One of the most prolific show business figures, Bob Hope is mainly remembered today for his work with the USO tours and his NBC television specials.
When he died in 2003 at the age of 100, he left behind an unprecedented legacy of work that stemmed all the way back to vaudeville. But between the early 40s and the mid-50s, Bob Hope starred in a series of comedy films that rank among some of the very best of their time.
The post-WWII period was a time of transition for screen comedy.
New media such as radio provided a training ground for comedians with a rat-a-tat-tat style of verbal delivery, a far cry from the deliberate, methodical pacing of earlier clowns like Chaplin or W.C. Fields, whose work had often relied as much on a physical or visual component, even on the stage, as much as did on dialogue.
During this time, Bob Hope was the master of the verbal one-liner.
Abbott and Costello were the were starring in a series of great comedies at Universal, combining their trademark verbal routines like “Who’s on First” with slapstick sequences; Red Skelton was doing brilliant character stuff in a series of films for MGM that often hearkened back to the silent era in its use of visual gags; and Danny Kaye, working at Goldwyn, was specializing in a unique brand of character comedy that showcased his comic routines, often including incredibly clever comic songs and verbal routines that were as impressive for the dexterity it took to perform them.
But Bob Hope, who usually played some variation on a comical, cowardly figure, could get laughs with a single one-liner, perfectly timed and delivered.
Hope had been appearing in films since the early ‘30s, when he made a few short subjects for Educational Pictures, a studio that specialized in short comedies with performers who were either on their way up (Danny Kaye, Shirley Temple, Imogene Coca) or on their way down (Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon). In 1938, Hope’s big movie break came with THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938, a musical comedy extravaganza produced by Paramount and starring the likes of W.C. Fields, Dorothy Lamour, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, along with other big names.
In this film Hope performed what would come to be remembered as his theme song, “Thanks for the Memories”. But as was the case with so many of these all-star films, Hope had to share the screen with a number of other featured players.
One of Hope’s earlier hit screen vehicles was THE GHOST BREAKERS, released by Paramount in 1940. A “fright” comedy, co-starring Paulette Goddard, the film established Hope’s screen persona of the comic coward, and features his trademark one-liners set against a genuinely scary backdrop involving zombies.
Also in 1940, Hope would appear in ROAD TO SINGAPORE opposite popular crooner Bing Crosby. The two made a splendid screen team – with Crosby’s cool style and Hope’s comic schnook perfectly complimenting each other. They would follow it up with ROAD TO ZANZIBAR the following year, then
ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942), ROAD TO UTOPIA (1945), ROAD TO RIO (1947), ROAD
TO BALI (1952) and ROAD TO HONG KONG (1962).
ROAD TO SINGAPORE feels very much like an “early” film in the series, with the byplay between Hope and Crosby not fully developed, as it would be in ZANZIBAR. But ROAD TO MOROCCO, released the following year, is probably the best of the series, with pitch-perfect timing. One of the highlights of the film is the delightfully clever title song, performed by Crosby and Hope on the back of a camel riding through the desert.
The “Road” pictures also introduced a surprising amount of post-modern humor. While clowns like W.C. Fields had kidded the moviemaking process before with a self-awareness of the techniques involved, ROAD TO MOROCCO contains a surprising number of direct references to the fact that what we’re seeing is only a movie (the lyrics to the title song include the line, “Paramount will protect us ‘cause we’re signed for five more years”).
The next film in the series, ROAD TO UTOPIA actually begins with acclaimed humorist Robert Benchley introducing the film, once again calling attention to the fact that the audience is watching a movie. Along with films like Olsen and Johnson’s HELLZAPOPPIN (1941) and the animated Looney Tunes series produced by Warner Bros., Hope’s comedies, and the “Road” pictures in particular, played a major part in the emergence of self-reflexive, post-modern comedy in the post-WWII era.
Concurrent with the “Road” pictures, Bob Hope appeared in a number of solo comedies. On loan-out to Goldwyn, he made THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE in 1944, a tailor-made vehicle shot in glorious Technicolor with Hope as a cowardly buccaneer.
Perhaps the best of Hope’s solo vehicles was MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE, released in 1946. A hilarious send-up of French Revolution costume pictures, Hope had the role of his career as the King’s barber who gets himself into more trouble than he bargained for when he poses as a Spanish nobleman, Don Francisco. Combining a strong plot with Hope’s one-liners, the film succeeds splendidly on all levels, and was a major influence on Woody Allen’s comedy, LOVE AND DEATH (1975).
MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE (1947) was an interesting riff on film noir. It was probably the earliest comedy to parody not only the “private eye” genre, but to effectively re-create the stylistic look of a film noir to enhance the satire. Hope plays a baby photographer who wants to be a Sam Spade-type detective, and ends up getting himself in way over his head when he investigates a case on his own. His frequent “Road” co-star, Dorothy Lamour, appeared opposite him in this picture, along with some of Hollywood’s finest character actors, including Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. Alan Ladd, the quintessential noir protagonist who played in many of Paramount’s films of this period, appears as the detective in the opening sequence, and the film ends with a great topper gag featuring Bing Crosby in a surprise cameo appearance.
By the late ‘40s, it must have seemed as if no genre was safe from Hope’s parody. THE PALEFACE came out in 1948, and was a cleverly-written satire of Westerns, with Hope as a cowardly dentist who becomes a reluctant gunslinger, although its 1952 sequel, SON OF PALEFACE (which featured Jane Russell, Roy Rogers and Trigger) was perhaps even funnier.
By the 1950s, however, Hope’s film career was already beginning to wind down somewhat. CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT (1954) revisited the costume comedy of BEAUCAIRE, albeit somewhat less successfully. He wisely turned to more subdued roles in films like FANCY PANTS (1950) and THE LEMON DROP KID (1951). Throughout the decade, Hope continued to make a couple of solid comedies (including 1959’s ALIAS JESSE JAMES), but as he grew older, he advanced to more mature roles in comedies, which were less successful.
One of the better of these was THE FACTS OF LIFE (1960), with Hope playing opposite Lucille Ball as a couple of middle-aged folks who find themselves drawn into an affair. It was a sweet and good-spirited comedy, but lacked the bite that the premise really called for. Hope and Ball are a delight to watch, of course, but overall what could have been a really sharp satire of early ‘60s suburban mores turns into a rather tame and predictable situation comedy.
But such late-career efforts as I’LL TAKE SWEDEN and BOY DID I GET A WRONG NUMBER suffer from a dearth of inventive material, only livened up by Hope’s presence, despite his waning comic energy (which, sadly, was fading somewhat by this point, at least in his film work).
Watching Bob Hope perform in his television specials of the period, it’s clear he was still full of verve and energy as a comedian. Perhaps the added strain of making films contributed to the slightly tired performances he gave in these last starring comedies. In any case, they still remain treasured records of his unique talent, and still can offer fun surprises for viewers who give them a chance.
Hope lived till the age of 100, passing away in 2003.
One of the most prolific and celebrated entertainers in American show business history, his many films remain valuable records of one of our most treasured comic icons.
