Like many in my generation, for years my familiarity with Abbott and Costello pretty much began and ended with their famous "Who's On First" routine. Based on that, I always figured they were mildly clever but not too funny.

Granted, it seems hard to judge the actual humor of "Who's On First" because the bit got replayed so much over the decades. Still, it just never seemed terribly entertaining or humorous to me.

Nonetheless, I gave 1949’s Africa Screams a look, primarily because my father loved it. That seemed like a good reason to check out the film.

When Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) seeks a book with a special map inside, department store clerk Stanley Livingston (Lou Costello) tells his co-worker and pal Buzz Johnson (Bud Abbott) that he can redraw it. Buzz views this as an opportunity to make some big bucks.

Buzz and Stanley join Diana’s expedition to the Congo. As they pursue Diana’s goals, they encounter a variety of shenanigans.

As mentioned, I went into Screams thanks to my dad’s affection for it. However, this doesn’t mean we shared similar tastes in comedy.

If dad thought Screams offered hilarity, it felt likely I would disagree. We did occasionally find the same films funny but not on a consistent basis.

For the most part, my dad got this one right. While I didn't find Screams to deliver a laugh riot, it does become entertaining and decently funny.

At no point did my gut threaten to bust. Nonetheless, I laughed out loud a decent number of times, and for a grumpy curmudgeon like me, that feels pretty impressive.

A terrific physical comedian, Costello winds up as the main attraction. He brings great facial expressions and slow takes so he makes Stanley character a cartoon without being cartoony.

A fairly conventional comedy, Screams comes with more than a few predictable segments. However, Abbott and Costello mix so well that they make these gags work.

Nothing about Africa Screams makes me want to delve into the Abbott and Costello filmography an in aggressive manner. The movie amuses better than expected, though.

Africa Screams appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This image became a mess.

Though shot black and white, the Blu-ray brought Screams in a colorized version. This created an ugly set of hues.

Like most colorized films, Screams favored an unconvincing mix of greens, browns and blues. They never looked realistic and they seemed dull and unnatural.

Sharpness leaned soft most of the time. Close-ups offered adequate delineation but anything wider looked mushy.

No issues with shimmering or jaggies manifested, and I saw no edge haloes. Only a few small specks appeared, but grain seemed scrubbed.

Blacks felt inky and bland, while low-light shots became mediocre. The Blu-ray brought a problematic visual presentation.

Don’t expect anything better from the flawed Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack of Screams. Just as the scan used heavy-handed grain removal, it appeared that the audio underwent overly invasive noise reduction.

This left the audio as flat and without range. It also sounded weirdly distant, as though someone used their phone to transmit a VHS soundtrack to someone.

Speech lacked edginess but the lines seemed bland and muted. Music and effects also lacked distortion but they showed no dynamics and appeared tinny.

Though the mix came with no clicks or pops, this stemmed from the overly active noise reduction, so that left the end result as unnatural. I’ve heard worse soundtracks but this one nonetheless seemed subpar even by 1949 standards.

The Blu-ray includes no extras. Heck, the disc doesn't even provide a menu or chapter stops!

Little more than a showcase for Abbott and Costello, Africa Screams comes across as the collection of comedy skits it is. Abbott and Costello elevate the material, though, and make this a largely winning program. The Blu-ray comes with problematic picture and audio and it lacks supplements. While I like the movie, this turns into a poor release of it.