Mexican Hayride
Tags: entertaining

Plot synopsis:
Joe Bascomb (Lou Costello) chases con man Harry Lambert (Bud Abbott) to Mexico City, after Harry apparently swindled him (and some friends) in an oil stock scam back in the United States. Joe's ex-girlfriend, Mary (Virginia Grey) has hired Harry as her agent, and is going by the name 'Montana', passing herself off as a toreador. When Joe encounters Harry at a bullring arena, he also sees Mary, who is in the ring. As part of 'Amigo Americana Week', she is about to toss her hat into the crowd where the lucky recipient will be proclaimed 'goodwill ambassador'. Mary is supposed to toss the hat to Gus Adamson (Frank Fenton), another con man whom Harry has arranged to be chosen, but Mary instead throws the hat in anger at Joe. It turns out that Joe, now the 'goodwill ambassador', is also being pursued by American authorities for partaking in the oil stock scam; he uses an alias, 'Humphrey Fish', while in Mexico.
Joe is persuaded to participate in Harry's, Dagmar's (Luba Malina) and Mary's plan to sell fake silver mine stock. While giving tours of the bogus mine, Joe extols its beauty and sells stock to anyone he can. Eventually the authorities track down and incarcerate Joe, along with Harry; Joe manages to escape and, disguised as an old Mexican woman, helps Harry escape. They return to the bullring in search of Dagmar and the stock money. Joe enters the ring, only to be chased by an irate bull. Dagmar, who has the money concealed in her hat, tosses it to him. Harry enters the ring to retrieve the hat from Joe, who is still being pursued by the bull. Eventually, the money is recovered and returned to the authorities. The gang is cleared of wrongdoing involving the silver mine, but are not yet cleared in their oil stock scam back in the States. Dagmar makes reparations for those charges as well, and they are free to return home.

Review: So It's A Hayride.
I don'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 "Little Giant" (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 hadn't got in the way.
Even the grand finale with a few rear-projections (and a "trained" bull) turns out pretty funny.It's the logical extension of Abbott's character for him to be an all-around swindler, so that doesn't bother me; their teamwork is still top-rate, and I'm happy to see Costello get the better of Abbott once in a while.
It's also relieving that in this context (and maybe an off-screen agreement?), Abbott refrains from slapping Costello, which would make his character unacceptable.So 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 that's not bad..
Some funny moments, but still a weak A&C vehicle.
Fresh from the hit "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," the comedy duo set out on "Mexican Hayride."  Costello plays Joe Bascom, who is on the trail of Harry Lambert (Bud Abbott).
Lambert coerced Bascom into swindling friends in Iowa, and Bascom has followed him into Mexico to force him to pay up.
Through a series of misunderstandings, Bascom becomes "Amigo Americano" and is honored and feted.
Lambert sees this as an opportunity for further land swindles in Mexico, and again tries to use Bascom as an unwitting pawn.If this description sounds like an unusual plot for an Abbott and Costello film, you would be right.
The story is based upon a Broadway show.
A&C stalwart screenwriter John Grant does his best to interject A&C humor and routines into the existing Broadway storyline.
Two of his best examples are the scene where Abbott rips off Costello's clothes in an effort to hide his initials, which are sewed on every piece of clothing; and the scene with Fritz Feld as an diction specialist."Mexican Hayride" is considered one of the weakest films in the A&C series, and I agree.
The main problem lies in trying to interject A&C into a Broadway storyline built for other actors.
A&C give it their best as usual, but the storyline simply isn't for them.
One expects Abbott to take advantage of Costello here and there; it was seen in many of their best comedies.
But for Abbott to swindle many people besides Costello simply isn't funny.
There are also many gaps in the humor that result in dull moments.
I really tried to like "Mexican Hayride," but the storyline simply didn't fit A&C snugly, and the humor is not consistent enough to generate many laughs.
Stock Swindling Abbott Hornswaggles Samba Slave Costello.
Before writing this review I took a look at George Eells biography of Cole Porter which has a good reference section listing his Broadway shows and original film productions.
To make this film fit for Abbott and Costello whole sections of the plot and entire characters were junked as well as Cole Porter's entire musical score.
The barebones of the book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields was retained and the whole business about stock swindling and the Amigo Americano was from the musical.
For instance listed as characters in the play were the then Vice President of the United States Henry A.
Wallace and the former King Carol of Rumania and his notorious mistress Madame Lupescu.
I can't even imagine what they might be doing as characters in an Abbott and Costello comedy.Cole Porter's scores rarely made it intact to the screen.
Usually it was because of his risqué lyrics not playing well in Peoria.
However as we learn it was simply because Abbott and Costello fans didn't want their favorites clowning interrupted by musical numbers as they were in so many of their World War II era films.
If that's the case why in heaven's name did Universal buy Mexican Hayride and rework it for them?
I'm sure there must have been any number of Cole Porter fans who wanted to see a film adaptation of one of his Broadway shows.
Once they had bought their tickets and were seated in the movie house, they must have been sorely disappointed.The boys have some good routines here, Costello has some funny moments in an interview with reporter Sid Fields and also with elocution teacher Fritz Feld.
The highlight of the film of course is Costello in a bull ring trying to get money Abbott swindled in some watered stock case.
Problem is the money is in a hat that was tossed in the ring and landed on the bull's horns.One routine they did was previously done in the Bing Crosby film Double Or Nothing by Martha Raye.
Costello won a marathon dance contest doing the Samba for 36 hours and goes into autopilot the exact same way Martha Raye did in Double or Nothing.It's not the best film from Abbott and Costello and boy are those Cole Porter lovers in for a disappointment..
Classic Abbott and Costello.
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.The plots of the various movies don't really matter one way or the other.
What really matters are the gags.
I loved the painting gag, even though I saw the punchline coming.
And the Smith / Jones routine is the sort of back and forth people love from this duo (myself included).I think the comedy duo tends to be best remembered today (2017) for their series of films meeting the Universal monsters.
But let's not forget some gems like this one, which has aged surprisingly well..
Abbott & Costello Go South of the Border.
Lesser Abbott & Costello film sees the boys hiding out in Mexico because Lou is wanted for being a forger and swindler.
Except Lou is just an innocent dupe of Bud, who's the real crook.
Part of the problem with this one lies right there in that description.
Abbott & Costello aren't friends in this and Bud is kind of a tool.
So you have Lou performing several routines with other characters instead of Bud. There are lots of pretty senoritas hanging around, so that's a plus.
Lovely Virginia Grey is another plus.
Some of the gags are pretty corny.
A repeated gag involving Lou and samba music is particularly unfunny.
It's not a bad movie and there are some laughs but something just doesn't click..
South of the Border --- A&C style.
MEXICAN HAYRIDE (1948) **1/2  Bud Abbott, Lou Costello.A&C comedy south of the border with con man Bud bilking samba-loving Lou who unwittingly foils some phony silver stock plans.
Highlight: the bull fight..
This film is a bit unusual for an Abbott and Costello film in that Bud and Lou work against each other.
In other words, they are not friends in the film and Lou is hiding out in Mexico.
It seems that Bud is a swindler and has made it look like Lou is guilty.
Naturally, Lou's goal is to get the money back so that he can pay off everyone back home and get the police to drop the case against him.
Again and again throughout the film, Bud promises to give Lou all the money...in a few days.Complicating things is that the police have just spotted Lou and are hot on his trail.
But, they aren't positive it's the right guy and they are forced to back off when Lou is designated the "Guest of the People of Mexico".
In other words, he was supposedly randomly chosen to be wined and dined as a sign of good will between the US and Mexico.
In a very ironic scene, just when the Mexicans are set to honor Lou, the American police are ready to arrest him.
What stops them is that one of the cops also matches this vague description!
And, in reality, this part is played by Pat Costello--Lou's older brother in real life!
Low points in the film include Luba Malina's performance.
At times, she speaks with a typical American accent and in others she tries (in vain) to approximate a Mexican accent...and fails miserably.
Why the director didn't bother to fix these scenes or notice is beyond me.
Apparently, Malina was Russian-born and lived all around the world and if you listen, you can clearly hear this in her voice!
Another is the scene late in the film where Lou is hiding out as an old lady with a tortilla wagon.
His fake Spanish is really, really lame and sounds like Spanish only to someone with severe brain damage--and it's not really very funny--though the scene otherwise isn't bad at all.
Could audiences back in 1948 have actually thought this was an approximation of Spanish?!
High points are the lack of musical numbers and irrelevant secondary characters in the film.
There is no handsome couple (unless you count Lou and Luba) and the film tends to focus exclusively on Bud and Lou.Unfortunately, though, there aren't a ton of laughs in the film and it is a rather bland affair compared to the rest of the comedy team's work.
An mildly interesting diversion and that is all..
An mildly interesting diversion and that is all..
Don't Get Taken For A Ride..
Abbott & Costello play two con-men who sell phony stock to gullible would-be buyers, who are now pursued by the police.
They then flee to Mexico, where they travel incognito, and meet up with an old friend who is now a bullfighter, which of course creates lots of opportunities for Lou to get chased around by an angry bull, and who also has recently been in some kind of a dance marathon, so now whenever he hears a Samba, can't help himself dancing uncontrollably, no matter the situation.
Entirely forgettable(and forgotten) comedy is competently made but utterly unfunny, and the team play rather unlikable characters this time, despite their ineptitude..
Mexican Hayride (1948) **1/2.
An Abbott and Costello movie that comes off as something of a misfire, especially following right after the great ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, often considered one of their very best.
Based on a play, this story is sort of awkward in the realm of Bud and Lou misadventures.
We have Costello as a fugitive who's just won a contest where he danced a samba for 68 hours, and is now pursued by the police to Mexico.
Of course, it's not poor Lou's fault; he was swindled by the character played by Abbott, and Costello needs to catch up with Bud and get his money back, and clear himself.Naturally we get some gags here and there, but they're not among the comedy duo's finest.
One running joke that really gets boring after the first couple of tries is Lou uncontrollably conditioned to dance the samba from force of habit, whenever hearing the music played.
Another routine has Lou confronting a wild bull in an arena (what else would you expect in a Mexican comedy?).
There are a couple of humorous scenes with assistance from guest stars like Fritz Feld (who attempts to teach Costello how to speak properly), and my personal favorite involving Sidney Fields as a fast-talking interviewer who won't let Lou get a word in edge-wise (Fields would later go on to play A&C's landlord on their TV show).
Lou's brother Pat Costello has a steady role here as one of the cops constantly trailing Lou. He'd made brief appearances in other movies and often as Lou's stunt double, but Pat is pretty much a wooden Indian throughout.
"Go out there like a toreador, face him like a picador, and fight him like a matador!".
I saw this movie when I was a kid back in the Fifties, and even though I was familiar with the bullfighting terms in my summary line, I didn't know what Joe Bascom (Lou Costello) meant when he said "And they'll carry me out like a cuspidor"!
Now that I know what a cuspidor is I have to think to myself, gee, that was kind of icky, wasn't it?
Oh, well.This picture falls into the lower tier of Abbott and Costello's comedies but it still has it's share of laughs.
Bud is at it again with one of his shyster schemes as con man Harry Lambert, this time selling shares of stock in a phony silver mine, with Joe entangled in the mess and on the run from a pair of Iowa cops portrayed by Tom Powers and Lou's older brother, Pat Costello.
For Pat, this was his biggest on screen role; usually he wound up doubling for Lou in a bunch of the A&C films.I liked Sid Fields in the picture as the newspaper reporter who wouldn't let Joe Bascom get a word in edgewise.
He had a similar role in "Little Giant", taking some of the heat off of Bud as a mean spirited partner to Lou. Even so, Bud's Lambert does his best to snooker Joe with all the illegal stuff to make him look like the crook.
After watching this film I clicked on the trailer to see how the movie was advertised back in the day.
It was captioned in both English and Spanish, with the foreign title listed as "Sangre y Harina".
The literal translation for that in English is "Blood and Flour", which made no sense to me at all.
It was the working title of the picture in Chile, but I can't imagine how that title would have brought customers into the theater.
Something else that seemed kind of icky..
Mexican bull ride has A&C as stock swindlers.
One of the less memorable Abbott and Costello(A&C)films, but nonetheless quite worthwhile for A&C fans.
Both boys had preproduction issues with the script or casting.
The boys have separately come to a particular Mexican bull fighting arena, having swindled some investors in an oil well stock issue.
Lou has taken the pseudonym Humphrey Fish.
Two detectives looking for them are already there.
One of the detectives (I assume the short beefy one)is Lou's older brother, Pat, who sometimes doubled for Lou. Lou's ex-girlfriend, Mary(known professionally as Montana), played by Virginia Grey, has come to Mexico to become a real rarity: a woman Matador.
She performs that day, and at the end, throws her hat into the stands to determine who will be the 'good-will ambassador' for the next week.
Seeing Lou in the stands, she throws it at him in anger, and he catches it.
She was supposed to throw it to a con man friend of Abbots, sitting with Abbott.
A reporter interviews Lou, so monopolizing the conversation that Lou doesn't have time to answer one question, before he has another question or comment: rather funny.
Since Lou will have to give speeches during the next week, Abbott hires an elocutionist to improve his speaking.
Of course, it does no good.Dagmar(Luba Malina), who was sitting with Abbott during the bullfight, sings "Is it you or is it me"?, while Lou dances the samba, having won a samba dancing endurance contest.
Lou has hidden the money from selling stock in a bogus silver mine in his hotel room, with a complex series to steps to find it.
While he's there, Dagmar looks around for the money, Lou shows her how to find it, and steps out of the room for a few minutes, while she retraces the path and absconds with the money.
She later claims she took it to prevent Abbott from getting it.A skit has Abbott riding in a car with the 2 detectives.
They have a blow out, and discuss what to do about it, when Costello comes along, dressed as a old women, selling hot tortillas.
He gets going kneading the dough, making a lasso out of it!
and roping the detectives together.
Abbott takes this opportunity to drive off in their car, while Lou hustles back to where he came from.To evade the detectives, A&C dress as Mexicans and pretend to play musical instruments in a street band, near the entrance to the bull fighting arena.
Dagmar is inside, with the money from the silver mine swindle.
For some reason, she puts the money in her hat, and throws it into the ring, it being speared by the bull's horn.(very unclear to me how the money would stay in her hat during and after this action).
Lou goes out in the arena and tries to retrieve the hat.
This is the climax.
Of course, Lou is chased all over the arena, and even rides it for a brief spell.
The takes of the bull are especially good.
I leave the rest of the finale for you to see.
Most of the top comics or comedy teams of this era did one film involving them involuntarily acting as a toreador.
I don't see this versions as being much different from the others.As in most A&C comedies, we have a peripheral romantic couple developing or continuing.
Also, here we have the sometimes romantic pairing of Costello and Dagmar providing some light comedy.
Lou wanted Carmen Miranda to play Dagmar, but she was probably too expensive for the casting director.