Cancel My Reservation (1972)

Director:

Paul Bogart

Writers:

Bob Fisher (writer)
Louis L'Amour (novel)

Release Date:

21 September 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery

Plot:

Bob Hope is a stressed out talk show host who is sent on a vacation to Arizona on doctor's orders and has to play Sherlock Holmes with his wife, the lovely Eva Marie Saint, to solve a series of murders that has Bob as the prime suspect. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Dan Bartlett
Eva Marie Saint	...	Sheila Bartlett
Ralph Bellamy	...	John Ed
Forrest Tucker	...	Reese
Anne Archer	...	Crazy Hollister
Keenan Wynn	...	Sheriff 'Houndtooth' Riley
Henry Darrow	...	Joe Little Cloud
Chief Dan George	...	Old Bear
Doodles Weaver	...	Cactus, Deputy Sheriff
Betty Ann Carr	...	Mary Little Cloud
Herb Vigran	...	Roscoe Snagby
Pat Morita	...	Yamamoto
Gordon Oliver	...	Mr. Willie Sparker
Isabella Hoopes	...	Elderly Lady
Buster Schaefer	...	Doc Morton

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Naho Productions

Trivia:

Bing Crosby's cameo marked his final acting appearance in a film (his remaining appearances would be in documentaries).

Quotes:

Dan Bartlett: Hey wait a minute. I'm entitled to one phone call.
Sheriff 'Houndtooth' Riley: Okay, if somebody phones ya, I'll let ya know.

This one is just morbid.

It's as if, following a decade of beyond-lame comedies, Bob Hope decided what was missing was a little seriousness. So in `Cancel My Reservation,' his character feuds with his wife, and gets accused of a murder he didn't commit. Then, he really gets going and tosses social commentary into the mix – with a Native American sub-plot. Cancel my RESERVATION – get it? Hope tries to crack his jokes as per usual, with his crooked grin, rakish fedora and duck-toed strut. But the snap is gone, and as the villains, Ralph Bellamy and Forrest Tucker don't get the jokes anyway; they sit around and look dyspeptically into the camera, which the director had apparently nailed to the floor before walking away. Maybe he was trying to find the lighting director, because the quality of the film looks sub-high school videotape. In what has come to be known, among Hope aficionados, as the `Dina Merrill' role, Eva Marie Saint plays Hope's wife, clinging to some dignity in front of the camera while probably wringing her agent's neck behind it. Meanwhile, Chief Dan George sits on a mountain and grunts as Hope tries and fails to make jokes at his expense. Some Hope movies of the 1960s were so bad they were endearing, and they reward repeated viewings. But this one is just morbid. Seen once, you won't remember its details, but you may carry around a weird, unpleasant feeling for some time.