Never Say Die (1939)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Elliott Nugent

Writers:

Frank Butler (writer)
Don Hartman (writer)

Release Date:

14 April 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Bob Hope is being stalked by a predatory widow who is a widow of wealthy husbands many times over. Martha...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play

Cast

Martha Raye	...	Mickey Hawkins
Bob Hope	...	John Kidley
Andy Devine	...	Henry Munch
Alan Mowbray	...	Prince Smirnov
Gale Sondergaard	...	Juno Marko
Sig Ruman	...	Poppa Ingleborg (as Sig Rumann)
Ernest Cossart	...	Jeepers
Paul Harvey	...	Jasper Hawkins
Frances Arms	...	Momma Ingleborg
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Kretsky (as Ivan Simpson)
Monty Woolley	...	Dr. Schmidt
Foy Van Dolsen	...	Kretsky's bodyguard
Christian Rub	...	The mayor

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Man who loads pistols: There's a cross on the muzzle of the pistol with the bullet and a nick on the handle of the pistol with the blank.

Movie Connections:

Version of Never Say Die (1924)

Soundtrack:

The Tra La La and The Oom Pah Pah

Unusual early pairing of stars

No masterpiece, but interesting in its own right. Martha Raye, for once, is playing it straight, and not doing the broad comedy/singing routine that was part of her 1930s Paramount films. (She really didn't show this side of her talent again until she had her regular TV variety show in the 1950s. Bob Hope had not yet become the familiar "Bob Hope", wise-cracking and egotistical; rather, here he plays a light comedy romantic lead rather in the British music hall manner. The love scenes between the two are often rather touching in their sincerity. The supporting cast is excellent, especially Gale Sondergaard, the predatory villianness whose shooting skill, which hangs ominously over Hope's head as she forces him into marriage during the entire film, provides the deus ex machina to resolve the romantic plot in a surprise turnabout. The fact that all other roles are played so broadly helps highlight the relatively subdued Raye and Hope performances. In fact, there are several surprises along the way, including the fact that boy and girl marry at about a third of the way through the movie; then fall in love. Very enjoyable.