Customer Reviews

The Princess and the Pirate [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Definitely don't buy this DVD version from MGM. They have made some serious mastering errors on this edition. Several scenes are subject to double-imaging (no excuse for that), as well as variances in the color timing and the volume. This title is also in badly need of Technicolor restoration: it has a greenish-look and suffers from color fading (I understand that the previous HBO DVD release did also). At the very least, MGM Home Entertainment needs to pull this title and correct the double-imaging.

Like so many other people I was waiting for this new release on DVD. Imagine my disappointment when I get 24 minutes into the movie and I get double images! It lasted until about 32 minutes later (when Bob Hope encounters the Bucket of Blood). MGM needs to get the message that these classic movies simply can't be treated this way.
Fortunately I still have my earlier DVD release thru HBO Films because I'll have to return this copy of the Princess and the Pirate.

As mentioned in previous reviews the image quality of this dvd is poor. The color is flat and the double imaging of some of the scenes has to be seen to be believed. How The Princess and the Pirate ever made it out into the world in this state I'll never understand. Didn't anybody even bother to preview this before it was rereleased?

There are 4 or 5 areas that MGM should ashamed of. The picture is distorted in a way which is quite awful to look at. The movie sound is fine, considering this was Goldwyn picture. I love this film, but MGM should clean up their act on this one. Either fix these areas, or take it off the market. The colors are wonderful otherwise. Buy it as I did, only if enjoy the film. I returned my first one, assuming it was an error in the disc, hoping the next copy would be better, but to no avail.

"The Princess and the Pirate" is one of my favourite Bob Hope comedies right up there with "My Favourite Blonde" and "The Ghost Breakers". During the war years escapism was high on peoples wish list and the period saw an influx of top grade pirate adventures set in far off lands on screen such as "The Sea Hawk", and "The Black Swan". Bob Hope, ever quick to pick up on the latest popular trends created his own mini classic here in "The Princess and the Pirate", with a roushing send up of the whole Pirate genre that suited his comic talents to a tee.

This film has it all, from cut throat pirates to beautiful maidens in distress, fantastic galleons filled with treasure, beautiful technicolour, swashbuckling sword play and at the centre the comic Hope in one of his famous coward roles filled with hilarious one liners. Of course no Hope film would be complete without a few Bing Crosby jokes and they are laid on in abundance here. Even San Goldwyn who produced this film comes in for a comic slaying! Bob Hope plays Sylvester the Great a second rate performing act who unknowingly gets involved with a group of cut throat pirates headed by the notorious "The Hook' played superbly by Victor Mclaglen. In a plot too convoluted to lay out here Hope unknowingly gets a rare treasure map tatooed onto his chest and thus becomes the target for the greedy pirates bent on retreiving the treasure. Along the way Sylvester becomes involved with the Princess Margaret (played by the lovely Virginia Mayo)who is being held as a captive by the pirates and who in a surprise twist at the finale, after romancing Hope throughout the entire film suddenly runs into the arms of a well known rival of Hope's whos name I wont mention here!!

The film is full of wonderful scenes and performances. Walter Brennan in a distinct change of pace literally steals the show as the wacky featherhead, the giggling pirate who tattoes the map onto Hope's chest. Bob Hope's quip upon hearing him giggling to "hurry up and lay that egg" is probably one of the funniest lines in the whole film. Virginia Mayo while perhaps not the best leading lady that Bob Hope had in his films is cooly beautiful as Princess Margaret but does perhaps lack a bit of the fire that a Maureen O'Hara type would have brought to the role. Bob Hope I feel has one of his very best roles here. Whether he is playing the wisecracking Sylvester ducking from cut throat killers or dressed as a cackling old gypsy woman to avoid detection on the pirate ship, romancing the Princess or deceiving the dreaded Hook and the govenor, he is in fine form full of the lovable quips and Crosby insults that were his stock in trade. Hilarious scenes abound throughout "The Princess and the Pirate". Stand outs are the priceless scene where Hope and the princess arrive at the boarding house in port to find a room for the night and find that the previous occupant had mysteriously "checked out" while leaving all his clothes! and the absolute rib tickler where Bob ends up sharing a bath with the corrupt governer La Roche (Walter Slezak in another funny performance) and tries to hide the tattoo of the treasure map from him, that one is guaranteed to have you laughing till you drop!.

The overall look of this production is lavish and no expenses was ever spared on Bob Hope films around this time. The colour is beautiful and the costumes, sets, and period flavour are top notch. For a fun filled, hour and a half of pure mayhem and Hope madness "The Princess and the Pirate", is unsurpassed. If you are a Hope fan like I am you cannot miss this one to see him at the absolute peak of his abilities and comic timing. Enjoy a rousing time on the high seas with Bob Hope at his cowardly best!!

If you want a good clear image, you won't be happy with this DVD. I thought I just had a bad one, but as you read the other reviews, you can see that they all have the same problem. I am returning mine. Hope MGM fixes the problem.

When producer Samuel Goldwyn 'borrowed' Paramount's biggest comedy star, Bob Hope, for 1944's "The Princess and the Pirate", he provided the comedian with all the ingredients for a classic; a great script (by Everett Freeman, Dan Hartman, Melville Shavelson, and a host of uncredited Hope gag writers), a first-rate director (David Butler), a sexy co-star (Virginia Mayo), top-notch supporting players (including Walter Brennan, Walter Slezak, and Victor McLaglen), and a cameo by (who else?) Bing Crosby. How could the film miss? And to Hope's credit, the film still holds up as one of his best, over sixty years after it's release!

As entertainer Sylvester the Great, Hope plays his signature 'heroic coward' character, protecting incognito princess Mayo (who, naturally, falls for him), does a funny 'drag' sequence as a truly ugly gypsy (while fending off the amorous advances of addled Brennan), and thwarting the machinations of an evil island ruler (Slezak, who'd play a similar role in "The Pirate") and ruthless pirate (McLaglen, gleefully chewing up the scenery). The tone is light-hearted (Hope occasionally addresses the audience, sharing a one-liner with us), has a great song ("Kiss Me in the Moonlight"), and the end result was not only a box office hit, but earned two Oscar nominations.

If you're a Bob Hope fan, this is a 'must' for your collection!

This movie is a Bob Hope Classic. What goes through the mind of
the person responsible for its presentation on DVD?
Several scenes are out of focus and colors are unsteady and fade
in and out. It is obvious that the print utilized was a well used
copy and had not been previewed. The sound is also not reproduced
well and volume must be set very high to get the most out of the mono soundtrack. If this is the best that can be done it was a
waste of time and effort. The Theatrical Trailer looked and sounded much better. Very disappointing that no background or insights are
provided with this movie either.

First let me say that the previous reveiwer is quite mistaken in saying that there was "a lot of homo erotic humour in this picture". There couldn't be anyhthing farther from the truth. That being said, this was definitely one of Bob Hope's funniest "nonroad" movies. This movie has nonstop laughs and plenty of hilarious Bing Crosby cracks and other gags. It also has great sets, music and especially a great cast. I definitely recommend it to everyone!

If you love pirates (and who doesn't), and you love Bob Hope (ditto), you'll love this movie. The only problem is that there are some bad transfer spots that degrade what we have come to expect from DVD versions. However, that's easy enough to overlook with jokes like, "It's OK. He has a permit."