''Mexican Hayride'' is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of

Abbott and Costello Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in t ...

. The film is based on

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

's Broadway musical '' Mexican Hayride'' starring Bobby Clark. No songs from the stage musical were used in the film.

Plot

Joe Bascomb chases con man Harry Lambert to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, after Harry apparently swindled him (and some friends) in an oil stock scam back in the United States. Joe's ex-girlfriend, Mary 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, 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 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.

Cast

Bud Abbott William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man in the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Early life Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New Jer ...

as Harry Lambert *

Lou Costello Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), better known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with Bud Abbott and their routine " Who's on First?". Abbott and Cos ...

as Joe Bascom/Humphrey Fish *

Virginia Grey Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and several radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s. She was romantically involved with Clark Gable for several years, a ...

as Montana * Luba Malina as Dagmar * John Hubbard as David Winthrop *

Pedro de Cordoba Pedro de Cordoba (September 28, 1881 – September 16, 1950) was an American actor. Biography De Cordoba was born in New York City to parents who were French and Cuban in origin. He was a classically trained theatre actor who confessed h ...

as Senor Martinez * Fritz Feld as Professor Ganzmeyer *

Tom Powers Thomas McCreery Powers (July 7, 1890 – November 9, 1955) was an American actor in theatre, films, radio and television. A veteran of the Broadway stage, notably in plays by George Bernard Shaw, he created the role of Charles Marsden in Eugene ...

as Ed Mason * Pat Costello as Tim Williams * Frank Fenton as Gus Adamson * Chris Pin Martin as Mariachi Leader * Sidney Fields as Reporter * Flores Brothers Trio as Trio

Production

''Mexican Hayride'' was filmed from June 11 through August 12, 1948. Early plans for production called for the film to be made in

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

. Both Costello and Abbott objected to the making of this film. Costello wanted a different cast, including

Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda (), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature ...

and

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

, while Abbott simply hated the script. They were both suspended for a week, and filming began only two days behind schedule.Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). ''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood''. New York: Perigee Books. Costello's brother Pat plays one of the detectives on his trail. The Cole Porter song " I Love You" sung by

and John Hubbard was filmed but cut from the released movie.

Routines

*At the beginning of the film, when Joe catches up with Harry, Joe says, "Who told me there was oil in my backyard? Who got me to sell phoney stock to my friends? Who ran away with the money? Who got Mary mad at me? And if you're tired of hearing 'Who', I got a 'What' for you... on second base!", which is a reference to the comedy duo's famous routine, '' Who's on First?''. *''Silver Ore'', in which Abbott tries to teach Costello about how jewelry is made. * Sidney Fields appears as a reporter interviewing Costello who never gets a word in. * Fritz Feld appears as a speech therapist advising Costello in the art of speaking, resulting in humor.

Home media

This film has been released twice on DVD. The first time, on ''The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume Three'', on August 3, 2004, and again on October 28, 2008 as part of ''Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection''.

References

External links

* * {{Herbert Fields 1948 films Abbott and Costello films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Charles Barton 1948 comedy films Universal Pictures films Bullfighting films Films based on musicals Films set in Mexico American comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s American films