At least though they had interesting shapes. By this time, Hope's film career had been in horrible shape for over a decade. Basically, he was just playing himself, reciting his lines like he did with staff written jokes on his all-star TV specials. That, plus unbelievably ridiculous ploys, makes these films unwatchable even if they did as much stuffing as Hope was getting into his far too tight pants with guest stars. Try not to roll your eyes at Bob's even then dated topical references, continuing gags at guest star Bing Crosby's expense even before old orange seed even popped up.
Once again, the 70+ year old Hope (claiming to be 42, which would mean that Hope was only 3 when he appeared on Broadway in "Roberta") gets a much younger leading lady, the still beautiful Oscar winning Eva Marie Saint, looking like his daughter. They're not really a believable Lunt and Fontanne like couple of TV talk show hosts, and jealous of his wife's success, chauvinist Hope heads out west to Arizona for some R&R, but she heads there to rescue him when he's wrongfully accused of murdering a young woman.
The huge ensemble includes a young Anne Archer as a hippie that Hope finds in his bed, Keenan Wynn and Doodles Weaver as the local law, Ralph Bellamy and Forrest Tucker as the twi heavy's, and additional cameos by John Wayne, Flip Wilson and Johnny Carson. How this ever got made is a huge mystery, especially considering that the book was set in the old west and couldn't possibly have been right for old ski nose Hope. Poor direction by TV director Paul Bogart also impacts the film, a notorious flop that deserved it. The 70's had their classic movies, but outside films by Simon, Allen and Brooks, not a memorable decade for comedies, especially considering all the classic sitcoms on the air at the time. It also seemed to take great pleasure in ridiculing native Americans, not wise in the social wars of that era.
Once again, the 70+ year old Hope (claiming to be 42, which would mean that Hope was only 3 when he appeared on Broadway in "Roberta") gets a much younger leading lady, the still beautiful Oscar winning Eva Marie Saint, looking like his daughter. They're not really a believable Lunt and Fontanne like couple of TV talk show hosts, and jealous of his wife's success, chauvinist Hope heads out west to Arizona for some R&R, but she heads there to rescue him when he's wrongfully accused of murdering a young woman.
The huge ensemble includes a young Anne Archer as a hippie that Hope finds in his bed, Keenan Wynn and Doodles Weaver as the local law, Ralph Bellamy and Forrest Tucker as the twi heavy's, and additional cameos by John Wayne, Flip Wilson and Johnny Carson. How this ever got made is a huge mystery, especially considering that the book was set in the old west and couldn't possibly have been right for old ski nose Hope. Poor direction by TV director Paul Bogart also impacts the film, a notorious flop that deserved it. The 70's had their classic movies, but outside films by Simon, Allen and Brooks, not a memorable decade for comedies, especially considering all the classic sitcoms on the air at the time. It also seemed to take great pleasure in ridiculing native Americans, not wise in the social wars of that era.