If Bob and Bing didn't have you laughing at modern Arabs in "The Road to Morocco", try Abbott and Costello as bumbling comics helping an Arab prince (John Conte) winning back his throne from an evil uncle (Douglas Dumbrille) and helping the heroine (Marilyn Maxwell). Elaborate sets, corny but funny gags ("Slowly I Turned!") and even some musical bits by Jimmy Dorsey make this one of the best of the Abbott & Costello pairings, ironic considering that this was at MGM, not their home studio of Universal.
Little on plot but mighty on gags, this is best remembered for the running gag concerning an imprisoned man who goes nuts every time he hears the phrase "Poco Moco". Stereotypical clichés of Arab life are made palatable by the vaudeville style routines. The mad man with an invisible friend serves invisible drinks in invisible glasses that makes smashing noises when dropped, an invisible piano that actually plays, and a mind reader smartly reacting to Costello's thoughts. After providing villainy to the comedy teams of the Marx Brothers and Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, Dumbrille adds humor to the character of the evil uncle, even getting into drag! Just beware of his cat's eye rings...
The three MGM films that Abbott and Costello made were more lavish than the ones they made at Universal. There, the Andrews Sisters and Ella Fitzgerald were among those utilized for specialty musical sequences, but here, they get lavish production numbers. The famous Marx Brothers sequence from "Duck Soup" is burlesqued here, and even if unoriginal, is still funny. The result is one of MGM's great farces with a team whose comedy doesn't seem to date in spite of its corniness.
Little on plot but mighty on gags, this is best remembered for the running gag concerning an imprisoned man who goes nuts every time he hears the phrase "Poco Moco". Stereotypical clichés of Arab life are made palatable by the vaudeville style routines. The mad man with an invisible friend serves invisible drinks in invisible glasses that makes smashing noises when dropped, an invisible piano that actually plays, and a mind reader smartly reacting to Costello's thoughts. After providing villainy to the comedy teams of the Marx Brothers and Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, Dumbrille adds humor to the character of the evil uncle, even getting into drag! Just beware of his cat's eye rings...
The three MGM films that Abbott and Costello made were more lavish than the ones they made at Universal. There, the Andrews Sisters and Ella Fitzgerald were among those utilized for specialty musical sequences, but here, they get lavish production numbers. The famous Marx Brothers sequence from "Duck Soup" is burlesqued here, and even if unoriginal, is still funny. The result is one of MGM's great farces with a team whose comedy doesn't seem to date in spite of its corniness.