The Bob Hope Collection
The Bob Hope Collection: (The Lemon Drop Kid / Road to Bali / Road to Rio / My Favorite Brunette / The Seven Little Foys)
How to Commit Marriage
Synopsis of How to Commit Marriage (1969) starring Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Jane Wyman
Sorrowful Jones [Bob Hope, Lucille Ball]
Sorrowful Jones (1949), starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
Synopsis
New York bookie Sorrowful Jones takes a bet on Dreamy Joe from rotten gambler Orville Smith who leaves his young daughter, Martha, behind as collateral. When Orville overhears the horserace is fixed, he is killed by one of gangster Big Steve goons …
Read More »Sorrowful Jones [Bob Hope, Lucille Ball]The Big Broadcast of 1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938, starring W. C. Fields, Bob Hope, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, Dorothy Lamour, Ben Blue
Read More »The Big Broadcast of 1938Bachelor in Paradise
Bachelor in Paradise (1961), starring Bob Hope, Lana Turner
I have to admit, I recently enjoyed Bachelor in Paradise on TCM, and found myself enjoying it very much. Bob Hope plays Adam J. Niles, author of a series of books detailing the romantic life of the bachelor in a variety of foreign locales. As the movie begins, he’s working on his latest volume in Italy. When he’s unexpectedly brought home, to deal with the issue of back taxes to the IRS.
Read More »Bachelor in ParadiseThe Cat and the Canary [1939]
The Cat and the Canary, starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard
Synopsis of The Cat and the Canary
The classic “old dark house” motif is given sterling treatment in The Cat and the Canary. Bob Hope’s status as a star was assured with his role as Wallie Campbell. He becomes the cowardly protector of Joyce Norman (Paulette Goddard). She, in turn, who must spend one night in the eerie mansion of her late, eccentric, millionaire uncle. If she can make it through the night without losing her mind, Joyce stands to inherit her uncle’s entire fortune. Of course, all the other potential heirs now have a motive to drive her insane.
Read More »The Cat and the Canary [1939]Rhythm Romance
Rhythm Romance, starring Bob Hope, Shirley Ross, Gene Krupa, Una Merkel
Editorial review of Rhythm Romance courtesy of Amazon.com
Bob Hope puts his best talents forward as Nicky Nelson, a fast-talking promoter with more angles than a funhouse. Originally titled Some Like It Hot (and since renamed for obvious reasons), the film follows the desperate schemes of a would-be entrepreneur seemingly on the verge of success. He’s got Gene Krupa’s band under his management and he’s in love with aspiring singer Shirley Ross, but after gambling away all his chances he’s left in the cold while his discoveries rise to glory without him, and he has one last shot to prove his worth. Hope’s scrappy, risk-taking hustler buoys the razor-thin plot with deadpan wisecracks and quipping asides, but this persona soon melted away in a career redefined by self-deprecating humor and coward gags. The film is a remake of 1934’s Shoot the Works, which is in turn based on a play by Ben Hecht and Gene Fowler. By 1939 little evidence of its roots are left–it’s a Bob Hope vehicle all the way. The other reason to see the film is, of course, the hot swing music of Krupa and his band, which performs three Frank Loesser tunes, including “Heart and Soul.”–Sean Axmaker
Read More »Rhythm RomanceThanks for the Memory
Thanks for the Memory, starring Bob Hope, Shirley Ross, Charless Butterworth, Roscoe Karns, Patricia Wilder
Synopsis of Thanks for the Memory
My Favorite Brunette
My Favorite Brunette – starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr.
Movie review of one of Bob Hope‘s finest solo comedies, My Favorite Brunette. He plays a baby photographer who longs to be a private eye. And he’s inadvertently given the opportunity when a beautiful brunette (Dorothy Lamour) mistakes him for one. This leads him into a web of danger, deceit, and murder with spies (including Peter Lorre in a delicious performance). A very good, funny romantic movie, of that type that sadly isn’t made any more.
Read More »My Favorite Brunette