Customer Reviews

Bob Hope MGM Movie Legends Collection (Alias Jesse James/Boy, Did I Get the Wrong Number/The Facts of Life/I'll Take Sweden/The Princess and the Pirate/The Road to Hong Kong/They've Got Me Covered)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a pretty good collection at a great price. There are seven movies on individual discs which are They Got Me Covered, The Princess and the Pirate, Alias Jesse James, The Facts of Life, I'll Take Sweden, The Road to Hong Kong & Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number.

By far, the two standouts are The Princess and the Pirate & They Got Me Covered. Alias Jesse James is available for the first time on DVD, it's his last comedy-western & a pretty good one. After this it's a drop off in quality. The Road to Hong Kong is the weakest of the Road movies & pretty lame, to boot. The Facts of Life co-stars Lucille Ball & is good, as all the Hope-Ball pairings. The Facts of Life & I'll Take Sweden are Hope vehicles that aim at getting a younger audience & are mixed bags. The former co-stars Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello, the latter has Elke Sommer (eye candy). Boy, Did I Get a Wrong number has Hope's first pairing with Phyllis Diller that's not among his best.

This set concentrates more on Hope's later period (early to mid sixties) which is past his prime as to the quality of the movies. It's the other three movies that really make this set worthwhile. Here's how I would rate these movies on an individual basis:
1) The Princess and the Pirate*****
2) They Got Me Covered****
3) Alias Jesse James***
4) The Facts of Life**
5) I'll Take Sweden**
6) Boy,Did I Get the Wrong Number**
7) The Road to Hong Kong*

These discs are high quality but there aren't any bonus features. The price is what makes this set the good deal that it is.

The quality was great. I thought it might be grainy ~ but it wasn't. They're great movies with wonderful memories. The quick wit humor without the worry of somebody dropping the F bomb or nudity is fantastic. To be able to watch clever dialog with your kids ~ especially when they are advancing from cartoons. Definately a worth while investment!

What more can I say, It's Bob Hope! These classic movies are a must have for anyone that enjoys classics. From the 50's western stars doing cameos in Alias Jesse James to Phyllis Diller in Boy, did I get a wrong number Bob is just that....Bob!

I sprang at the chance to get this box set and bought it for far more than Amazon's dirt cheap price from a leading electronics retailer. I'd never heard of most of these films, and for good reason: they've never been on video before. I always find Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide helpful, and so it proved in this case. However, as regards Bob Hope, while both of us are big fans, my sensibilities somewhat differ from his on some of these films. Therefore, I'm listing the seven films, giving Maltin's view when available, and my own view. My overall sense is simply of gratitude that Bob Hope's films have finally made it to DVD. I can't wait to watch them all, and will be reviewing more of them as they are released. I also cannot forget what Bob Hope did for the troops before it was trendy to do so, and how greatly his shows on video contrast with the vulgar comedy and musical groups that now are foisted on the troops. Thanks for the memories, Bob, and thanks that, finally on DVD, Hope springs eternal. Seven discs in individual cases in a slip case with brief notes.

The Road to Hong Kong was the last "Road" picture. A DVD guide I read said they made one too many, and ought to have left this one off. However, this has always been one of my favorites. Leonard Maltin gives it 2.5 stars and says, "while fun, it lacks the carefree spirit of its predecessors". One sided disc, widescreen, 92 minutes, black and white, 1962.

Boy Did I Get a Wrong Number. Leonard Maltin calls this a BOMB, his lowest rating. I agree, although one may want to watch it once anyway. Double sided disc: full screen on one side, widescreen on the other. 99 minutes, color, 1996.

Alias Jesse James. Leonard Maltin gives it three stars and calls it "one of Hope's funniest". The Western theme didn't hold me and I found it a big snooze. Double sided disc: full screen and widescreen. 92 minutes, color, 1959.

The Facts of Life. Leonard Maltin gives it three stars and calls it a "sophisticated comedy". Bob Hope co-stars with Lucille Ball in one of her semi-dramatic roles. Maltin says "The two stars make a good team worth watching". I agree. I'll watch Lucy in anything, and that rather goes for Hope as well. Here's one of those "almost an affair" movies, full of subtle innuendo, before the late 'sixties brought out such bilge as Myra Brekinridge and the so-called sexual revolution which, after failing in society, was later shoehorned into popular culture to shore up the declining quality in TV and movies. Double sided disc: full screen and widescreen. 104 minutes, black and white, 1960.

They Got Me Covered. Leonard Maltin gives it two stars and says it "was topical at the time, awkward now; not up to Hope standards." Here we diverge. I found this spy yarn the most enjoyable film in the set. The writing is almost as scintillating as in My Favorite Brunette. Bob Hope plays a broadly comic, but vulnerable and flawed character, somewhat out of his usual ouvre. One sided, full frame disc. 94 minutes, black and white, 1942.

I'll Take Sweden. Leonard Maltin gives it two stars, calling it a "pseudo-sexy Hope vehicle" with "witless proceedings". Since it's from 1965, it had to be conflicted about relationships, but as with Doris Day's films, it's a comedy by Shakespeare's definition, which means it ends in marriage. A chance to see Tuesday Weld, Frankie Avalon, up and coming stars of the '60s, along with Hope and Dina Merrill, stars of the '50s. Lavish animated titles. One sided disc. 97 minutes, color, 1965.

The Princess and the Pirate. Leonard Maltin gives it three stars and calls it "one of Bob's wackiest". This is the sort of '40s "something for everyone" box office smash that I can't get into. Virginia Mayo is, nonetheless, outstanding. Maltin likes the younger Walter Brennan in this film, in which he plays a pirate; I like the older Brennan much better in The Gnome Mobile and The Real McCoys. One sided disc, full frame. 94 minutes, color, 1944.

I am savoring a recently purchased Bob Hope box-set MGM collection of movies. I enjoyed "Boy, did I get the Wrong Number" with Phyllis Diller, and the BW of "They've Got Me Covered". I've seen most of the rest on TV format, but I'd originally viewed the aforementioned movies on TV, so I'm expecting the rest to turn out just as impressive. The movies are great. The sound/visual qualities are just as outstanding. I am really enjoying myself this batch of Bob Hope movies.

a great situation comedy, timeless in many ways, except how much Bob Hope is missed.
to cast Elke Sommer is masterful. Let's face it, she is an incredible beauty and all
heads turn when she arrives in any of her many films. even Phyllis Diller pulls out
all stops for a laugh. Marjorie Lord is the perfect wife. don't leave for popcorn.
you might miss one of Hope's numerous one-liners. If you missed this '60's gem. it's
never too late for the best.

Did women really wear their hair this way in 1966. That sight alone on two of the lead females was worth the price of admission. The guys, too, while not quite matching the girls in quaintness to 2010 eyes, came in a close second with those shrunken fedoras they sport throughout.
Starting with these laughs which were unplanned when the film was made, there are many more in this Bob Hope vehicle, which relies more on old-fashioned slapstick than on the typical Hope gags. While having little more to do than show her body, deliver a few accented lines, and be somewhat manhandled in closeups unsuitable to a stunt double, Elke Sommer still more than earned her pay by just being second banana to Hope. Phyllis Diller, a frequent support player to Hope in his various comedy venues in those years, does her particular thing well. True she was an acquired taste, as they say, but in this film, she does provide some fun. The remainder of the supporting cast do what is required of them to give the star his laughs. Hope, himself, nearing the end of his film career, has better material and, therefore, more laughs than some of the other films he made as it became only a marginal activity to being America's favorite comic here and abroad. At this time, he had something like one-third of the twenty all time hit shows on TV with his specials devoted to his entertainment of the troops, most recently in Viet Nam, where a bitter struggle was rapidly escalating.
So for many good laughs, no irony or wit, no character development, no symbolic meanings, a story line just strong enough to carry the sight and sound gags, I can, still laughing, recommend this as feather-light, totally escape, viewing.

I bought this collection to have a DVD copy of Princess and the Pirate. I am not going to suggest that you buy this collection just for that movie. It was dark, and had a blip of a minute or two where it was double exposed. I didn't notice any cuts, but I kinda stopped paying attention after awhile. Very SAD!

We have also watched "Boy, Did I get a Wrong Number", "The Facts of Life" and "They Got Me Covered". All three were good viewing, no problems. As movies, they are what I remembered and enjoyable.

Over all I would say this is a good collection. Just make sure you get it on sale. ;-)

bob hope was in a class of his own. clever, witty, funny. he had true natural ability to make people laugh. most of the time i found that i was laughing at myself for saying or doing the same things he does. a great man.

It may be safe to say that Bob Hope is a Hollywood legend. He achieved this status through some decent acting and comic timing, along with his USO tours and a few really good movies (most notably, his Road pictures with Bing Crosby). Somewhere along the way, however, I think Bob Hope became a bit of a caricature of himself and his later work didn't really display how good he once was. The MGM Movie Legends Collection of seven of his movies shows the gradual decline in the quality of his work. (To be fair, however, a lot of the failings in these films were beyond his ability to fix.)

The first movie (chronologically) is They Got Me Covered, a World War II movie with Hope as a bumbling war correspondent and Dorothy Lamour as his love interest. He is given a lead on a complex sabotage plot, but his informant is soon killed and the only copy of the notes are in an untranslatable shorthand. This film and the second in the set - The Princess and the Pirate - have Hope at his peak. This second picture has Hope as a 17th century version of a vaudevillian who rescues an incognito princess from a vicious pirate. Unfortunately, he also has the pirate's treasure map, which makes him a very wanted individual.

While the first two movies are on practically the same level as Hope's best movies, a slight decline is seen in the next one, Alias Jesse James, in which he plays an insurance salesman who has sold a policy to the famous outlaw. Now, he has to make sure James stays alive. There's a lot of good humor in this one, but sometimes Hope seems to be doing a Lou Costello imitation, and the attempt to capture the glory of his earlier comic westerns (such as The Paleface) is only partially successful.

The Facts of Life is the movie where the films really start to go downhill. Though still passable, this comedy-drama has Hope and Lucille Ball trying to cheat on their respective spouses and finding an affair is not as easy as it seems. I would imagine at the time that this was a disappointment to many Hope (and Ball) fans who would have expected something a bit more comic and less serious.

Road to Hong Kong is an improvement, thanks to the easy chemistry of Hope and Crosby, but the third member of the Road pictures, Lamour, is relegated to a cameo appearance, and female lead Joan Collins is no Lamour. Nonetheless, the formula is tried and true and works.

The last two movies in the set are easily the worst. In I'll Take Sweden, Hope plays a widowed father of Tuesday Weld. Hope is the ultimate square, and though the film seems to mock teenagers, it actually just makes Hope look dumb. Frankie Avalon is Weld's love interest, but Hope doesn't like him, so he moves off to Switzerland, where she falls for someone even worse. The final film, Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number, is little more than a sitcom episode, with Hope accidentally getting entangled with a movie star. It's one of those stories that could be resolved quickly and cleanly if Hope just speaks the truth immediately, but he doesn't and the forced wackiness ensues.

The last movies are riddled with bad dialogue, contrived plots and cheap-looking sets, all of which were things beyond Hope's control. I do feel, however, that by the time of these films, Hope had been typecast into a role as himself, just spouting off one-liners and seeming like a stand-up comic more than an actor; in fact, in I'll Take Sweden, his character's name (Bob Holcomb) is practically his own.

The set offers little in the way of extras beyond trailers. In the Amazon rating system, the first two movies rate a high four stars, Road to Hong Kong a low four, Alias Jesse James a high three, The Facts of Life a low three, and the last pair barely two stars. Overall, I am giving the set three stars; while it's got some good films, it also is a poor showcase for exactly how good Hope could be.