Eight on the Lam (1967)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Bob Fisher (story)
Albert E. Lewin (writer)

Release Date:

26 April 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Bank teller and widower with seven kids, Bob Hope finds $10,000 in a parking lot. His luck quickly changes...

Plot Keywords:

Large Family | Robbery | False Accusation | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Henry Dimsdale
Phyllis Diller	...	Golda
Jonathan Winters	...	Police Sgt. Jasper Lynch
Shirley Eaton	...	Ellie Barton
Jill St. John	...	Monica
Stacey Gregg	...	Linda (as Stacey Maxwell)
Kevin Brodie	...	Steve
Robert Hope	...	Mike
Glenn Gilger	...	Andy
Avis Hope	...	Dana
Debi Storm	...	Lois
Michael Freeman	...	Mark
Austin Willis	...	Mr. Pomeroy
Peter Leeds	...	Marty

Also Known As:

Eight on the Run (UK)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | West Germany:6 (nf)

Company:

Hope Enterprises

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Reflections of Evil (2002)

Hope On The Run

In a plot borrowed somewhat from Double Dynamite, bank teller Bob Hope finds $10,000.00 in thousand dollar Grover Cleveland notes in a parking lot. He's real happy until it's discovered at his bank that they're short $50,000.00 in their books. Who seems to have come into some money? Nobody but old ski nose so he has to take it on the lam.

That's not easy considering he's a widower with seven kids. Hope's also got a babysitter played by Phyllis Diller. He leaves her behind, but she proves to be quite an asset behind enemy lines so to speak, especially with her cop boyfriend, Jonathan Winters.

Bob Hope gets only about a third of the laughs with Diller and Winters nicely splitting the rest. Winters does a repeat of his role as the dim bulb truck driver from It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World only here he's a dim bulb of a cop. If it isn't Hope, it's Diller constantly getting the better of him. Winters does a cameo appearance also as is own mother in that little old lady masquerade he was known for.

Of course the mystery is solved, in this case almost by sheer dumb luck and Hope winds up with school teacher Shirley Eaton and Diller with Winters despite all her obstruction of justice. It's how it is done that you have to see the film for.

Look also for a nice performance by Jill St. John as the gold digging femme fatale who inspires embezzlement. Eight on the Lam is nicely directed by comedy veteran George Marshall who's put Hope through all his paces before. It's a bit better than most of Hope's later work in the sixties.