Lum and Abner Abroad

Lum and Abner Abroad is a 1956 American comedy film directed by James V. Kern and written by Carl Herzinger. The film stars Chester Lauck, Norris Goff, Jill Alis, Lila Audres, Gene Gary and Chris Peters. The film was released on January 1, 1956.
Plot.
The film consists of three two-reel episodes. In each, Lum and Abner visit a different city in Europe.
Background.
"Lum and Abner Abroad" was originally conceived as a television series and a comeback vehicle for the Lum and Abner characters. The duo had appeared in six feature films and a long-running radio series between 1935 and 1950, but other than a short-lived radio revival in 1953, had not appeared in media since then. "Lum and Abner" had made at least one previous effort to transition to television under the more familiar format of the radio show; like "Lum and Abner Abroad", that effort was also unsuccessful, although the pilot episode of the other series also survives.
Had "Lum and Abner Abroad" been picked up as a series, the three shorts would have constituted three individual episodes of the series. As the series was not picked up, they were instead hastily strung together and released as a feature film.
None of the production staff for the six previous Lum and Abner films returned for this film. It served as James V. Kern's last theatrical directorial effort, as he had shifted almost exclusively to television by this point in his life.
Reception.
A retrospective review at "TV Guide" praised Lum and Abner's performances but criticized the poor editing (fade-outs and fade-ins for commercial breaks were left in the theatrical prints) and simplistic script, giving the film one out of five stars.