Customer Reviews

Call Me Bwana [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An U.S. Capsule has returned from the moon and inadvertently landed in Africa. Naturally the president only wants the most knowledgeable and brave explorer to retrieve it before others claim salvage rights, Matthew Merriweather (Bob Hope).

The other leader banging a shoe on the table also wants the capsule and sends a noted anthropologist (Anita Ekberg) to use Merriweather to obtain the prize.

In reality Matthew has never been to Africa. His book is a rehash of his uncle's adventures.
You get the idea. Beautiful women, rough elephants, wild natives, and Arnold Palmer.
Gordon Douglas also directed "Them!" (1954) [ASIN: 6300269477] so he is no stranger to wild creatures. And from the rich backgrounds of the driving scenes you would never guess that it was filmed in Pinewood studios.

Them (1954)James Whitmore

Judge Gordon Sullivan, DVD Verdict- I was somewhat pleased to read that Bob Hope was notorious in Hollywood for cheating on his wives. It's not that I condone or appreciate adultery; I'm just glad to hear that Hope had at least one chink in his armor. Otherwise, he'd be simply too perfect--wholesome humor, countless USO shows, all the honors, living to 100--and there's something suspicious about a man who's too perfect. Part of the reason Hope seems so perfect is his well-crafted public image, wholesome to the extreme, and it's that totally wholesome image that makes a film like Call Me Bwana work at all. Although not as famous as his collaborations with Bing Crosby, Call Me Bwana should please Hope fans.

Call Me Bwana is making its DVD debut thanks to MGM's Limited Edition Collection, which is a series of Manufactured On Demand (MOD) discs. They claim that the transfer is sourced "from the best materials available," but this flick has obviously not received lavish restoration treatment. The color transfer looks a bit flat, with only so-so saturation. However, for a film catalog title of its age it looks remarkably good, with little print damage. Grain is generally kept in check, and I didn't notice any significant compression problems. The mono soundtrack is fine, with dialogue clearly audible. Some of the effects on the soundtrack are obviously canned, but for a film that's nearing its fiftieth anniversary, it sounds fine. As with other MOD titles, Call Me Bwana contains no subtitles or extras.

For Hope fans, Call Me Bwana fills a long-running gap in his filmography on DVD, and it's for his fans that this DVD has probably been released. Perhaps Anita Ekberg or Edie Adams completists will appreciate the film is as well, but for everyone else the film is a dated farce that feels more like a collection of "funny" scenes than a coherent story. Although the lack of extras may be disappointing, this MOD DVD has a strong enough audiovisual presentation to satisfy fans.
Full review at dvdverdict.com

Though the film is typical of Bob's later 60's comedies there is a brilliant shot-for-shot spoof of the "deadly spider" scene from "DR. NO" (The film was produced by Salzman & Brocolli, the creators of the James Bond series)

Not one of his best, but still, Bob Hope is Bob Hope, and this movie is a must have for those who love this incredible Comedian! I had to wait a long time for this to come out in DVD format, but now that it is available there's no reason to delay ordering it.

The cast of CALL ME BWANA consists in part of folks then-touring with Bob Hope's annual USO Christmas show: Arnold Palmer, Edie Adams, Mai Ling, Anita Ekberg, etc.

This forgettable piece of fluff was the only non-007 feature produced by the British Saltzman/Broccoli team. Despite a cute parody of a scene from their DR. NO ([VHS]) (DVD), what is meant to be a comedy is saddled with a script crafted in part by one of the screenwriters of "No" and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1964) (VHS) (DVD). Not a bunch of laughs in those pictures, either.

Bob does get to play golf (his hobby) with PGA champ Arnie Palmer, so at least somebody was happy here. Don't expect to watch this silly (in the pejorative sense) movie and feel the same.

Here, Hope is a plagiarizing writer pretending to be an authority on Africa who's dispatched to the Dark Continent when a moon capsule carrying vital information crash lands there by mistake. As is typical of Bond movies, Anita Ekberg is the sultry foreign spy trying to steal this secret data from Bob, and since he fancies himself a ladies man she just may succeed in her mission. That is, if either of them can even get close to the spacecraft: a local tribe has found it and believes the object is sacred.


Politically un-PC "Bwana" may NEVER be released on DVD!


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb user poll rating.

(5.3) Call Me Bwana (UK-1963) - Bob Hope/Anita Ekberg/Edie Adams/Lionel Jeffries/Arnold Palmer/Mai Ling

Like the character Rock Hudson played in Howard Hawks' MAN"S FAVORITE SPORT?, Matthew (Bob Hope) is a liar and a buffoon, a man who takes credit for another man's life work and then gets away with it. We're supposed to think this is funny, particularly when he is menaced and titillated by two spies right out of a James Bond picture. Poor Anita Ekberg, here she had made a wonderful comeback in a towering international success, Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA, and this is the best her agents could come up with for a follow-up?

Edie Adams' memoirs tell the sad tale of the way that, after the death of her husband, Ernie Kovacs, she realized that she was nearly bankrupt and was forced to take any part in any movie, no matter how demeaning, which explains why she is playing second fiddle to Anita Ekberg. Similarly she (Adams) had just come off making Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT, one of the incandescent movie performances, and it's a little dispiriting to find her among the lost beauties of CALL ME BWANA. Not that it's a bad picture, just a little cheap. If you like golf, you'll enjoy seeing Arnold Palmer in an extended turn, playing off Bob Hope's famous fondness for golf and his idolization of golf pros.