Here Come the Girls (1953) Review

Here Come the Girls
(1953, Paramount Pictures)

Yet another Bob Hope vehicle that has fallen into obscurity. As if you can’t tell by the poster, Here Come the Girls is a comedy-musical. The emphasis is on the musical. There are lots of numbers in this one because most of the movie takes place at a theater during a musical called, appropriately enough, “Here Come the Girls”. Working titles for the film were Champagne for Everyone and Girls Are Here to Stay.

The movie is set during the early 1900s and the plot is there’s a jealous killer on the loose who is out to murder the musical’s leading man because the killer wants the lead starlet (Arlene Dahl) all to himself. The cops & the musical’s director decide to put a chorus boy (Hope) in place of the leading man (Tony Martin) in order to lure “Jack the Slasher” out into the open. There’s some dark humor here as the play’s director didn’t want to risk the real leading man’s life and at one point he is disappointed when he is told the slasher didn’t kill Hope’s character. Of course, Hope’s character doesn’t realize he’s being used as bait and thinks that fortune has finally found its way to him and he believes he’s become a big star.

1993 VHS release

Supposedly the movie was originally shot for 3D but for whatever reason wasn’t released as such. They definitely made use of Technicolor though. Lots of elaborate flashy costumes and big bright stage settings.

I’m a bit confused as to who actually owns this movie. The only video release I can find for it is a 1993 VHS edition which was released by Paramount. So that tells me it’s not in the public domain but yet there is no DVD release. Now, the weird thing is the movie is available to stream from Netflix. I was thinking since Olive Films has gained the license to release a number of Paramount films (including Hope’s My Favorite Spy and Off Limits) and are streaming them through Netflix that maybe they held the rights to this movie but that doesn’t appear to be the case. I’m assuming that ultimately Paramount still holds the rights to the movie so hopefully the studio will see to it that this movie gets a new video release at some point. I think it’s only been in the last year or that so this movie has been available on Netflix.

While I certainly think this movie deserves to be release on video because it stars one of the greatest entertainers of all time I will say that this movie is not very memorable. Sure, there’s a great cast here but I think Here Comes the Girls focuses too much on being a musical and not enough on being a comedy.

EDIT (May 8, 2012):

I’ve been reading Donald McCaffrey’s book The Road to Comedy: The Films of Bob Hope and a little more light is shed on this movie. According to the original scriptwriter Edmund L. Hartmann, the film was NOT intended to be a musical. When asked about it turning from a comedy to a musical, Hartmann’s reply was “they fucked it up”. According to Hartmann, the script was considered to be the best Bob Hope movie yet by a number of people close to the project.

Bob Hope & Mickey Rooney in… OFF LIMITS (1953)

Off Limits
(1953, Paramount Studios)

Off Limits (released outside the U.S. as the blandly titled Military Policemen) is one of those obscure Bob Hope films that somehow has ended up online at a ridiculous price that I’m sure I’ll eventually pay. I don’t believe this is a public domain film so that would explain why it appears Olive Films has the only DVD release for it and are charging $24.95 (they are also doing this with My Favorite Spy). Luckily, before I decide to spend the money on it, it’s available for streaming on Netflix.

Having not heard much about the film, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Once you get into the 1950s, Bob’s movies could be hit or miss (even if his performances stayed top notch). Knowing that and coupling it with the fact this movie seems to become forgotten by most, I figured it was going to be an uninspired effort.

On the contrary, it’s an enjoyable movie that fits the mold of the typical Bob Hope film. Hope himself is still in top form (in what I think might’ve been one his last B&W films) and I’m sure that was helped by the fact that George Marhshall directs. George & Bob first worked together in 1940 on The Ghostbreakers and would work together on a total of 8 films.

Olive Films' DVD Release (2011)

The story is that of a boxing/military comedy hybrid as Hope plays Wally Hogan, a boxing trainer. When Wally’s world champion fighter is drafted into the Army, Hogan enlists as well to keep watch on him (a reversal of roles for Bob in regards to 1941′s Caught In the Draft). The problem is the boxer is rejected because he was deemed to be manic-depressive and not fit for enlistment. Hogan of course wants to get out since his boxer has been rejected but it doesn’t work like that.

Once enlisted, Wally ends up running into wanna-be boxer Herbert Tuttle (Mickey Rooney) and they both sign up as MPs (because it’ll be easier work) and Hope tries to make time with Herbert’s Aunt Connie (Marilyn Maxwell) while training Rooney’s character to become a top boxer.

By 1953, Bob was 50 years old. The premise that he was still a skirt-chaser and enlisting in the Army is a bit hard to swallow but he already had 15 years put into this on-screen persona, so why change it? Sure, it’s getting slightly creepy by this point but it still works.

And yes, just in case you’re wondering, there is a very brief Crosby cameo in the form of singing on television.

Off Limits may not rank with some of the best of Bob but it’s certainly better than most of the movies I’ve seen him in from the mid-1950s and into the 1960s. It may be one of the last Bob Hope movies that feels like a Bob Hope movie. If you can catch it on Netflix, I recommend it. Other than that, hardcore Hope fans will probably have to spring $20 or so to own a DVD copy.

Buy it at Amazon.com

College Swing & Big Broadcast of 1938 Bob Hope Double Feature DVD Review!

College Swing / The Big Broadcast of 1938
(2002, Universal Studios)

Another Bob Hope Double Feature DVD Review! I was pretty excited to check this disc out as it features Bob’s first two feature films. He previously appeared on screen in two shorts from 1934: “Going Spanish” and “Paree, Paree”.

College Swing
(1938, Paramount Pictures)

When I think of “college swing”, I think of something entirely different. Something like Girls Gone Wild: College Swing. As you can see from the billing, Bob Hope was not the star of this film. Top billing went the the husband-wife comedy duo of George Burns & Gracie Allen (who is much cuter than I ever realized). There is a loose story revolving around Gracie trying to pass an exam in order to become owner of the college but it’s all just an excuse for love, screwball comedy, dance and song.

There’s typical college hi-jinks and some fun physical comedy here. The cast is very good. In addition to Burns & Allen and Hope, we also get Martha Raye, Betty Grable (looking as hot as ever), comedian Ben Blue, Jackie Coogan (who would later play Uncle Fester on The Addams Family television show) and future Bob Hope radio program cast members Jerry Colonna & Skinnay Ennis. There’s even a brief cameo by Mary Livingstone (wife/cast member of Jack Benny). It’s so brief I didn’t even notice it! I’ll have to go back and look for it.

Not a great piece of work but it’s very interesting for the cast alone and there are a few legit laugh out loud moments.

The Big Broadcast of 1938
(1938, Paramount Pictures)

Bob’s first picture already has him working with a few gals he would go on to work with a number of times in his career: Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour and Shirley Ross. Bob doesn’t play a major role in this movie. The Big Broadcast of 1938 is another variety picture featuring music, dancing, love and comedy. W.C. Fields is the star and while he was a big name comedian in his day, I’m not really a fan. Maybe it’s just how the print has been preserved but I find it’s hard to understand what he’s saying sometimes. He seems to mumble so much.

Much like College Swing, this is another one of those movies that may not be a true highlight but it’s entertainng given that it features a young talented cast that would go on do to so much more in films. I do believe this movie is historically important for another reason — it debuts “Thanks For the Memory” which is sung by Bob Hope & Shirley Ross. That song would follow Hope throughout his career and would be considered his signature (or even theme) song until his passing.

Overall:
This DVD is definitely a must-own for fans of classic Hollywood comedies & musicals.

Buy the DVD at Amazon.com