Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Alex da Silva Entertainer Bob Hope (Larry) gets dragged into World War 2 spy shenanigans when British agent Madeleine Carroll (Karen) attaches secret information onto his jacket via a brooch as she is being chased by a Nazi unit headed by the always excellent Gale Sondergaard (Madame Runick). Can Bob and Madeleine reach the authorities before they get caught? Well, it's a comedy, so no guesses…..Our two leads really do get involved in a lot during the course of this film - planes, trains and automobiles. The story keeps going at a fast pace and keeps the audience watching. Not sure it's a very good film, though. I thought it was OK but it may ultimately depend on what you think of Bob Hope and stories that are completely unrealistic. Carroll seems to be able to do everything including flying an aeroplane.It's a comedy so there are funny moments as would be expected by the law of averages, but there are also scenes that aren't particularly funny, eg, the whole Irish are stupid stereotype thing. The best part is the appearance of Bing Crosby.

Spondonman I found this a really funny film when I was young, and then again when my daughter was young, but now I find time has taken its usual toll on once-treasured items. Maybe I saw it ten times too often. Sure, it stills makes me laugh at various scenes, Hope has a relentless supply of memorable class-A killer quips, and there's a beautiful glossy Paramount atmosphere, but the laboured contrivance around the microfilm McGuffin and the farcically flat ending now get in the way too much for me.Alluring British secret agent Carroll forcibly enrols mediocre vaudevillian Hope to help her escape from the clutches of an omnipresent Nazi gang who are after her secret warplane plans. Their slapdash flight to California is littered with witty scenes and romantic humour, but some were also flat and even embarrassing too (eg the baby psychologist scene). Favourite bits: Carroll and Hope's deliberate violent fight about her birthday and their subsequent icky sticky reconciliation in the police car; Hope's comical discomfiture at being gradually surrounded by unsmiling Nazis in the train club car; the impeccable Zucco/Sondergaarde partnership; the sight of Percy the Penguin in his monogrammed pyjamas and the gargling Hope chiding the porter for keeping the passengers awake; only study Hope's slapstick expressions upon ordering the cab driver to "follow that cab"; the entire Mulrooney sequence but especially with Toirk the Joirk; many others. The last 20 minutes or so slow it down and spoil it imho, but even so there's still plenty of smart ass one liners from Hope in there.With its flaws I certainly couldn't call it the greatest American comedy ever made like another commenter here has: it's a very pleasant time filler which I've confirmed to myself many times – and not quite even My Favorite Hope movie, but certainly in the top 10.

bluheron1 Bob Hope was in his prime in this one, and once the roller coaster of laughs starts it doesn't quit for 90 minutes. It's a road format movie: Bob and Madeleine Carroll have to get across WWII America from New York to Los Angeles with secret plans before the Nazi spies intercept them. It's a formula plot but handled most inventively and Sidney Lansfield's competent comedic direction gives Bob a perfect opportunity to develop what became his trademark character. The scenes of Percy the Penguin loose on the train, the bus driver's picnic, Hope impersonating a child psychologist for a meeting of proper small town ladies - they're little miracles of laughter. If you don't think you like Bob Hope - try this one.

bob the moo Larry Haines is a vaudeville entertainer who's act involves a roller skating penguin. He becomes entangled in a war time plot when British agent Karen Bentley is forced to use him as cover to help her get American bomber plans into the right hands and keep it safe from the Nazis.It's a shame that this film has eluded me until the great man himself has actually died, but it was to mark his passing that this film got screened on television recently. The plot is largely meaningless but is good natured and involving enough to keep the film moving along as a thriller of sorts. However it is really no more than a nail from which to hang a series of quips, one liners and wise cracks from Bob Hope. These are scripted well and the film manages to be very funny even more than half a century later.Hope is at his best here as the cowardly, self-depreciating performer who is sucked into the plot with his trademark unwillingness. His lines are still sharp and his delivery here is as good as some of his best work. Madeline Carroll was never going to be able to share the limelight with Hope given that she has to carry the plot side of the film, however she does really well and has some laughs herself. The nazis fail to make a significant mark in the film and I struggle to remember them other than stooges even a short time after watching the film.Regardless of this, the film should and will be enjoyed for it's main selling point – the wise cracking comedy of Bob Hope. This film seems to be forgotten against some of his other works but it is a fine example of the wisecracks, jokes and delivery that made Bob Hope famous years after he left show business and will keep him famous for many more years yet.