Call Me Bwana (1963)

A New York writer (Bob Hope) passes off his Uncle's memoirs of exploration in Africa as his own. Based on his false reputation, the U.S. government recruits him to locate a missing space probe in Africa before foreign agents (Anita Ekberg, Lionel Jeffries) can get to it. Directed by Gordon Douglas (TONY ROME), the film was written as it was shooting and it shows it! The 1960s weren't kind to Bob Hope's film career. After BACHELOR IN PARADISE (1961), his last good movie, he seemed to lose touch with contemporary film audiences. The quips fell flat, the plots barely held together and there's an air of desperation about (most of) them. The film's insensitive racial humor seemed out of place in 1963 and time only makes it cringe worthy. As Hope's CIA agent companion, Edie Adams looks glum throughout as if realizing she's in a turkey. There are a couple of sight gags that made me grin but the film's most notable moment isn't in this movie but in the Bond film FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE when a Russian agent is assassinated when attempting to escape through a window through Anita Ekberg's mouth on a giant movie poster of CALL ME BWANA. With Percy Herbert and playing himself, golf legend Arnold Palmer.