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12 Bob "Greatest Entertainer Of The 20th Century" Hope Comedy ClassicsNov 29 '03 (Updated Dec 13 '03) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Leslie Townes Hope - May 29, 1903 to July 27, 2003 This loving tribute is by no means a definitive tribute to such a great man, but since Hope died five months ago two months after his 100th birthday, I’ve been relishing many of his wonderful movies (often rewatching them!) and I‘m more than eager to share with you my tribute. Though a number of them remain to be enjoyed, such as the rest of the Road pictures and The Cat and the Canary, these ten I highly recommend are probably his most popular and perhaps most entertaining. Reading the trivia on him at imdb.com was certainly eye-opening. Not only was Hope a substantial movie actor with the longest Paramount contract in history (60 odd years), but was awarded four honorary Oscars and knighted, hosted more Academy Award ceremonies than anyone, could perform comedy on The Johnny Carson Show at anytime without being scheduled, entertained troops in several wars, received over 1000 awards, was married to one woman for almost 70 years and a father to four. I laughed over this following tidbit: (Hope) Has been falsely declared dead several times since retiring from the public eye. On the most infamous occasion in the mid-1990s, a wire service accidentally posted a pre-written obituary to a Web page. A member of the US House of Representatives saw this bogus news flash and announced Hope's death during a session at the Capitol. Hope learned he was dead when a reporter called his home asking for a statement. According to family members, Hope took this mistake in good humor So without further fanfare, here are the twelve classics in order of their release: Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938): Mitchell Leisan, director. Hope and Shirley Ross playing his first ex-wife croon “Thanks For The Memories,” which became Hope’s signature song. W.C. Fields as a ship owner somewhat irritated me at first, but also broke me up much of the time when he sped crazily across the golf course and generally was a loud-mouthed coot. Martha Raye was also a revelation with her acrobatics and singing. Hope emcees the ship’s entertainment as their ship races against another, finds love (but not with Dorothy Lamour) and is tongue-in-cheek as he would continue to be in his movies. College Swing (1938): Raoul Walsh, director. Hope joins George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye, Betty Grable and Edward Everett Horton in this delicious musical comedy. Set on a college campus it was a lot of energetic fun as you can imagine from such a line-up of stars. Hope helps ditsy Allen to finally graduate high school so she can inherit the college, but this is only the beginning of the zaniness! The Ghost breakers (1940): George Marshall, director. Hope meets Paulette Goddard (Modern Times, The Cat and the Canary) who has inherited a reputedly haunted house in Cuba that has zombies and a ghost. Someone is threatening a bad time for her if she goes there and Hope tries to protect her, but first he has to protect himself on the spooky island! Nothing terribly scary, but an enjoyable, little thriller. Road To Singapore (1940): Victor Shertzinger, director. First of the famous Road pictures with Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. Bob and Bing as two playboys who just want to have fun and not get married until Dorothy gives them an eyeful on a tropical island. Misadventures erupt as they try scamming the natives to survive with Dorothy stringing each along. Songs are pretty good, but the ad-libbing was even cooler. Road To Zanzibar (1941): http://www.epinions.com/content_115302895236 My Favorite Blonde (1942): Sidney Lanfield, director. Entertainer Hope (with Percy the Penguin) and Madeleine Carroll as the blonde agent who try to foil bad Nazi guys after her for the evidence she has on them. You’ve never seen a pretend wife abuse case like this one, I assure you. Nonstop thrills as well as laughs! Crosby cameo. Road To Morocco (1942): David Butler, director. My favorite of the Road pictures so far. The quirky title song sung by Bob and Bing on a camel in the “desert” still is in the back of my mind. The goofy duo wash up on shore after destroying their ship and a camel takes them to Morocco where Dorothy as Princess Shalimar picks Bob as her unlucky first husband, but Bing and Anthony Quinn have something to say about that, especially when the astrologer admits he made a horrible mistake about her first husband. Road To Utopia (1946): Hal Walker, director. Bob and Bing play scam artists needing to lay low and Hope wants to split up, but gets Shangri-laied (no, shanghaied; well, one of those Egyptian cities!) to Alaska by Crosby who calls it Utopia for its goldmines. Of course they lose their money and find a map to a goldmine owned by Lamour. Bob and Bing go undercover as bad*ss murderers, Dorothy has “personality” and animals talk! My Favorite Brunette (1947): Elliot Nugent, director. Child photographer Hope spoofs the 40s’ hard-boiled detective movies by going after a bunch of shady characters that Lamour suspects. Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr in a reprise of his role from Of Mice And Men assure us of chills awaiting him, but in a very laughable fashion. The Paleface (1948): Norman Z. McLeod, director. Hope is Painless Peter Potter, an Old West dentist, who uses a leaky laughing gas and runs from danger when Jane Russell as Calamity Jane decides to marry him as a cover while she tries to stop baddies from selling guns to natives. Hope’s ditty, “Buttons and Bows” wins an Oscar, he becomes an Indian-killing hero thanks to Jane and ultimately he must save her by pretending to be a native on the warpath. Go, Bob! The Great Lover (1949): Alexander Hall, director. Hope has a troop of cleancut boys spying on him while they cruise with a beautiful duchess, a cardshark and murderer all hoping to get Hope alone. Rhonda Fleming and Roland Young (Topper) really shine, but Hope has the last laugh as the great lover. (Take that, Bing!) The Seven Little Foys (1955): Melville Shavelson, director. Hope pays tribute to Vaudevillian great Eddie Foy who falls in love with an Italian ballerina after a hilarious mockery of her performance that sets him up for the big lights. They marry and have seven kids, but on the night George M. Cohan (James Cagney) dances spectacularly and jokes with him, he discovers that his life must change. Kids go on the road with him, but is Hope really being a good father now? Another great family movie. Road To Rio, to Bali and to Hong Kong are the other movies I will be watching. There’s a long wait for the last one made in 1962 that is paired with Road To Hollywood, a fictitious biography of Crosby, but reviews of the others shouldn’t be too far away. I hope this little tribute has shown you ample reasons to enjoy Bob Hope’s movies, especially if you love silly, non-sexual humor that helps you escape into worlds where animals as well as Bob and Bing and a director may joke with the audience. We’ve lost the greatest entertainer of last century, but Bob’s ‘Ski Lift Nose’ and hammy contribution to the world will never be forgotten. Thanks for the memories, great lover! Road To Bali/Hollywood review: http://www.epinions.com/content_121511710340 Road To Hong Kong review: http://www.epinions.com/content_121788534404  |
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