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4.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you are looking for a relaxing night in, The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa is absolutely not the move. It is mostly for people who like digging through the "bad old days" of cinema or maybe film students who need to see exactly what 1930 thought was funny. 🦁
Everyone else will probably want to turn it off within ten minutes because it is loud, messy, and pretty uncomfortable. It is a fossil of a movie that doesn't really care if it makes sense as long as someone is falling over.
The whole thing starts with a golf game that goes on way too long. I think it is supposed to show us how much Cohen and Kelly hate each other, but they just seem like two guys who shouldn't be allowed near a golf course.
They decide to go to Africa to get ivory for piano keys. They don't really seem to have a plan other than "go there and find some."
The Africa in this movie is very clearly a studio backlot with a few extra palm trees shoved into the frame. You can almost see the dust flying off the fake bushes when the actors run past them.
George Sidney and Charles Murray have this specific way of yelling at each other that feels like it belonged on a vaudeville stage. It doesn't always work on film.
There is a scene where they encounter a lion and the camera stays on their terrified faces for a long time. Like, long enough that I started checking my phone to see if the video had frozen.
One of the weirdest parts is the gorilla. I am pretty sure it is Charles Gemora in the suit because that guy was in every gorilla suit in Hollywood back then.
The gorilla actually has more personality than some of the human characters. It does this little shrug at one point that made me laugh more than the actual jokes.
The way the movie treats the local African tribes is... well, it is exactly what you would expect from 1930. It is not great.
It is all very "ooga-booga" and caricatures that make you want to squint and look away from the screen. If you’ve seen The Lady of the Lake, you know that movies back then could at least try to look poetic. This movie is not trying to be poetic.
The sound quality is also pretty rough. It’s that early talkie scratchiness where every time someone moves their feet, it sounds like they are walking on dried cornflakes. 🥣
I noticed one shot where the boom mic shadow is almost visible on the tent. Or maybe it was just a very straight tree branch. Either way, it was distracting.
There is a lot of physical comedy involving a miniature piano. They drag this thing around the jungle for some reason.
It feels like the writers had five different ideas for sketches and just taped them together. There isn't a real flow to the story.
I did find the costumes kind of fascinating in a "why would you wear that in a desert" sort of way. The hats alone are a choice.
Compared to something like The Triumph of the Rat, which has a bit more style, this feels very clunky. It’s just people standing in a line and shouting lines at the camera.
I guess if you are a completionist for this specific series, you'll watch it anyway. But for the casual viewer? It’s a lot of work for very little payoff.
The ending happens so fast it feels like they ran out of film. They just kind of decide the movie is over and stop.
I’m still thinking about that lion. It looked so bored. It was probably wondering when lunch was, just like I was by the forty-minute mark.
Overall, it is a weird, loud, slightly annoying piece of history. Watch it if you want to see a guy in a monkey suit dance. Skip it if you value your ears. 🙉
It's definitely not as interesting as something like Li Ting Lang but it's certainly more energetic. Maybe too energetic. My head kind of hurts now.
IMDb 5.1
1928
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