Bob Hope is everyone's favorite comedienne. Or at least, he's one of mine. I can't remember the first film I saw of his. It was either Son of Paleface (1952) or My Favorite Brunette/Road to Bali (double feature dvd from Dollar Tree). Whichever film it was, I found Bob to be hilarious and now own several of his movies. His bromance with Bing Crosby is one of the greatest ever captured on film (Bing has a cameo in virtually every Hope film. If not Bob makes a crack about him). I still have lots of his movies to see, but here are my favorites:
1. The Ghost Breakers (1940) - Paulette Goddard
2. Caught in the Draft (1941) - Dorothy Lamour
3. The Princess and the Pirate (1944) - Virginia Mayo
4. My Favorite Brunette (1947) - Dorothy Lamour
5. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) - Marilyn Maxwell
6. Son of Paleface (1952) - Jane Russell and Roy Rogers
7. Paris Holiday (1958) - Anita Ekberg
8. Alias Jesse James (1959) - Rhonda Fleming
9. Bachelor in Paradise (1961) - Lana Turner
10. The Road to... Series with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour (except Hong Kong) - ok, I'm cheating with this one but I don't remember which ones I like best)
What film was your introduction to Bob Hope? Which of his films is your favorite?
The 1940s - when the Movies went to war. Now, not only did the movies have to entertain, they had to show support of the war and boost morale. During this time, the OWI (Office of War Information) asked all filmmakers to consider these seven questions when making a movie:
Will this picture help win the war?
What war information problem does it seek to clarify, dramatize or interpret?
If it is and "escape" picture, will it harm the war effort by creating a false picture of America, her allies, or the world we live in?
Does it merely use the war as the basis for a profitable picture, contributing nothing of real significance to the war effort and possibly lessening the effect of other pictures of more importance?
Does it contribute something new to our understanding of our world conflict and the various forces involved, or has the subject already been adequately covered?
When the picture reaches its maximum circulation on the screen, will it reflect the conditions as they are and fill a need current at that time, or will it be out-dated?
Does the picture tell the truth or will the young people of today have reason to say they were misled by propaganda?
Hollywood rose to the challenge, churning out war picture after war picture. Mrs. Miniver (1942) portrayed ultimate patriotism. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) showed the challenges of returning Veterans. John Wayne won every battle conceivable against the enemy. Many big name stars even served.
Birthday boy James Stewart retired from the army as a two star Major General.
Even Roosevelt approved of the way Hollywood was doing their part. An aide to the President, Lowell Mellett, said "Practically everything being shown on the screen from newsreel to fiction that touches on our national purpose is of the right sort" (Hollywood Goes to War, Roy Hoopes).
The 1940s is the decade with the most films on my list. This one was particularly agonizing to whittle down to a mere ten (as you can see from all of the Honorable Mentions). Also, half of them ended up being Christmas movies (both #4 & 6 are set at Christmas are have a scene at Christmas time). There's also not a lot of war films reflected here. As you an see, I usually err on the side of comedy. What can I say? I love to laugh!
1940s:
1. Meet John Doe (1941) - Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck
2. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) - Robert Montgomery & Carole Lombard
3. To Be or Not To Be (1941/42) - Jack Benny & Carole Lombard
Honorable Mentions: Rebecca (1940), Remember the Night (1940), Third Finger, Left Hand (1940), The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941), The Lady Eve (1941), Random Harvest (1942), Now, Voyager (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), A Stolen Life (1946), Magic Town (1947), Life with Father (1947), Portrait of Jennie (1948), It's a Great Feeling (1949), Ma and Pa Kettle (1949).
That's what I thought when I heard about the "Dot" Blogathon honoring Dorothy Lamour hosted by Silver Screenings and Font and Frock. Okay, so I didn't really, but it's a good quote with which to start this post!
The quote comes from the John Ford film Donovan's Reef, which has been a favorite film of my family's for years. We lovingly refer to it as "Boolah Boolah," which are the first words of the opening song, in English, "Pearly Shells." Back before DVD's, we would listen to Mom describe this magical John Wayne movie set in Hawaii that we had never seen before. We wondered if we would ever find a copy to watch. Then one day, while visiting my mom's brother several states away, we found the old recorded VHS. Were we excited! We could hardly wait to see it! And it did not disappoint. It quickly became a favorite and we now own several copies - some things are just too hard to pass up.
"Who is in this wonderful film and what makes it so good?" you may ask. Let me tell you. As I already mentioned, this is a John Wayne film (we are huge Duke fans over here. My brothers and I grew up watching The Quiet Man most Saturday mornings). Wayne plays Michael "Guns" Donovan. He lives on the, sadly fictional, Hawaiian island Haleakaloha (Hah-lee-ah-kuh-low-ah), where he runs a saloon, Donovan's Reef. Also residing on this island paradise are Dr. William Dedham (Jack Warden) and his three children - "little half-casts," Father Cluzeot - pronounced "clue-zoh" (Marcel Dalio), the Marquis Andre de Lage, governor of this "wretched island" (Caesar Romero), and Miss LaFleur (Dorothy Lamour). Other assorted character include Mr. Eu (pronounced "you"), the always off-duty Sergeant Monk, Sister Angelique and Sister Mary Margaret, and the Australian Navy. There is just one more character to make the cast complete: Gilhooley.
Gilhooley, the kind of guy that has a woman in every port (played hilariously by Lee Marvin), and Guns Donovan fought together in the war along with the Doc. They also happen to share a birthday, Dec. 7th. Do they get together every year to celebrate together? Nope. In true John Ford fashion they have an annual birthday brawl.
Funny promo shot. The Sisters do not approve.
Gilhooley abandons the ship he is serving on and swims ashore. The women of the island greet him with kisses and leis. The men, however, are less than happy to see him, especially Fr. Cluzeot (you can see his entrance here).
He then seeks out his friend, borrowing a white suit while he's at it - "Something you can be buried in!" Miss LaFleur is very happy to see him - "You've come back to marry me!" she says as she throws her arms around him.
While the Doc is out ministering to some of the other surrounding islands, word comes that his older daughter, Amelia by his first marriage (wife died soon after childbirth) is coming to the island on a business matter. The Doc has never seen his daughter and his daughter doesn't know that he married again - to the Princess Manulani who died in childbirth. Worried at how she might react to her half-cast siblings, they decide to have the children pretend to belong to Donovan until the Doc returns so that he can tell Amelia himself. Elizabeth Allen plays the snobbish Bostonian perfectly. She turns up her nose and men like Donovan and claims that if he is an example of fathers she is glad she never knew hers. She has a change of heart however when she does meet him and sees with her own eyes all the good he has done for the people of Haleakaloha. Also during this time she falls in love with Donovan and figures out that "his kids" are really her half siblings. She welcomes them with open arms.
The cast in another promo shot.
So where else does Dorothy Lamour come in? Miss LaFleur works at Donovan's Reef. She has some of the best lines in the film.
Amelia runs into Fleur at a shop while looking for a bathing suit. Fleur is looking at a wedding gown. "Are you contemplating matrimony?" Amelia asks. "What young girl my age doesn't contemplate matrimony" Fleur shoots back (she is quite obviously in her 40s).
In another scene, Fleur is singing at the bar. When she is done, she does to sit with the Marquis. He orders her champagne. Fleur quickly says "No no no no, my voice. A slug of gin, if you please." You really have to hear her say it. Her line delivery is comedy at its best.
She also sings "Silent Night" for the Christmas pageant.
She starts singing at 2:50
There's another humorous scene at the end of the film but you'll have to watch it for yourself.
Though Lamour isn't in much of the movie, it just wouldn't be Donovan's Reef without her. I wish I could include a compilation of her clips in the movie, as my little review really doesn't do her justice, but I have no idea how to do that. It's hard to describe comedy.
A behind-the-scenes photo with the Duke.
Miss Lamour's contribution is slight, but she obviously
appreciates the free-and-easy spirit of the whole wacky affair.
Lamour's muumuu was borrowed from John Ford's wife, cutting down on costume costs (I'm guessing the yellow one).
Donovan's Reef was filmed mostly on Kaua'i, Hawaii. The home of the French island governor is the Allerton Estate home and former summer residence of Hawaiian Queen Emma near Poipu Beach, now a part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (without the scenes of boats and canoes on the Wailua River, which were edited and merged with scenes filmed at the Allerton Estate). Other locations on the Island included Waimea Canyon, Hanamaulu Bay, and Ahukini Pier.
John Wayne's son, Patrick Wayne, appears briefly in two scenes, one at the bar where he breaks up a fight, and at the Christmas pageant.
The yacht in the film belonged to John Ford. It was named the 'Araner,' a name used in the film for one of the ships.
This was John Wayne and John Ford's last film together.
Don't forget to read all of the other posts on Dorothy Lamour!
What film from the golden age of Hollywood do you show to a person who has only seen new movies? What if they say they don't like black and white? How do you get them to see that the oldies are not only good, buy better than the films of today? It is these questions that the Try It, You'll Like It! Blogathon hosted by Sister Celluloid and Movies Silently are answering.
The film I chose is My Favorite Brunette (1947) starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, and Lon Chaney Jr. Why did I choose this film? It has a little bit of something for everyone: likeable characters, an interesting plot, suspense, comedy. There's good guys and bad guys, mysterious people, creepy houses, and a range of locations from the city (San Francisco and Washington D.C.), the shore, and the country.
The film starts in jail. Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) has been arrested for a crime he didn't commit and is telling his story to the newspapers before he heads off to the chair. We then go back in time, to when everything began.
You see, I wanted to be a detective too. It only took brains,
courage, and a gun... and I had the gun.
Jackson is a baby photographer. Next door to his office is a private detective (brief appearance by of Alan Ladd as the detective). Sam McCloud asks Jackson to watch his office for him while he is gone. Just moments after he leaves, and while Jackson is pretending he is a detective, a beautiful woman rushes in (Lamour). She introduces herself as Carlotta Montay. She keeps shushing him and hurriedly whispers part of her story to him before hurrying out in fear. She tells him to meet her at an abandoned mansion, where she is staying (it still exists on Carmel-by-the-Sea's famous 17 Mile Drive). When Jackson arrives there he is immediately thrown into a mystery of deception and intrigue. Unsure of who is on his side and who isn't, he bumbles his way through danger, ending with his arrest for murder. Will he be cleared before the death sentence can be fulfilled? You can read the full plot synopsis here.
I found this movie at Dollar Tree many years ago (it's in the public domain) and it became an instant favorite with me and my brothers. The reason I chose this film is that is has an element of suspense that is present in most modern films. Generally, people who don't like old films say it is because they are slow and boring. My Favorite Brunette is very fast paced and really keeps you on your toes. Plus, you can never go wrong with Bob Hope's zaniness. You can watch the entire film below.
Be sure to read all of the other great posts of must-watch movies here!
