The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)

When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally steers Moose Moran's girl away from a winning bet, he is forced to come up with $10,000 to repay the angry gangster. Fortunately it's Christmas, a time ... See full summary »

Director:

Sidney Lanfield

Writers:

Edmund Beloin (story), Irving Elinson (additional dialogue),

Stars:

Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bob Hope	...	Sidney Milburn aka The Lemon Drop Kid
Marilyn Maxwell	...	'Brainey' Baxter
Lloyd Nolan	...	Oxford Charlie
Jane Darwell	...	Nellie Thursday
Andrea King	...	Stella
Fred Clark	...	Moose Moran
Jay C. Flippen	...	Straight Flush Tony
William Frawley	...	Gloomy Willie
Harry Bellaver	...	Sam the Surgeon
Sid Melton	...	Little Louie
Ben Welden	...	Singing Solly
Ida Moore	...	Mrs. Feeney - The Bird Lady
Francis Pierlot	...	Henry Regan
Charles Cooley	...	Goomba
Salvatore De Lorenzo	...	Street-corner Santa Claus (as Society Kid Hogan)

Storyline

When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally steers Moose Moran's girl away from a winning bet, he is forced to come up with $10,000 to repay the angry gangster. Fortunately it's Christmas, a time when people can be persuaded to part with money for the right cause.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | horse | safecracker | new york city | horse racing | 

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Taglines:

SONGS: "Silver Bells" "They Obviously Want Me To Sing" "It Doesn't Cost A Dime To Dream"

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hej tomtegubbar

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hope Enterprises, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Introduced the hit Christmas song "Silver Bells". The movie was filmed in 1950, but not released in theaters until March, 1951. When a recording of "Silver Bells" by Bing Crosby became a hit in December, 1950, the studio called Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell back to re-shoot a more elaborate musical version of the song for the film's release. In later years, Bob Hope made "Silver Bells" his own Christmas theme. He performed the song every year on his annual Christmas TV special, usually singing it as a duet with the lead female guest (such as Olivia Newton-John, Shirley Jones, Barbara Mandrell, or his own wife, Dolores Hope).

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Goofs

When there is a lots of snow, objects in the distance look hazy. On the street just before Bob Hope gets pulled back, it is clear in the distance, plus no vehicles parked or driving by have snow on them.

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Quotes

Gloomy Willie: What's a cow doing inside a house?
Sidney Melbourne: Milton Berle is on tonight.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Dude, Where's My Ranch? (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Silver Bells"
Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Sung by Marilyn Maxwell (unredited) and Bob Hope (uncredited)

User Reviews

Lemon Drops With Silver Bells

The Lemon Drop Kid is the second of two films Bob Hope did from stories based on Damon Runyon's colorful collection of characters, the first being Sorrowful Jones. Sidney Melbourne known to one and all as The Lemon Drop Kid for his inordinate fondness for lemon flavored candy is a fellow who lives by his wits as a race track tout.

Sometimes our hero is too clever by a half and when he gives the wrong tip to gambler Fred Clark's girl friend, Andrea King, Clark says that Hope owes him ten thousand dollars, the amount the horse would have paid him.

Things move fast and furious as Hope evolves a scheme to raise the money by starting a home for little old ladies named for Jane Darwell. Hope gets everyone in his set involved including his long suffering girl friend, Marilyn Maxwell.

Maxwell, who was reputedly involved romantically with Hope during the shooting of this film, plays a part almost identical to Runyon's better known Adelaide from Guys and Dolls.

Of course this film is famous for introducing that modern Christmas classic Silver Bells by Bob and Marilyn. And in an act that some might consider charity, that other well known Paramount star, Bing Crosby made a hit record of it with his radio girl singer of the moment Carole Richards.

In his musical autobiography record Bing said that he thought the secret of Silver Bells popularity is that it is an urban based song with its images of department stores, kid's rushing, and above all the bustle the sound of bells from street corner Santas. The song fits in real nice in the film with Hope's scheme involving his fellow street people in Santa Claus suits collecting for that little old ladies home.

Silver Bells got nominated for Best song, but lost to that other Paramount film song In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening introduced by Bing Crosby.

Still the popularity of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans classic modern holiday ballad will insure people will be watching The Lemon Drop Kid for years to come.