This film incorporates the 3 classic elements of a vaudevillian show: music: both vocal and dancing, comedy: both verbal and physical, and drama, including romance and antagonistic elements. These should be in approximate balance, sometimes with comedy and drama mixed in with the music, as in this film.
There are 8 musical numbers, most incorporated into the musical productions. We have 4 featured singers,2 of each sex, in Bob Hope, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl, and Rosemary Clooney. Hope and Martin are very different styled singers, with Martin a classic-trained singer and Hope with his vaudeville style. Dahl is cast as the grand dame, in very elegant wardrobes. Rosemary, cast as a chorus girl, seems more like the girl next door, and has a real crush on Hope's character(Snodgrass), instead of the phony interest of Arlene. Rosemary gets the most songs, one a duet with Hope, and one outside a production. I thought most of the songs were good, if not terribly memorable. The soft shoe "Ya Got Class", with Hope and Rosemary is probably my favorite. In addition, the African American Four Step Brothers gymnastic dance team participated in the "Ali Baba, Be My Baby" song and dance fest.
The 4 musical productions feature a variety of themes. The first theme is high fashion NYC at the turn of the century. Latino-style dancing is the theme of the second production. The third production features costumes relating to the Arab world. The last production has the circus as it's theme...Some reviewers wanted more comedy and less music. To me, they were in perfect balance, especially considering that much of the comedy was incorporated into the musical productions.
Fred Clark excels as the poor producer who has to keep deciding whether Hope stays or is released, not one time, but several....Robert Strauss plays Jack the Slasher(impersonator of Jack the Ripper?), who wants to kill, or at least injure, anyone who he thinks is romancing Arlene(namely, Hope and Martin),and keeps popping up until near the end. William Demarest is a detective on the lookout for The Slasher, who has escaped from custody. He devises various plans to entrap him, mostly involving the musical productions... Millard Mitchell plays Hope's step-father, who runs a coal-delivering company.. He pesters Hope to give up his dismal acting career, and join his coal company. After Hope is fired from the acting company, he tries out delivering coal. The first day, he mistakes a sidewalk laundry hatch for a coal shute, and creates a horrible mess, being forced to join the laundresses to make up for his mistake. Papa Snodgrass emphasizes that he isn't Hope's father. He's just his mother's husband. Zamah Cunningham plays Hope's mother, who has been providing his room and board for 20 years, since he began his theatrical career.
As expected, Hope is a clumsy oaf in the musical productions, substituting for the injured Martin. He can't remember his lines, so they are written on various props the other actors have, often vary obvious to the audience. The climax occurs when The Slasher, dressed as one of the clowns he knocked out, chases Hope around the circus with a knife(he thinks).
Of course, there has to be some reference to Bing Crosby. It comes in the form of a boy, whose name is Bang Crosby.
In summary, as entertaining as any Hope or Hope & Crosby film I've seen, with a better balance of vaudevillian components than most. See it now on You Tube.
There are 8 musical numbers, most incorporated into the musical productions. We have 4 featured singers,2 of each sex, in Bob Hope, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl, and Rosemary Clooney. Hope and Martin are very different styled singers, with Martin a classic-trained singer and Hope with his vaudeville style. Dahl is cast as the grand dame, in very elegant wardrobes. Rosemary, cast as a chorus girl, seems more like the girl next door, and has a real crush on Hope's character(Snodgrass), instead of the phony interest of Arlene. Rosemary gets the most songs, one a duet with Hope, and one outside a production. I thought most of the songs were good, if not terribly memorable. The soft shoe "Ya Got Class", with Hope and Rosemary is probably my favorite. In addition, the African American Four Step Brothers gymnastic dance team participated in the "Ali Baba, Be My Baby" song and dance fest.
The 4 musical productions feature a variety of themes. The first theme is high fashion NYC at the turn of the century. Latino-style dancing is the theme of the second production. The third production features costumes relating to the Arab world. The last production has the circus as it's theme...Some reviewers wanted more comedy and less music. To me, they were in perfect balance, especially considering that much of the comedy was incorporated into the musical productions.
Fred Clark excels as the poor producer who has to keep deciding whether Hope stays or is released, not one time, but several....Robert Strauss plays Jack the Slasher(impersonator of Jack the Ripper?), who wants to kill, or at least injure, anyone who he thinks is romancing Arlene(namely, Hope and Martin),and keeps popping up until near the end. William Demarest is a detective on the lookout for The Slasher, who has escaped from custody. He devises various plans to entrap him, mostly involving the musical productions... Millard Mitchell plays Hope's step-father, who runs a coal-delivering company.. He pesters Hope to give up his dismal acting career, and join his coal company. After Hope is fired from the acting company, he tries out delivering coal. The first day, he mistakes a sidewalk laundry hatch for a coal shute, and creates a horrible mess, being forced to join the laundresses to make up for his mistake. Papa Snodgrass emphasizes that he isn't Hope's father. He's just his mother's husband. Zamah Cunningham plays Hope's mother, who has been providing his room and board for 20 years, since he began his theatrical career.
As expected, Hope is a clumsy oaf in the musical productions, substituting for the injured Martin. He can't remember his lines, so they are written on various props the other actors have, often vary obvious to the audience. The climax occurs when The Slasher, dressed as one of the clowns he knocked out, chases Hope around the circus with a knife(he thinks).
Of course, there has to be some reference to Bing Crosby. It comes in the form of a boy, whose name is Bang Crosby.
In summary, as entertaining as any Hope or Hope & Crosby film I've seen, with a better balance of vaudevillian components than most. See it now on You Tube.