Bob Hope Tribute Collection - Louisiana Purchase / Never Say Die Double Feature (1941)

Pleasant comedies with Hope cast outside his stereotype

While Bob Hope made films for over 30 years, his best by far were in the first decade and these 2 films from 1939 and 1941 easily demonstrate this. They are good entertainment. In both, Hope abandons his usual persona as the egotistical coward.

"Never say Die" is a great example of a forgotten second rung gem. Hope plays a millionaire hypochondriac who is waiting to die when he is wrongly diagnosed as having the acidity of a dog and will eventually implode because he will eat his own bones. The film is full of nutty and very funny ideas like this, not surprising when you learn that Preston Sturges is listed as one of the writers. Martha Raye plays against type as the heroine, destined to a loveless marriage to a prince, but falling for Hope and saving him from a black widow played by Gale Sondergaard. There is an excellent supporting cast, beautiful backdrops of the European countryside and Raye delivers an amusing song with her usual skill but to really take off, it needs stars of the calibre of Jeanette Macdonald and Maurice Chevalier.

"Louisiana Purchase" is the film version of a popular Broadway musical with many of the original cast. The script is a satire on politics. Filmed in technicolour which is preserved in this excellent print, there are some funny bits but most of the Irving Berlin songs have been cut and the comedy is too slow. Irving Cummings directs in his usual technically competent, unimaginative and plodding way. This film should have been faster and funnier. Vera Zorina plays the female lead and she is prettier and more animated than in any of her other film appearances.

The DVD prints are good, particularly "Louisiana Purchase", and come with succinct liner notes about the films and the casts. One problem though - it is impossible to return to the main menu listing the 2 films if you move away from that menu. September 10, 2007

VERA SHINES in this film

Louisiana Purchase belongs to Victor Moore and Vera Zorina. Moore underplayes hilariously and Vera`s comic touch is both off-beat and with the times... The opening sequences DEMAAAAAANDS to NEVER to be forgotten.... In the trailer we c "Marina" dance in front of "Yvonne"... I wish they could have included that number as an outtake, because - sadly - it is not in the film.

Mr Bob Hope isn`t on par with The Paleface and The Princess and the Pirate(looks as if he hadn`t found his niche quite yet), and Vera`s ballet-number is staged too simply.. Why didn`t they use her as in ON YOUR TOES and THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES? She would have been much better without the assistance of Charles Laskey..Indeed it IS a funny film.... a friend of my of 23 demanded at a party the day after: "GIVE ME SOME MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATEEEEEEEEEEER!" hehehe



NEVER SAY DIE promises a lot in its trailer, but unfortunately the great Sondergaard is underused and William Devane makes us wanna push him off a cliff... Martha Raye is good, but what really destroyes this film, is that it sounds much more fun in the liner notes, than it really is....

30/1 2006: Look for VERA ZORINA in the 20th Century-Fox dramacomedy I WAS AN ADVENTURESS 1940 as well. It is a magnificent piece of entertainment co-starring ERICH Von STROHEIM and PETER LORRE. December 21, 2004

Two more samples of Bob Hope's best!

Yet another fine disc in the Bob Hope Tribute Collection offers up two more classic Hope films, along with trailers, production notes, and cast and crew bios.

In "Louisiana Purchase", Bob is the unwitting vicim of corrupt Louisiana politicians who stick him with the blame when a crusading senator from Washington comes to investigate. Bob has to finagle a way to deflect the senator from his witch hunt, and enlists the aid of a Viennese beauty played by Vera Zorina. The senator is wonderfully portrayed by Victor Moore, a pious Republican who longs for the Presidency.

Interesting to note here is the opening scene, which was shot in color, but on a set designed for black and white film. The producers did this on purpose, hoping to lead up to the spectacular color sequences later on in the picture, but seeing the gray/blue color scheme here is a fascinating look at how specific contrasts were achieved on the sets of all those black and white movies in order to make them appear more natural.

While "Louisiana Purchase" is pretty good, "Never Say Die" steals the show. Bob is a hypochondriac millionaire mistakenly given one month to live. Martha Raye teams with Bob again as the daughter of a Texas oil man who wants her to marry a cash-strapped prince. Unfortunately, she's in love with Andy Devine's character, Henry Munch, and runs away rather than marry the prince! Naturally, she runs into Bob, who's being hunted by a "black widow" delightfully played by Gale Sondergaard, who's husbands have a bad habit of always turning up dead. The one-liners (and the laughs) come fast and furious in this one!

If you look quick, you'll see Monty Woolley as Dr. Schmidt, the specialist who misdiagnoses Bob's condition. Film fans will fondly remember his later appearances in the classic Cary Grant picture "The Bishop's Wife", and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" with Bette Davis. July 3, 2003

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