All Rise...

Judge Ike Oden stars in The Decent Lover.

Editor's Note

Our review of The Bob Hope Collection: Volume 1, published December 30th, 2010, is also available.

The Charge

"Why don't you come over here? I found a bee that wants to introduce us to some birds…"

Opening Statement

Bob Hope (Paleface) was a Hollywood jack of all trades: a fine dancer and singer, an accomplished physical comedian, and the snappiest talker to come out of the nightclub circuit. There has never been an Oscar host to capture America's imagination in the same way he did. His work on USO tours entertained generations of American troops stationed across the globe. And his movies…well, his movies were hit or miss. Shout! Factory packages six of them together in their latest Bob Hope Collection: Volume 2. Is the set more hits than misses?

Facts of the Case

The Great Lover (1949)
Stuck on a cruise ship babysitting Boy Scout-style youths, Hope masquerades as a wealthy businessman to pursue the daughter of a Count. The scheme is masterminded by a professional gambler who murders his competition in strangulating serial killer style. Guess who his next target is?

Cancel My Reservation (1972)
Bob Hope and Eva Marie-Saint (On The Waterfront) play a husband/wife talk show couple whose vacation to a desert cabin gets them implicated in a series of murders. Based off the novel The Broken Gun by Louis Lamour.

Paris Holiday (1958)
Hope co-wrote this one and plays a millionaire actor named Robert Hunter (basically himself). Bob is taking a cruise to Paris to meet with a well-respected screenwriter. On the cruise, he falls in love with an American diplomat (Martha Hyer, Sons of Katie Elder), befriends wacky French comedian Fernandel (The Little World of Don Camillo), and must fend off a beautiful European femme fatale (Anita Ekberg, La Dolce Vita). When they reach shore, Bob and the gang find themselves the target of international assassins that have something to do with the screenwriter in question…

The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)
Sgt. O'Farrell (Hope) is a laid back Army Sgt. stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. His work is boring, his men are demoralized, and there's not a pretty girl on the island. Determined to boost their spirits, he conspires with a like-minded naval captain (Dick Sargent, Operation Petticoat) to acquire girls. When he winds up with oversexed old maid Phyllis Diller (Mad Monster Party), he decides to covertly recover a downed transport ship full of Pabst Blue Ribbon without the Navy's help.

Son of Paleface (1969)
Hope returns to the screen as Peter "Junior" Potter, son of one of his most popular characters. Peter is a stuck-up Harvard man who returns to his father's Wild West homestead looking to collect his inheritance. The only problem: it isn't there. Ol' Dad hid it from some enemies, and it's up to Junior to find it before the locals lynch him for family debts. He's seduced by bandit Mike (Jane Russell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and hindered by Roy Rogers (King of the Cowboys) and his horse, Trigger.

How To Commit A Marriage (1969)
Bob Hope and Jane Wyman (The Lost Weekend) play an older married couple who decide to call it quits. The one problem: their divorce is happening right in the middle of their daughter's shotgun wedding. When the hedonistic father of the husband-to-be (Jackie Gleason, The Hustler) gets wind of this info, he uses it to spoil the union, setting off a rivalry between Hope and Gleason that will test the limits of divorce and family.

The Evidence

As much as like Bob Hope, I have to admit this set is something of a mixed bag. Juxtaposed with retired Judge Sandra Dozier's review of The Bob Hope Collection (I missed this set myself), I'm afraid Volume 2 might be a slight step down in quality from the first DVD. That said, when Hope hits, he really hits, and when he misses, he swings for the outfield. Allow me to delineate the hits from the misses.

The Great Lover: Right out of the gate, this is my favorite film on the set. It's fine combination between the thriller and a slapstick Bowery Boys flick. The balance between comedy and suspense reminds me of the balance between horror and comedy in Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein. When the film is funny, it's damn funny, and when it's playing with the audiences nerves, it does so with high tension. Hope is the buoy that keeps the raft afloat, a poor schmuck besieged by puritanical kids, murderous con artists, deceitful feds, and a lovestruck Countess.
Grade: A

Cancel My Reservation is a fun, surprisingly sexy neo-noir with a memorable desert setting. Hope and Eva Marie-Saint make an excellent husband-wife detective team and the villains, while a little stock and predictable, make for fine adversaries. The film is funny, if a little restrained in the slapstick department, meaning it might test fans of Hope who are unwilling to see him play low key. The film has an incredibly low IMDb score, but the only thing weighing the film down is a wonky narrative structure and a bad funk-rock score (because we all associate Bob Hope with Sha-Na-Na style rock n' roll). Watch for hilarious John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Bing Crosby and Flip Wilson cameos halfway through.
Grade: B

Paris Holiday starts out strong, introducing each of its ensemble cast of characters with interior monologues that share each character's thoughts. It's a bold, experimental move, especially for a slapstick caper like this. It is also a narrative device that is discarded far too early on in the film. The first two acts of the movie are so much fun that by the time Hope and the cast make it to Paris, the film falters on the weight of its own espionage subplots. Hope and Fernandel make a fine slapstick team, and a chase featuring Hope dangling from a helicopter's rope ladder picks things up in the final act. Unfortunately, Paris Holiday doesn't mix suspense, comedy, and romance as well as The Great Lover, but is worth a watch on a rainy afternoon.
Grade: C

The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell can be best summed by saying: before Stripes, before In The Army Now, this one did the Army slacker storyline pretty well. The plot is simple enough: Hope wants beer for his men to improve their morale, and is willing to go to any lengths to get it. His hair brained scheme makes for some funny and fine heroic antics. Phyllis Diller does her sexed-up hag schtick well enough, and the two have great onscreen chemistry. My biggest complaint with the film is its prevalent racial humor toward Hope's Japanese enemies. I know the film is set during World War II and the film tries to make up for it with a Japanese American hero character (played by Conan The Barbarian's Mako), but it comes off as thoroughly distasteful and mean spirited. Otherwise, The Private Navy is fine comedy.
Grade: B

Son of Paleface is a respectable comedy-western. I missed original Paleface, but enjoyed this sequel on its own terms. Of all of the films, this one showcases Hope's slapstick skills to their fullest. It is the most postmodern film of the set, with Hope taking verbal cracks at Hollywood throughout (particularly in the film's over-critical, self-referential narration). Jane Russell is sexy and dangerous as the film's femme fatale, and her musical number with Hope and Roy Rogers is tons of fun. The film is a bit long in the tooth, and there are far too many characters, but Son of Paleface delivers the goods. In terms of minor quibbles, I wish Hope would've reigned back on his character's annoyingly preening limericks. When you watch the movie, you will too.
Grade: B+

How To Commit A Marriage is a horrible, horrible marriage farce that tries desperately to comment on the disconnection between hippies and their parents, but does so in a way that is stereotypical and predictable. Never have I seen Hope and Gleason more uncomfortable in a film. They seem to be having fun together, but aside from a golf set piece involving the two and a pro-golfing chimpanzee (you read that right), most of their material is incredibly stale. I for one never need to see Hope made up as a flower child ever again. Ever.
Grade: D

Shout! Factory spreads the six films across three discs. The transfers aren't stunning, and suffer from grain, scratches, and other flaws common to semi-obscure films from the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s. The audio tracks are a bit better. They're standard stereo tracks that sound fairly full, though older films like The Great Lover suffer from some pops and hissing. There are no extras, unfortunately.

Closing Statement

I like Bob Hope and I like this set. It's an uneven mix of movies in terms of quality and content, but the price is reasonable and, aside from How To Commit A Marriage, each film stacks up to be well worth the cumulative $25 price tag. If you own Shout! Factory's The Bob Hope Collection: Volume 1, there is no reason not to pick up this one.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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