Product Details

• Actors: Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Bruce Cabot, Jack Kirkwood, Lea Penman
• Directors: George Marshall
• Writers: Edmund L. Hartmann, Harry Leon Wilson, Robert O'Brien
• Producers: Robert L. Welch
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: September 11, 1990
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301778367
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,901 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bob Hope is up to his classic shenanigans in Fancy Pants, a loose remake of the comedy favorite Ruggles of Red Gap. Hope plays Humphrey, an American actor playing a British butler in a hokey play in London. When a fortune-hunter hires the cast to help him woo a wealthy American girl (Lucille Ball, playing her character like a female John Wayne), the girl's domineering mother takes a shine to Humphrey and hires him to be their butler back in New Mexico. But when they arrive out West, the townsfolk believe that Humphrey is British nobility, and even Teddy Roosevelt drops by for a visit. Despite their different comic styles, Hope and Ball have an oddball chemistry together; throw in some musical numbers, physical slapstick, and a shaggy dachshund, and the results will please any Hope fan. (There are, however, some unfortunate racial stereotypes.) --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucy before "Lucy" "Bob" becomes Mr. Robert, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fancy Pants [VHS] (VHS Tape)

First, this is a color movie, not black and white. Not just color, Technicolor, real good clear Technicolor. It was made by Paramount back in the days when the Paramount logo had 24 stars in the circle. Nowadays the logo has 22 stars. This movie is my all-time favorite Bob Hope film even though it is the one film where he is not billed as "Bob." The credit goes to "Mr. Robert Hope." The best joke in this film takes place 45 minutes into the story. It is "Three Against a Thousand." It is a four minute routine that shows Bob at his best.If you've seen it you know what I mean. If not, it is worth the price of the video. When this movie came out Lucy was about one year away from TV history with her "I Love Lucy" series. Old timers will like it and it is probably a film that young kids would also enjoy. Some of the vaudeville routines still work well today, especially Hope lighting someone's cigarette and pouring tea. Good western scenery. One good song "Home Cookin'." All songs written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. They wrote tunes like "Mona Lisa," "To Each His Own" and "The Bonanza Theme." They just didn't write any great songs for this film. Bob and Lucy are in great physical shape here. Tom Willett

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Hey, Fancy Pants!...", May 9, 2008

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fancy Pants (DVD)

Reunited for the first time since their box-office success in "Sorrowful Jones" (1949), 1950's FANCY PANTS (a musical remake of "Ruggles of Red Gap" by Harry Leon Wilson) cast Bob Hope as a phoney British butler, with Lucille Ball as his hell-raising, tomboyish employer.

Engaged in a British touring theatrical troupe, struggling actor Arthur Tyler (Bob Hope) literally lands the role of a lifetime when New Mexico millionairess Effie Floud (Lea Penman) drags him back home as the new butler, in the hopes he'll also be a calming influence for her unruly daughter Agatha (Lucille Ball). Aggie, in the meanwhile, decides to use "Humphrey" (as he's now known) to create some sparks of jealousy with her cowboy squeeze (Bruce Cabot). And when the rest of the townsfolk mistakenly start to believe that "Humphrey" is the Earl of Brimstead, all hell breaks loose!

Bob Hope and Lucille Ball were always great value when paired together, but FANCY PANTS might well be their best co-starring vehicle. This is an energetic, high-octane musical version of "Ruggles of Red Gap" (previously filmed in 1935 with Charles Laughton and Mary Boland in the leads). Lucy glows in Technicolor (her singing was dubbed by Annette Warren). The cast also boasts Jack Kirkwood, Norma Varden, Eric Blore and John Alexander.

The DVD has a brilliant restored Technicolor print, but sadly no extras. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bob, Lucy and even Teddy Roosevelt, July 18, 2000

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fancy Pants [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Bob Hope and Lucille Ball made several movies together, but this is by far their best. The comedic timing they bring to every role is unsurpassed and together they always had a nice screen chemistry. How can you possibly go wrong with two of the greatest comedians in screen history together in one movie?

The highlight is the arrival of President Theodore Roosevelt who goes on an hilarious fox hunt with Bob, pretending to be a snooty, upper crust Englishman. Full of laughs!