Son of Paleface (1952)

Junior Potter returns to claim his father's gold, which is nowhere to be found. "Mike" is the luscious head of a gang of thieves, and Roy Barton is the federal marshal hot on her trail.

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writers:

Frank Tashlin, Robert L. Welch

Stars:

Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bob Hope	...	Peter Potter Jr.
Jane Russell	...	Mike 'The Torch' Delroy
Roy Rogers	...	Roy Barton
Trigger	...	Trigger, Roy Barton's Horse (as Trigger Smartest Horse in the Movies)
Bill Williams	...	Kirk
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Doc Lovejoy
Paul E. Burns	...	Ebenezer Hawkins
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Sheriff McIntyre
Harry von Zell	...	Mr. Stoner (as Harry Von Zell)
Iron Eyes Cody	...	Chief Yellow Cloud
William 'Wee Willie' Davis	...	Blacksmith (as Wee Willie Davis)
Charles Cooley	...	Charley (as Charley Cooley)

Storyline

Junior Potter returns to claim his father's gold, which is nowhere to be found. "Mike" is the luscious head of a gang of thieves, and Roy Barton is the federal marshal hot on her trail.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 July 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bleichgesicht Junior

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hope Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bob Hope offered the role of Mike to Maureen O'Hara but she turned it down. O'Hara loved the script but was going through an unhappy period in her marriage and felt that she would not be able to be funny in the film.

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Goofs

After Roy Rogers completes his visit with the governor on the stage coach, Roy climbs out on top the coach and catches a limb from a tree. As he is hanging there he whistles for Trigger. When Trigger comes out from behind a bush, you can see the leg's of a person who was holding Trigger behind the bush until Roy called.

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Quotes

Peter 'Junior' Potter Jr.: Say, it's gonna be real fun honeymooning in Niagara Falls. My daddy spent a whole week there on his honeymoon, laughing, loving, drinking champagne. He had so much fun, he kinda wished Mother had been with him.

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Crazy Credits

Trigger, as The Smartest Horse in Movies.

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Connections

Referenced in Go, Johnny, Go! (1959)

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Soundtracks

California Rose
by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Performed by Roy Rogers (uncredited)

User Reviews

Hilarious following in which Bob Hope shows his particular talent as a botcher cowboy

Agreeable comedy/musical/western with genuine and sympathetic characters , it is plenty of humor , tongue-in-cheek , bemusing gags , entertainment and amusement . One of Bob Hope's best , full of cartoon like gags , unheralded comedy classic . Hope as Harvard-educated son of the original role heading off in the Old West to claim an inheritance . He plays Junior Potter, who returns to claim his father's gold , which is nowhere to be found . As a cowardly Hope becomes a gunslinging hero when ¨The Torch¨ starts aiming for him . There he unwittingly takes on bad guys as Bill Williams . Along the way he meets a beauty Jane Russell as "Mike", who is actually ¨The Torch¨, Wanted : Dead or alive , 20.000 reward ; the luscious head of a band of thieves, and Roy Rogers as an undercover government agent hot on her trail .

A rip-roaring Western/comedy as the conventions of the Wild West are turned upside down . This funny picture is a gag feast , plenty of humor , diverting situations and absurd sketches in Leslie Nielsen style . Amusing and spasmodic comedy with the genius comic Bob Hope acting in his stereotyped role by relinquishing creative control and concentrating on humor based on destruction and wreak havoc , nice inventive bits , skilfully combining the entertainment with the amusement . Bob runs away with every cowboy cliché and even arranges to wind up with the girl . Gorgeous as well sultry Jane Russell who ropes the nervous Hope into marriage for the sake of her job . Bob Hope offered the role of Mike to Maureen O'Hara but she turned it down ; O'Hara loved the script but was going through an unhappy period in her marriage and felt that she would not be able to be funny in the film . Important appearance by Roy Rogers as a federal marshal and , of course , likable Trigger that holds the best scenes on bed with Hope . It includes a lot of songs such as ¨There's a cloud in my Valley of Sunshine¨, ¨Four legged-friend¨ and the Oscar-winning song ¨Buttons and bows¨, reprised from the original movie . The first movie titled ¨Paleface¨ was directed by Norman Z MacLeod starred by Hope as a bungler dentist , Jane Russel as Calamity Jane and Robert Armstrong , its sequel ¨Son of Paleface¨ results to be as good as the original . Remade in 1968 as ¨The shakiest gun in the West¨ , a fun good time directed by Alan Rafkin with Don Knotts and Jackie Coogan .

The motion picture was well directed by Frank Tashlin , one of the few directors to successfully make the transition from animation to live-action , as he directed his cartoons like live-action films and his live-action films like cartoons . Frank Tashlin wanted to direct this film because he disliked Norman Z. McLeod's direction of ¨Paleface¨ for which he wrote the script . Director Frank Tashlin introduces cinematic especial techniques in animated cartoon style , such as odd camera angles , montage and quickly paced editing , as some shots lasting only five frames long . He directed various vehicles for Jerry Lewis as ¨The Geisha boy¨, ¨Hollywood or Bust¨ , ¨Rock-a-Bye Baby¨ , ¨Cinderella¨ and for Bob Hope as ¨Paleface¨ , ¨The son of Paleface¨ . Both of them are considered to be two of his best films . Rating : 6,5 . Entertaining and amusing movie that it will appeal to Bob Hope fans . Worthwhile watching .