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Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Great Lover (1949)

On an ocean voyage from France to America, a private detective (Jim Backus) is in pursuit of a card shark and murderer (Roland Young, TOPPER). The con man dupes a naive scoutmaster (Bob Hope) traveling with his troupe into unknowingly acting as his accomplice. One of the weaker Hope vehicles, the one liners are substandard and I think I only laughed out loud once, when Hope acted as a ventriloquist for a Russian wolfhound. Rhonda Fleming makes for a comely heroine and it's a pity the film wasn't shot in Technicolor to take advantage of her particular brand of beauty. Though the film isn't a musical, she and Hope have a charming duet Lucky Us by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans who had written the Oscar winning Buttons And Bows from Hope's THE PALEFACE the previous year. Directed by Alexander Hall (HERE COMES MR. JORDAN). With Jack Benny, Roland Culver, George Reeves and Richard Lyon.

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