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Bob Hope, born 100 years ago, was an icon of stage, screen, radio and television, who literally entertained millions. He was an American institution, universally admired by his fellow actors and comics, and by directors as diverse as Howard Hawks, Woody Allen (on whom he had a major and lasting influence) and Alain Resnais. If you grew up in this country between 1930 and 1980, you know the swaggering walk, the honking voice, the fluid double takes, the self-effacing persona. American culture is unthinkable without him.
This August, we're celebrating the centenary of this comic genius with a selection of films representing the best of his work in movies, including three of the amazingly popular Road pictures he made with Bing Crosby, his first screen test, and the hilarious shower sequence from Star-Spangled Rhythm.
ROAD TO SINGAPORE
Victor Schertzinger, 1940; 84m
The story goes that Paramount bought the old adventure story The Road to Mandalay, and that it was turned down by quite a few of their comedy stars before Hope and Crosby signed on. The other story goes that Hope, Crosby producer Harlan Thompson and director Victor Schertzinger got together for a round of golf and had such a good time that they decided to make some movies together. The second story sounds better, more in keeping with the breezy, freewheeling spirit of one of the most successful series in film history. In this, the first of the six ROAD films, Crosby is the playboy son of a shipping magnate (Charles Coburn - who else?). He decides to take off around the world with his best pal, Hope, and in far-flung Singapore they cross paths with vaudeville star Lamour. With Anthony Quinn and the great Jerry Colonna.
Fri Aug 8: 5 & 9:30
Sat Aug 9: 1
ROAD TO MOROCCO
David Butler, 1942; 83m
Thought by many to be the very best of the ROAD pictures, the apex of Hope and Crosby's easy-going collaboration. This time, the boys survive a shipwreck and wind up penniless in Morocco. Crosby agrees to sell Hope into slavery, and he winds up at the court of…Princess Dorothy Lamour. In one priceless scene: "Hope berates Crosby for spoiling his best scene. If you'd have kept your mouth shut, I might have won an Academy Award!" With Anthony Quinn and a heavyweight cast of supporting players, including former silent star Monte Blue, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Seymour. This one provided the basis, more or less, for (the underrated) Ishtar.
With: Bob’s first screen test and his first short film:
Going Spanish (aka Bob’s Busy Day)
Directed by Al Christie, 1934; 11 minutes
Fri Aug 8: 7
Sat Aug 9: 3
Mon Aug 11: 1 & 5
 THE PALEFACE
Norman Z. McLeod, 1949; 91m
This hilarious Hope vehicle (co-written by Frank Tashlin) sat on the shelf for a while - why? Hope continued to work the genre send-up formula that worked so well for him with the ROAD pictures. Here he's a dentist named Painless Potter who's gone west in search of his fortune. He crosses paths with Calamity Jane, played by Jane Russell, who had already acquired western renown in Howard Hughes's The Outlaw. In beautiful color.
Sat Aug 9: 5
Sun Aug 10: 1
Tue Aug 12: 1
SON OF PALEFACE
Frank Tashlin, 1952; 95m
A terrific sequel to The Paleface, many years in
the making. This time, Hope is the son of the original paleface, going out west to claim his inheritance. Jane Russell is a singer in the Dirty Shame saloon. Once he's out west, Hope teams up with Roy Rogers and Trigger to track down some thieves on a gold heist spree. This is one of Bob Hope's very best, most antic movies, and it also represents a milestone in film history, the directorial debut of a comic genius named Frank Tashlin.
Sat Aug 9: 7
Sun Aug 10: 3
Tue Aug 12: 3
THE CAT AND THE CANARY
Elliott Nugent, 1939; 74m
One of many versions of the old haunted mansion thriller, tailored to Hope's comic skills. Paulette Goddard inherits a mansion in the Louisiana bayou, and Hope joins her on her stay in the spooky house in a weak-willed effort to protect her from going nuts (if she stays sane, she keeps her fortune). Elliott Nugent is very deft with the laughs, but he also managed to keep the frightening, melodramatic side of the story intact. Hope and Goddard made a great team.
Sat Aug 9: 9
Tue Aug 12: 5 & 9
MY FAVORITE BLONDE
Sidney Lanfield, 1942; 78m
Hope made a great team with the lovely Madeleine Carroll (of 39 Steps fame) in this cross-country romantic comedy. Carroll is a British agent pursued by Nazis, who are trying to get a set of plans she possesses for a shipment of planes from the U.S. to England. Hope is the wise-cracking guy whose dressing room she ducks into, and she winds up taking him and his penguin on a flight from her pursuers across the continental United States. With Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco, Dooley Wilson of Casablanca fame and, in an inevitable cameo, der Bingle.
preceded by
Star-Spangled Rhythm (5m excerpt)
George Marshall, 1942; 99m
Hope's scene from this Paramount all-star wartime extravaganza is one of his crowning moments. Hope winds up in a lady's apartment. When her husband (William Bendix) comes home, he runs for the bathroom and seeks cover in the shower stall. When the husband comes in to take a shower, he must hide for 5 hilarious minutes.
Sun Aug 10: 5 & 9
Mon Aug 11: 3
MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE
Elliott Nugent, 1947; 87m
Hope was at his peak when he made this fast, fluid comedy, which floats along like a breeze, from laugh to laugh. Hope is a children's photographer who takes over his friend's private detective business for a few days. Lamour drops by and enlists him to help track down her missing uncle. He winds up in a vast estate, where he runs into Lon Chaney Jr. as a doctor, Peter Lorre (in a terrific performance) and, beneath an executioner's hood, his ROAD partner Crosby.
Sun Aug 10: 7
Mon Aug 11: 7
ROAD TO UTOPIA
Hal Walker, 1945; 90m
ROAD TO MOROCCO represents one peak in the series, and here's another. This is one of the liveliest, with the nicest sense of atmosphere and the best story. Hope and Lamour are a wealthy couple reminiscing about their old glory days hunting for gold in the Klondike. Just as they struck it rich, they lost their best pal, Crosby. Who suddenly turns up, prompting a flashback to Crosby and Hope's days in vaudeville, and their flight from San Francisco to Alaska, where they first meet up with Lamour. This one is a bounty of comic gems and highlights, including hilarious narration by Robert Benchley, the immortal Johnny LaRue as a tough guy, Romaine Callendar wandering through a scene because he's "taking a shortcut to Stage 10," and the song "Personality."
Bing Crosby’s widow, Kathryn Crosby, will be here to introduce THE ROAD TO UTOPIA, Tuesday, August 12 at 7pm.
Mon Aug 11: 9
Tue Aug 12: 7
THE FACTS OF LIFE
Melvin Frank, 1960; 103m
For many years, this beautifully written and crafted 1960 comedy was out of circulation - now you get to see it in a nice new print. Bob Hope and Lucille Ball are Larry Gilbert and Kitty Weaver, both married to others (Ruth Hussey and Don Defore are their respective spouses). They find themselves alone on a fishing trip and fall uproariously in love. These two comic geniuses make beautifully abrasive, lively music together. Written and directed by the team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank.
Wed Aug 13: 1 & 6:15
Thurs Aug 14: 3:15
CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT
David Butler, 1941; 82m
Hope is Don Bolton, a movie star who hates loud noises and tries to dodge the draft by marrying a colonel's daughter (Lamour). The plan backfires and he finds himself in basic training, and his agent (Lynn Overman) and his assistant (Eddie Bracken) volunteer too in order to keep him company. One of the best of the wartime comedies, and one of the fastest paced of all of Hope's movies.
preceded by
CALLING ALL TARS
Lloyd French, 1936; 20m
An early short, in which Hope splits his screen
time with Brooklyn comic Jimmy Berkes. They dress up as sailors in a lame attempt to pick up girls, then get sized up by MPs. The repartee is fast and furious.
Wed Aug 13: 3:15 & 8:30
BEAU JAMES
Melville Shavelson, 1957; 105m
It was a brave, inventive choice to cast Hope in the role of Gentleman Jimmy Walker, devil may care mayor of New York during the Roaring 20s. What he lacks in dramatic acuity he makes up for in lightly tinged cynicism and comic style. Melville Shavelson's biopic is bursting with period flavor, and it was beautifully shot in VistaVision by John F. Warren. With Vera Miles as Walker's flame, actress Betty Compton, and Paul Douglas as the political operator who put Walker in office.
Thurs Aug 14: 1 & 9
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