Africa Screams/Jack and the Beanstalk

Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello Director: Charles Barton, Jean Yarbrough Dvd Release: 1st February, 2000 Number Of Discs: 2 Format: Box set, Black & White, Colour, Dolby, NTSC, Region 0 Encoding

Article Index: [Background Info] [Biographies] [Articles/Resources] [Link To This Article] Looking To Buy? Buy This DVD Here

Abbott & Costello is the name of a legendary comedy team made up of Bud Abbott & Lou Costello. Abbott met Costello in 1931 while Abbott was working as a cashier at the Brooklyn theater. Costello asked Abbott to fill in for his straight man, who was ill. Throughout the 1930s, Abbott & Costello began their career performing together in burlesque shows, minstrel shows, vaudeville & movie houses. At Costellos request, all profits earned from the act were split 60/40, favoring Abbott, because, according to Costello, Comics are a dime a dozen. Good straight men are hard to find. In 1938 they received national exposure for the first time by performing on the Kate Smith Hour radio show, which lead to the duo signing with Universal the following year. Abbott & Costello released their first film in 1940 entitled, One Night in the Tropics. Although Abbott & Costello were only filling supporting roles in the film, they stole the film with their classic routine Whos On First?. Within a couple of years, the comedy team had also their own television which aired from 1952 to 1954 & radio shows. Posters Of Abbott And Costello

Africa Screams is a 1949 comedy film starring the team of Abbott & Costello & featuring Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck, Shemp Howard & Joe Besser. In the film, Abbott & Costello play a couple of book sellers who are conned into travelling to the jungles of Africa to find hidden diamonds for a woman, along the way, meeting a visually-impaired gunner, a hungry lion & a tribe of cannibals, among other dangers. The film is in the public domain. A colorized version was made availible by Legend Films in 2006. Africa Screams at The Internet Movie Database.

Jack & the Beanstalk is a fairy tale which is closely associated with the fairy tale of Jack the Giant Killer. The origin of Jack & the Beanstalk is unknown although the author was almost certainly British. The earliest printed edition which has survived is the 1807 book The history of Jack & the bean-stalk. Printed from the original manuscript, never before published although the story was already in existence sometime before this time as a burlesque of the story entitled The Story of Jack Spriggins & the Enchanted Bean was included in the 1734 second edition of Round about our Coal-Fire. The story tells of a poor boy whose lack of common sense exasperates his widowed mother. She sends him to the market to sell their only possession, a cow, but along the way, Jack meets a stranger who offers to buy the cow for five magic beans. Jack is thrilled at the prospect of having magic beans, so he makes the deal. When he arrives at home with his beans, his mother, in despair that they are ruined, throws the beans out the window & the two go to bed without any supper.

William Alexander Abbott aka Bud Abbott is a legendary American actor, producer & comedian from Asbury Park, New Jersey. He is best known as the straight man of the comedy team of Abbott & Costello, with Lou Costello. Abbott, whose mother was a bareback rider for the Ringling Brothers Circus, dropped out of school as a child in 1909 & began working in carnivals. Abbott later started working in theaters around the county, eventually becoming the manager for the Nation Theater in Detroit. While at the National Theater, Abbott began performing on stage as straight man to vaudeville performers like Harry Steepe & Harry Evanson. Abbott met Costello in 1931 while working as a cashier at the Brooklyn Theater, when he was asked to fill in for Costellos straight man who was ill. Throughout the 1930s, Abbott & Costello began performing together in burlesque shows, minstrel shows, vaudeville & movie houses. At Costellos request, all profits earned from the act were split 60/40, favoring Abbott, because, according to Costello, Comics are a dime a dozen. Good straight men are hard to find. Posters Of Abbott And Costello

Editors Choice: Abbott And Costello, Africa Screams, Jack And The Beanstalk, Tv Show, Kings Of Comedy, Whos On First, View DVDology

Louis Francis Cristillo aka Lou Costello was an American actor, producer & comedian from Paterson, New Jersey. He is best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott & Costello, with Bud Abbott. Costello worked as a carpenter at MGM & Warner Brothers after high school. After that, he worked temporarily as a stuntman & then eventually became a vaudeville comedian. In 1931, while performing in Brooklyn, New York, Costellos straight man became ill & the theater cashier, Bud Abbott, filled in. Throughout the 1930s, Abbott & Costello performed together in burlesque shows, minstrel shows, vaudeville & movie houses. At Costellos request, all profits earned from the act were split 60/40, favoring Abbott, because, according to Costello, Comics are a dime a dozen. Good straight men are hard to find. In 1938 they received national exposure for the first time by performing on the Kate Smith Hour radio show, which led to the duo signing with Universal the following year. Abbott & Costello appeared in their first film in 1940, a movie entitled One Night in the Tropics. Posters Of Abbott And Costello

Editors Choice: Abbott And Costello, Africa Screams, Jack And The Beanstalk, Tv Show, Kings Of Comedy, Whos On First, View DVDology

©2004-2008 DVDArk.co.uk