Lost in a Harem is the second of three films that Abbott and Costello made for MGM, having been loaned to the studio by Universal to do so. It was released in 1944.
Peter Johnson (Abbott) and Harvey Garvey (Costello) are a couple of performers in a traveling vaudeville show that gets stranded in the Middle East. After causing chaos in a local café that sees the two and their troupe's singer Hazel Moon get arrested, they're freed by Prince Ramo, who requests the trio's help in retrieving a pair of hypnotic cat's-eye rings being used by his uncle, who has stolen the throne of their native city, so Ramo can reclaim the throne for himself. Naturally, hijinks ensue.
This film contains examples of:
- Abdicate the Throne: After Peter and Harvey steal Nimativ's hypnotic rings, they use them to hypnotize Nimativ into promising to abdicate the throne he'd stolen from Ramo. Unfortunately, he soon breaks free of the hypnosis.
- Backwards-Firing Gun: While escaping jail, Harvey threatens the guards with a rifle. Unfortunately, he holds it over a candle, causing it to bend backwards and fire through his hat when he pulls the trigger.
- Big Damn Heroes: At the last minute, Bobo the guard and Nimativ's earlier wives interrupt the execution with a performance, which lasts long enough for Ramo's followers to arrive and save the boys.
- Chairman of the Brawl: When the boys end up screwing up their act and hitting Mr. Ormulu with a flying bottle, he responds by picking up a chair and throwing it at them.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Nimativ's earlier wives are not interested in having another woman join them, and gladly try to help Peter and Harvey get her out in return for a promise to get them into the movies (having been falsely told that the two men are Hollywood talent scouts). Nimativ himself is a male example, as he gets violently jealous at the thought of any man being near his wives.
- Dem Bones: While in the palace cell, Harvey runs into a skeleton chained to the wall, which briefly talks to him and freaks him out.
- Disguised in Drag: After fleeing the palace, Peter somehow disguises himself as a woman (and Harvey as a baby) to avoid Nimativ and his guards. Unfortunately, Nimativ manages to see through the disguise. Later, Harvey disguises himself as Teema, one of Nimativ's wives, to distract him while Peter steals the hypnotic rings.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Invoked when Prince Ramo has Hazel seduce his uncle Nimativ so Peter and Harvey can steal his hypnotic rings. Nimativ has a thing for blondes, which is why Ramo chose Hazel specifically for the job.
- Dragged into Drag: After hypnotizing Nimativ with his own rings, Harvey gets him to don women's clothing. Nimativ's not too happy when the hypnosis breaks and he finds himself in the outfit.
- Evil Uncle: Prince Ramo's Uncle Nimativ, who used a pair of hypnotic rings to steal the throne and keep everyone else in line.
- Extreme Omnivore: After hypnotizing Peter and Harvey, Nimativ calls them termites. The pair end up thinking they are termites and quickly set about eating the wood in the room.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: The derelict, who (the second time they meet him) claims to have an invisible friend named Mike and uses sound effects from a door, a piano and a broken glass to represent him, and even somehow produces an invisible gun to shoot "Mike" when the other man goes berserk.
- Comically Missing the Point: Hazel tells her boss that she "can't go out there until you put out that wolf." Mr. Ormulu thinks she's talking about a real wolf until she explains she's referring to a particular customer (actually Prince Ramo) who stares at her in a way that makes her uncomfortable.
- Gale-Force Sound: While Peter and Harvey are sleeping in a tent with a bunch of Prince Ramo's followers, one of them snores loudly enough that he keeps blowing another man's beard in Harvey's face. Even tying a bag of weights to the beard can't stop it from being blown over.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Bobo, the guard that Peter and Harvey meet when heading to the palace, is easily fooled into thinking the pair are a couple of Hollywood talent scouts. Later, he still thinks they're talent scouts and agrees to help them when they say they can only take him to Hollywood after getting Hazel out.
- Indignant Slap: While passing through the city, Harvey passes by a woman and is clearly attracted to her. Unfortunately, she's a professional mind reader, hears his thoughts and slaps him for it.
- Jail Bake: In order to help Hazel, Peter and Harvey escape their cell early on, Prince Ramo smuggles a saw and other tools into the jail in a loaf of bread... though it doesn't work out like intended, because a guard hears the commotion and ends up opening the door and entering the cell, allowing the boys to trigger the derelict's Berserk Button and escape while he's attacking the guard.
- Mirror Routine: Done by a disguised Peter Johnson and Nimativ, with Peter posing as the mirror to keep Nimativ fooled.
- Mind-Control Device: The royal family owns a pair of hypnotic cat's-eye rings that they use to keep people in line. A jolt of pain, like being stuck with a pin or thorn, will snap the victims out of it though.
- Never Say That Again: As part of the "Slowly I Turned" routine, the derelict goes murderously berserk when hearing the word "Pokomoko" (even from himself), because it's where he fought and killed the man who stole his wife and son from him.
- Oh, Crap!: More than once, the last time being when Peter and Harvey accidentally trigger the derelict's Berserk Button by saying "Pokomoko" when he's around, albeit unwittingly (they didn't realize he was there), and deciding to just run for it once they realize he's present.
- Portrait Painting Peephole: Nimativ has one in the room where he meets Hazel. Unlike most cases, he uses it not for spying, but to hypnotize anyone who looks at its eyes after he places his hypnotic rings against the peepholes.
- Price on Their Head: While in the harem, Nimativ says he'll put this on Peter and Harvey to ensure their capture. He never gets the chance though.
- Royal Harem: Nimativ has a harem of thirty-seven wives (whom he calls on to do dancing routines for him as well as, presumably, other services), and is intent on having Hazel as number thirty-eight. Peter and Harvey end up in their living quarters later to try and rescue Hazel, despite men being forbidden in there.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Harvey accidentally starts a riot in the Café of All Nations, he tells Peter that they'd better get out of there.
- Sdrawkcab Name: "Nimativ", the antagonist of the film, is "Vitamin" spelled backwards.
- Stage Magician: Peter and Harvey's act at the Café of All Nations is as a pair of stage magicians. Unfortunately, they aren't very good at it, and the audience hates their performance (in part because Harvey keeps insisting on doing the same trick, covering two items with a pair of identical canisters and "magically" switching them back and forth, over and over again).
- Sure, Let's Go with That: When they meet Bobo, Peter and Harvey say they're just a couple of scouts. Bobo misunderstands this as Hollywood talent scouts, who can get him into the movies. They decide to roll with it, and he gladly helps them as a result.
- The Usurper: Nimativ, Prince Ramo's Evil Uncle, has usurped the throne of Barabeeha. Most of the plot involves Peter and Harvey trying to steal the hypnotic rings he used for this so that Ramo can reclaim the throne.
- "Where? Where?": When Prince Ramo tells his allies that Hazel will enter the city of Barabeeha, accompanied by "these two brave men", Harvey looks around in confusion, trying to figure out who he's talking about.
- You No Take Candle: Bobo, the guard that Peter and Harvey meet in Barabeeha, speaks like this some of the time — saying things like "No password, no get in."
