I consider myself a Bob Hope fan but this film doesn't begin to explain the reason why. The comedian I remember enjoying was the one who made the Road movies with partner in crime Bing Crosby as well as the Master of Ceremonies who entertained American troops in far flung places around the world. This movie only goes to prove that there was once a time when films like this were considered entertainment, and maybe even funny. What a difference half a century makes.
You can't blame it all on the cast either. There was some genuine talent here with Hope and comedienne Phyllis Diller, but Diller seemed dubiously cast as housekeeper to the Meades (Bob Hope and Marjorie Lord), and even though she had some funny banter with Hope's character, most of the rest was just tedious. Now Elke Sommer - back in the day one would say that she put the words 'va va' and 'voom' together but you couldn't tell she was an actress here. But that's not what she was here for anyway. The film makers managed to find ways to keep her in various stages of undress throughout the picture, but not in a salacious way. In fact she seemed rather wholesome, if that's the right word, most of the time.
Now I'm sure this film had no influence on a movie favorite of a decade later, but didn't anyone else find it odd that a family dinner table scene at the Meade's featured the Divine Didi (Sommer) doing an Obi-Wan-Kenobi take-off? That one just blew me away and if I could have rewound the scene I would have, but I was watching the picture on cable. Funny how those little things get my attention.
Anyway, Hope and Diller fans might get a kick out of this one. I just checked the stats on Marjorie Lord and I'm now rooting for her to make it to a hundred years old as I write this. Before that, I was wondering what she would have to say about that enormous beehive hair-do she had to sport throughout the picture. The thing was big enough to make room for daddy.
You can't blame it all on the cast either. There was some genuine talent here with Hope and comedienne Phyllis Diller, but Diller seemed dubiously cast as housekeeper to the Meades (Bob Hope and Marjorie Lord), and even though she had some funny banter with Hope's character, most of the rest was just tedious. Now Elke Sommer - back in the day one would say that she put the words 'va va' and 'voom' together but you couldn't tell she was an actress here. But that's not what she was here for anyway. The film makers managed to find ways to keep her in various stages of undress throughout the picture, but not in a salacious way. In fact she seemed rather wholesome, if that's the right word, most of the time.
Now I'm sure this film had no influence on a movie favorite of a decade later, but didn't anyone else find it odd that a family dinner table scene at the Meade's featured the Divine Didi (Sommer) doing an Obi-Wan-Kenobi take-off? That one just blew me away and if I could have rewound the scene I would have, but I was watching the picture on cable. Funny how those little things get my attention.
Anyway, Hope and Diller fans might get a kick out of this one. I just checked the stats on Marjorie Lord and I'm now rooting for her to make it to a hundred years old as I write this. Before that, I was wondering what she would have to say about that enormous beehive hair-do she had to sport throughout the picture. The thing was big enough to make room for daddy.