User Reviews

. . . cigars are held up erectly, cigars go limp in the hand, and finally they all--explode! Supposedly, Sigmund Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," but that's certainly not the case in THE OLD GREY MAYOR. Phallic symbols abound as at least three guys compete for "Gwendolyn's" virtue. As favored suitor, "Bob Hope" has the upper hand here. Though his cigars seem to explode prematurely, no one else's do much of anything at all. It was hard to hold a wedding night in the 1930s without something being popped, and Gwendolyn's not about to let the cat out of the bag about her mock suicide attempt. Gwen probably is settling for Bob due to low self esteem, as her dad-the-mayor instructs his city clerk to save Bob three bucks by issuing him a dog license rather than a marriage certificate. Jane Fonda once learned that THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? Perhaps that's why Gwendolyn Got Her Gun.

Before he became the best known comedian on the big screen Bob Hope did star on Broadway and already had parts in several Broadway shows, most notably Roberta and Red Hot And Blue. During that time he indulged in doing a few short subjects to gain the attention of filmdom's moguls. The Old Grey Mayor is one of them, done for Warner Brothers.

The Old Grey Mayor gives us a hint of what was to come with Hope. He plays a brash young man who is in love with the mayor's daughter. However Mayor George Watts is determined like some medieval lord to marry off his daughter to Alderman Lionel Stander for the sake of political alliances.

The short divides in two, first as Hope and daughter Ruth Hall get snared in the bureaucracy of City Hall trying to get a marriage license. The second part is Hope trying to rescue the fair maiden by pretending to be an EMT with Hall pretending she's sick.

Will true love triumph. It certainly will, what else, but with a few good laughs. The producer must have had a fondness for exploding cigars because they're used to great effect.

This was also an early film for Lionel Stander who played both straight and comic tough guys. Stander gets almost as many laughs as Hope.

A real find for fans of old ski nose.

This is one of Bob Hope's earliest films and it's a short comedy. The film begins with Hope and his fianceé talking about how they would break their engagement to her father, the mayor. As they were talking, probably the funniest scene occurred--as you see the mayor toss a guy headlong through his door! Apparently, it was NOT a good day to ask for his daughter's hand! From here on, the film is filled with some energy but is rather poorly written--with exploding cigars being used as the big laugh-getter (which is pretty sad). Plus when and to whom Hope gives the cigars makes no sense at all--if you are going to ask a grouchy mayor for his daughter's hand in marriage, would you pass out exploding cigars?! Anyway, considering how obnoxious Hope is, it's not surprising Daddy says "no". So, the rest of the film consists of Hope and his lady love trying to elope.

As I said above, the film seems to have a lot of energy but it isn't particularly funny except in little spurts. It's well worth seeing to film historians, but most others will find it tough going.