HOPE B-BOB HOPE-ROAD TO COMEDY (DVD)-NLA DVD

My Favorite Brunette
Just as Bob Hope's My Favorite Blonde (1942) was a takeoff on Alfred Hitchcock, Hope's My Favorite Brunette was a lampoon of the noirish "hard-boiled detective" school popularized by Raymond Chandler. Awaiting execution on death row, Hope tells the gathered reporters how he got into his present predicament. It seems that Hope was once a baby photographer, his office adjacent to the one leased by a private detective (played in an amusing unbilled cameo by Alan Ladd). While hanging around the p.i.'s office, Hope is mistaken for the detective by beautiful client Dorothy Lamour. She hires Hope to search for her missing uncle, and also entrusts him with a valuable map. Hope's diligent (if inept) sleuthing takes him to a shady rest sanitarium, where he runs afoul of lamebrained henchman Lon Chaney, Jr. and sinister, knife-throwing Peter Lorre. Both are in the employ of attorney Charles Dingle, who is responsible for the disappearance of Lamour's uncle. Escaping the sanitarium with Lamour in tow, Hope follows the trail of evidence to noted geologist Reginald Denny. The geologist is murdered, and Hope is accused of the crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Road to Bali
This sixth entry in the Crosby-Hope-Lamour "Road" series was the first (and last) in Technicolor. This time, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play George Cochran and Harold Gridley, American vaudevillians stranded in Australia. To avoid a dual shotgun wedding, George and Harold sign on as deep-sea divers for sinister South-Sea-island prince Ken Arok (Murvyn Vye). After a contretemps with an octopus (courtesy of stock footage from Reap the Wild Wind), our heroes sail to the prince's Balinese homeland, where they meet and fall in love with gorgeous Princess Lalah (Dorothy Lamour). Though Lalah favors George, she feels obligated to Harold, because he resembles her childhood best friend -- a chimpanzee (this must be seen to be believed). When Ken Arok attempts to usurp Lalah's throne, she and the boys escape to a tropical island, where they meet the inevitable slapstick-comedy gorilla. More adventures await the intrepid trio on another island, this one dominated by an active volcano. Who gets the girl in this one? A hint: the loser tries to physically prevent the "The End" title from flashing on the screen during the final fadeout. Though not as fresh and spontaneous as earlier "Road" endeavors, Road to Bali has its fair share of non sequitur gags, inside jokes and unbilled guest appearances (including Martin and Lewis, Bing's brother Bob Crosby, Humphrey Bogart and Jane Russell). Best bit: when Crosby feels a song coming on, Hope turns to the camera and hisses "He's gonna sing, folks. Now's the time to go and get your popcorn." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Bob Hope as Ronnie Jackson Dorothy Lamour as Carlotta Montay Peter Lorre as Kismet Lon Chaney Jr. as Willie John Hoyt as Dr.Lundau Charles Dingle as Maj. Simon Montague Reginald Denny as James Collins Frank Puglia as Baron Montay Ann Doran as Miss Rogers Willard Robertson as Prison Warden Jack LaRue as Tony Bob Hope as Harold Gridley Bing Crosby as George Cochran Dorothy Lamour as Princess Lalah Murvyn Vye as Ken Arok Peter Coe as Gung Leon Askin as Ramayana Ralph Moody as Bhoma Da

Crew J. McMillan Johnson - Art Director Hal Pereira - Art Director Charles O'Curran - Choreography Edith Head - Costume Designer Hal Walker - Director Archie Marshek - Editor Joseph Lilley - Composer (Music Score) Joseph Lilley - Musical Direction/Supervision Wally Westmore - Makeup George Barnes - Cinematographer Daniel Dare - Producer Harry Tugend - Producer Sam Comer - Set Designer Ross Dowd - Set Designer Gene Merritt - Sound/Sound Designer John Cope - Sound/Sound Designer Frank R. Butler - Screen Story Frank R. Butler - Screenwriter William Morrow - Screenwriter Hal Kanter - Screenwriter J. McMillan Johnson - Art Director Hal Pereira - Art Director Charles O'Curran - Choreography Edith Head - Costume Designer Hal Walker - Director Archie Marshek - Editor Joseph Lilley - Composer (Music Score) Joseph Lilley - Musical Direction/Supervision Wally Westmore - Makeup George Barnes - Cinematographer Daniel Dare - Producer Harry Tugend - Producer Sam Comer - Set Designer Ross Dowd - Set Designer Gene Merritt - Sound/Sound Designer John Cope - Sound/Sound Designer Frank R. Butler - Screen Story Frank R. Butler - Screenwriter William Morrow - Screenwriter Hal Kanter - Screenwriter

My Favorite Brunette
Woody Allen often stated that Bob Hope was a major influence on his work, and this is especially clear in My Favorite Brunette. Many of the gags and one-liners given to Hope would not seem out of place coming from Allen, with the crucial difference that the former delivers them "sincerely," whereas coming from the latter they would be tinged with irony. Brunette is a send-up of the "private dick" film, with Hope's take on a Phillip Marlowe type, giving him the chance to play his favorite "fish out of water" routine for all it's worth. For most of the film, the gags come fast and furious here, often making no sense but accumulating an irresistible force nonetheless. Unfortunately, about two-thirds of the way through, the tangled plot (an essential feature of the genre being spoofed) takes precedence and slows things down a little; it isn't a fatal change of pace, but it does keep the film from being the full-length laugh-fest it could have been. Hope is right at home with the material, and, of course, he gets good assistance from Dorothy Lamour. What's surprising is how delightfully funny Peter Lorre and (especially) Lon Chaney Jr. are. If My Favorite Brunette just misses being a classic comedy, it still has a great deal to recommend it. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

Road to Bali
The plot for Road to Bali is pretty thin stuff, even for one of the "Road" pictures. This does, however, place more of a burden on our trio of stars and on the quality of the jokes and songs; while there's nothing really wrong with any of these elements, things still don't really come together to make Bali the boffo fun that it wants to be. Even moreso than in previous entries in the series, there's an abundance of self-referential humor and light genre parodies -- and comic cameo appearances are taken to a bit of a ridiculous extreme. But even so, Bali is amiable and undemanding fun, and if Bob Hope and Bing Crosby don't have the inspired lunacy that they had in Road to Morocco, they still work like a well-oiled machine (with Dorothy Lamour as the lever that often gets them started). Bali also benefits from being shot in Technicolor. There aren't any real location shots, just studio sets, but they positively drip with rich, savory color. Lamour gets the best song, "Moonflowers," and Crosby does quite nicely with the mediocre "To See You." Not the best "Road" show, Bali nonetheless is enjoyable and occasionally very funny. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: DD2: Dolby Digital Stereo Additional Features: Interactive menus Remastered Chapter stops DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: All Content Length: 178 min Part of Series: Vintage Movie Classics   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 2. Chapter 1 [12:53] 3. Chapter 2 [9:26] 4. Chapter 3 [11:53] 5. Chapter 4 [10:02] 6. Chapter 5 [5:03] 7. Chapter 6 [13:25] 8. Chapter 7 [11:43] 9. Chapter 8 [7:22] 2. Chapter 1 [12:39] 3. Chapter 2 [4:16] 4. Chapter 3 [5:41] 5. Chapter 4 [7:15] 6. Chapter 5 [13:30] 7. Chapter 6 [10:46] 8. Chapter 7 [8:07] 9. Chapter 8 [10:15]