Two Great Bob Hope Pictures Will Keep You Laughing
This is a great pair of B...ob Hope movies on one DVD. I recently bought several DVDs in the Bob Hope Tribute Collection, this one included, and all of them are excellent.
Louisiana Purchase (1941) is one of Hope's best films, and it was his first color picture. Bob plays a state senator, Jim Taylor, in the "fictional" state of Louisiana. Unfortunately, he's given his legal proxy to a trio of corrupt men who have used his company to carry out a lumber scam. The straight-laced Senator Oliver P. Loganberry (Victor Moore) is coming to investigate. The crooks tell Hope what he's done, and now it's up to him to get himself out of this fix or go to jail. All Bob has to do is get Loganberry in a compromising situation and blackmail him. How hard could that be with a U.S. senator who avoids all women and drinks only hot water?
Don't miss Bob's hilarious filibuster scene - he got special permission from Jimmy Stewart.
Never Say Die (1939) is another funny film with a great cast. This comes earlier in Bob's career, and he's not the sole star. In many instances the comedy is increased because of his costars and supporting players. I am not a fan of Martha Raye, but this movie changed my mind about her. She abandons her annoying "Oh boy!" persona for a more likable and toned-down character, playing Mickey Hawkins, the daughter of a Texan who recently struck it rich with oil. Her father is marrying her off to a European prince (Alan Mowbray) who needs her dowry to pay his debts. Meanwhile, John Kidley (Hope), a millionaire hypochondriac who has come to the Bad Gaswasser health spa, is pursued by black widow Gale Sondergaard, a former pistol shooting champion whose four rich husbands died under questionable circumstances. She's determined to marry Bob. At the same time, the pharmacist accidentally switches the pH report for a dog with Bob's report, and the doctor tells Bob that his out-of-whack acidity is going to eat him from the inside out; he has no more than thirty days to live.
Hope and Raye, both desperate to avoid these marriages, meet and secretly wed each other. He promises to leave her his money. Then she'll be able to marry her hometown sweetheart, Henry Munch (Andy Devine). Everything is going fine, until the prince and the widow discover the marriage, and Henry arrives from Texas. Henry isn't about to allow his girlfriend to be left alone with her new husband, going so far as to sleep in the same bed with Hope to keep an eye on him. Hope tries to buy off everyone, guaranteeing them cuts in his will, but he can't escape trouble forever, especially since the doctor is about to tell him he's in perfect health!
Never Say Die is the funnier of the two films with hy...pochondriac Hope thinking he's going to die in 30 days. Not that Louisiana Purchase isn't funny but it's Victor Moore who steals the show there.