Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993 TAG: 9305220028
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I've watched four of them so far, and recommend them almost without reservation. In each, Hope doesn't so much act as portray various incarnations of his established screen persona: the fast-talking comic lover-coward-bumbler who triumphs in spite of himself. The films are vehicles for his particular brand of humor. If some of the jokes and references are a little dated, the star himself is still funny, and that's the point.
Also, in all of these movies, Hope surrounded himself with some of the most beautiful and sexy actresses of the time. The Hollywood glamour machine was hitting on all cylinders then, and it did everything it could to flatter its leading ladies. Those women were just gorgeous, and despite changes in fashion they still look terrific.
In\ "Monsieur Beaucaire," a costume musical comedy from 1946, our Bob plays the barber to King Louis. The tangled plot has to do with the palace intrigues of Madame Pompadour and a political marriage between a courtier and a Spanish princess. That sends Beaucaire, impersonating the nobleman, and his sort-of girlfriend Mimi (Joan Caulfield) off to Spain. It ends with a comic duel that's almost as much fun as the big finish of Danny Kaye's "The Court Jester."
"\ My Favorite Blonde" (1942) is a spy caper with foggy nights, hidden identities and enigmatic clues like a carved scorpion. Bob plays an innocent comedian who's caught in the middle when he meets a beautiful woman (Madeleine Carroll). Gale Sondergard, the original Spider Woman, is also on hand.
In "\ Caught In the Draft" (1941), our hero is a vain movie star, Don Bolton, who arranges a fake enlistment to impress Dorothy Lamour, the beautiful daughter of a colonel. Of course, the fake enlistment isn't and the celluloid hero finds himself in the real army.
\ "The Ghost Breakers" (1940) may be the most enjoyable of the bunch. This one begins with the traditional "dark and stormy night." Bob is Lawrence Lawrence, radio gossip monger who jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire when he offends a local mobster and stumbles into a conspiracy against Paulette Goddard. She has just inherited Castillo Maldito on Black Island off the coast of Cuba, but someone is trying to drive her off.
The last third of the film takes place in the castle where all the traditional spooky elements of an "old dark house" tale are trotted out: secret passageways, hidden panels, zombies, ghosts, etc.
Some viewers will have problems with the character of Alex (Willie Best), the stereotyped and subservient black family retainer. But it's really not fair to judge this light comedy too harshly by today's standards. No, the film is not particularly enlightened; it's just a product of its time.
The other three titles in this new release package are "College Swing" (1938), "Louisiana Purchase" (1941) and "Sorrowful Jones" (1949).
Younger videophiles may not appreciate the kind of comedy that Bob Hope practiced so well. Then again, they might. After all, Hope comes from the vaudeville tradition where simply being funny is more important than telling jokes or doing physical routines. Like all the great popular actors, he is someone you enjoy spending time with, and that's the quality that makes these films so enjoyable.
By the way, perhaps his best film, or at least the one in which he did his best acting work, has yet to make its way to home video. In 1957's "Beau James" he played Jimmy Walker, the colorful mayor of New York. It's been years since I've seen the film, but I remember it as a well-told political drama. It is being shown this month on the cable channel American Movie Classics, and that might mean that it will appear on cassette soon.
Next week: Made in Virginia!
The Essentials:
(All of these films are from MCA/Universal. They're unrated and contain no offensive material.)
Monsieur Beaucaire: ++ 1/2 93 min.
My Favorite Blonde: ++ 1/2 78 min.
Caught In the Draft: ++ 88 min.
The Ghost Breakers: +++ 85 min.
New releases this week:
Hoffa ++
Starring Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito. Directed by DeVito. Written by David Mamet. FoxVideo. 134 min. Rated R for raw language, violence, brief nudity.
At the end of the two hours plus of this bioflick, you'll be familiar with the major events of the labor leader's professional life, but there's nothing to tell you who he was, or, on a personal level, why he did what he did. On the basic emotional level, where all movies succeed or fail, "Hoffa" is as dry as sand.
by CNB