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DVD The Princess and the Pirate
Bob Hope is in top form in this Technicolor parody of pirate pictures, doing his best vaudeville shtick as an inept performer trying to save princess Virginia Mayo from the evil clutches of governor Walter Slezak and pirate Victor McLaglen. It's all ridiculous fun, of course, but if you're a fan of Hope, you never tire of his self-effacing gags and double-entendres. His out-of-place show biz jabs were always clever, and they're all the funnier in this period setting--particularly the Bing Crosby jokes. But Walter Brennan nearly steals the film as a wacky pirate scheming to steal buried treasure, and tattooing the map on Hope's chest. Yet the two best routines are when Hope tries to conceal his chest while taking a bath with Slezak, and when he tries to impersonate McLaglen as "the Hook." --Bill Desowitz
If you love pirates (and who doesn't), and you love Bob Hope (ditto), you'll love this movie. The only problem is that there are some bad transfer spots that degrade what we have come to expect from DVD versions. However, that's easy enough to overlook with jokes like, "It's OK. He has a permit."
Bob Hope Cheers Up America
Released after D Day and before VE Day this happy picture was very welcome at the time. It is still very welcome! At that time a comedy in Technicolor was an event: this one would have been outstanding even in black and white. Virginia Mayo was beautiful without the color enhancement but the color was put to good use in other ways as well. My favorite was the greenish cast given to Bob Hope's face when he was forced to drink beer beyond any human capacity. In the world's worst vaudeville act, Hope's seedy stage wardrobe is accented by the use of color.
The plotting is well paced and Walter Slezak, Walter Brennan and Victor McLaglen are well cast as Hope's nemeses. Character actress Maude Eburne has a priceless cameo as a pyromaniacally competitive landlady. It is a pleasure to find another of Hope's best that doesn't date and can be enjoyed by anyone.
Samuel DeLong
What happened?
As mentioned in previous reviews the image quality of this dvd is poor. The color is flat and the double imaging of some of the scenes has to be seen to be believed. How The Princess and the Pirate ever made it out into the world in this state I'll never understand. Didn't anybody even bother to preview this before it was rereleased?
Bob "Orson Welles" Hope is at the top of his game in this 1954 Technicolor laugh-fest co-starring Joan Fontaine and Basil Rathbone. Hope plays Pippo Popolino, Casanova's tailor, who finds himself standing in for the great lover after the real Casanova (played by Vincent Price) leaves town to avoid paying his debts. Enlisted by an overzealous mother-in-law to test the true love of her daughter-in-law-to-be, Hope must capture the prized petticoat and help avert a civil war to boot. Years before he wore out his welcome in countless TV specials, Hope is a marvel here, perfecting his neurotic and vain coward persona while enganging in some pretty inspired slapstick. It's easy to forget that in 1954 this was pretty edgy stuff. It's no wonder a young Woody Allen idolized him. --Kristian... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bob Hope - Joan Fontaine Director(s): Norman Z. McLeod DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Almost as welcome as a shaker full of martinis, The Complete Thin Man Collection represents an eagerly awaited DVD milestone for fans of the fizzy MGM movie series. The best film in the series came first: The Thin Man (1934), W.S. Van Dyke's marvelous adaptation of a Dashiell Hammet novel. The movie gods were in a generous mood when they paired William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the upper-class sophisticates whose sleuthing escapades somehow joined the classic form of the whodunit with the giddyup of screwball comedy. Among the series' many attributes, one of its most radical notions was the idea that a married couple might find each other delightful and view life as a goofy adventure together.
It is common wisdom that the Thin Man sequels... More Info about this DVD Director(s): W.S. Van Dyke DVD Release Date: Released the 02 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I borrowed this movie from the public library. It was my first encounter with Bob Hope. I never really expected him to be as funny as he was. This movie made me laugh so hard I fell out of bed. I thought this movie was hilarious. There were some scenes more funny then others but the movie has a lot of witty humor. The ghost effects in this movie are pretty good. I just thought the whole plot was pretty goofy and fun. Much of the humor is still relevant today. I plan to watch more Bob Hope movies now that I know what sort of comedian he is.
Bob Hope is up to his classic shenanigans in Fancy Pants, a loose remake of the comedy favorite Ruggles of Red Gap. Hope plays Humphrey, an American actor playing a British butler in a hokey play in London. When a fortune-hunter hires the cast to help him woo a wealthy American girl (Lucille Ball, playing her character like a female John Wayne), the girl's domineering mother takes a shine to Humphrey and hires him to be their butler back in New Mexico. But when they arrive out West, the townsfolk believe that Humphrey is British nobility, and even Teddy Roosevelt drops by for a visit. Despite their different comic styles, Hope and Ball have an oddball chemistry together; throw in some musical numbers, physical slapstick, and a shaggy dachshund, and the results will... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bob Hope - Lucille Ball Director(s): George Marshall DVD Release Date: Released the 29 June 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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