This film has some VERY strange casting and I am not sure what the producer (Bob Hope) was thinking, nor what the film's writer (once again, Hope) had in mind. After all, why get the great French comic, Fernandel, to appear in the film in a major role...and yet he speaks French the entire time and Hope speaks only English. Often, they just hang out together and you wonder why--what keeps them together?! Couldn't they have gotten a French comic who also spoke English?! There's also another odd casting decision, but it works well and the part is small. For some odd reason, the writer/director Preston Sturges plays a French man. And considering that the film was made in France, I am not sure why they did this--though Sturges was surprisingly good in his small role. One other unusual role went to the lovely Anita Ekberg--who oddly got higher billing than the equally lovely Martha Hyer--even though her role was minuscule in comparison.
"Paris Holiday" begins on the cruiser, the Ile de France. There, Bob Hope meets Hyer and immediately begins making boorish sexual innuendos towards her. This sort of thing was not uncommon for a Hope film, but he comes on particularly strong here--so strong you wonder how she can fall in love with his character. This occurs thanks to Fernandel--who plays himself and a bit of a cupid. Now I did think it strange that Hope basically played himself, a famous American comic and movie star, yet he was called 'Bob Hunter'--yet Fernandel played himself. This ruse seemed very unnecessary.
During the cruise, Ekberg breaks into Hope's room twice to search it. She's looking for something--but what? Later, once they are all in Paris, you learn that she's working with some counterfeiters and that they now are trying to kill Hope. Considering that his one-liners are VERY weak throughout the film, I really couldn't blame them! Can Hope extricate himself AND get the girl? Well, considering he wrote the film, I severely doubted it as I watched!
My biggest complaint is not that Hope has such limp lines (which he wrote--so he has no one else to blame) but the complete waste of Fernandel. The Frenchman is cute here--but not all that funny (except when he's in drag late in the film--not THAT's something to see). I've seen him in a few other films and liked him very much and know he's capable of much more. Also, while some die-hard fans might disagree, as Hope aged, the quality of his films declined. His heyday was clearly the 1940s and by the late 50s, the films just weren't that funny. Now "Paris Holiday" isn't bad--it just isn't particularly funny. So, if you are a Hope fan, it's worth seeing--if not, you probably won't be particularly impressed--especially at the horrible scene involving the helicopter and the two ladies in the car (uggh!).
"Paris Holiday" begins on the cruiser, the Ile de France. There, Bob Hope meets Hyer and immediately begins making boorish sexual innuendos towards her. This sort of thing was not uncommon for a Hope film, but he comes on particularly strong here--so strong you wonder how she can fall in love with his character. This occurs thanks to Fernandel--who plays himself and a bit of a cupid. Now I did think it strange that Hope basically played himself, a famous American comic and movie star, yet he was called 'Bob Hunter'--yet Fernandel played himself. This ruse seemed very unnecessary.
During the cruise, Ekberg breaks into Hope's room twice to search it. She's looking for something--but what? Later, once they are all in Paris, you learn that she's working with some counterfeiters and that they now are trying to kill Hope. Considering that his one-liners are VERY weak throughout the film, I really couldn't blame them! Can Hope extricate himself AND get the girl? Well, considering he wrote the film, I severely doubted it as I watched!
My biggest complaint is not that Hope has such limp lines (which he wrote--so he has no one else to blame) but the complete waste of Fernandel. The Frenchman is cute here--but not all that funny (except when he's in drag late in the film--not THAT's something to see). I've seen him in a few other films and liked him very much and know he's capable of much more. Also, while some die-hard fans might disagree, as Hope aged, the quality of his films declined. His heyday was clearly the 1940s and by the late 50s, the films just weren't that funny. Now "Paris Holiday" isn't bad--it just isn't particularly funny. So, if you are a Hope fan, it's worth seeing--if not, you probably won't be particularly impressed--especially at the horrible scene involving the helicopter and the two ladies in the car (uggh!).