Comedian Bob Hope, in his first Technicolor performance, effortlessly portrays Jim Taylor, a political lackey of the Louisiana Purchasing Company who is unaware that he is being gulled, replacing William Gaxton who starred on Broadway in this long-running satirical comedy, featuring music and lyrics by irving Berlin. Although the original work by Morrie Ryskind, with its sardonic savaging of politicians and their methods, is carefully muted in this cinematic version, there remains much to enjoy as Taylor frantically struggles to avoid taking a rap for the misdealings of a coterie of his graftsodden superiors, played effectively by such as Donald MacBride and Frank Albertson. An opera bouffe opening serves to explain to the audience that in order to avoid onerous lawsuits, Louisiana must be accepted as a mythical location, with a bevy of comely singers offering the standard "no resemblance" disclaimer for the decoy State. Victor Moore, Vera Zorina and Irene Bordoni reprise their stage roles from a work sadly seldom performed since, with the veteran director of musicals Irving Cummings doing his best to retain some of its operetta nature and still permit Hope to gambol about as the target of a Congressional investigation headed by Senator Oliver P. Loganberry (Moore). The screen play generally fails to capture the essence of its source, and therefore much of Hope's timing is wasted upon poor material, while Moore is so torpid that he appears to be more sleep deprived than anything else. Raoul Pene Du Bois formulated the beautiful costumes and designed the splendid sets, including that for a traditional dream ballet sequence showcasing prima ballerina Zorina, and plot propelling and witty lyrics by Berlin, although too often cut, enhance the overall production, particularly the delightful title piece, sung and danced to by alluring Dona Drake. The opening scenes fare best, in particular that wherein Emory Parnell, a top studio lawyer, reads the script and then dictates a singspieled letter in rhymed couplets to advise executives against replicating the original show, a very clever and funny beginning to this lavish Paramount motion picture.
13 Reviews
Bob Hope and some of the musical's original cast make Irving Berlin's Louisiana Purchase quite a funny and entertaining movie
tavm6 June 2013
I've read that this Irving Berlin musical was based on the dealings of Huey Long and his cronies. Long was the governor of my state, Louisiana, and later the state senator and he did much that was good for it but also had some crooked deals with like-minded people who got exposed after Long's assassination in the mid-'30s. So it was that this film began with a lawyer singing of dictating a letter to the studio that the only way this story depicted here can be presented is to treat it as fiction. I'll stop there and just say that I found this Bob Hope vehicle funny and entertaining with good support from Vera Zorina, Irene Bordoni, and especially Victor Moore, all reprising their roles from the Broadway version. The Irving Berlin songs retained for this production are fine as well. Oh, and I loved the sight of the state capital from my state's capital city of Baton Rouge inserted here! Nothing more to say except I highly recommend Louisiana Purchase.
A Tradition of Kingfish Style Corruption
bkoganbing4 July 2006
I think if more movie viewers knew the story behind Louisiana Purchase the film might be better appreciated on some levels and downgraded on others.
Five years before Louisiana Purchase made it to Broadway, Huey P. Long was shot and killed in the State Capitol building in Baton Rouge. What Senator Long's intentions were for the future as far as national office was concerned is speculative fodder for historians. But he did leave behind a political machine that was the closest thing to a dictatorship we had in America's 20th Century.
Long gathered around him a gang of crooks that had few rivals among other political machines in skullduggery. Long was also smart in making very sure that very few of them were likely to be rivals. In fact some years earlier, Huey had some real problems with a Lieutenant Governor who started showing signs of independence. But that's another story.
When he died the sins of his henchmen couldn't be covered up for any length of time. Even while he was alive, FDR's Justice Department was digging into Louisiana for scandal. After Huey Long died it all came out. During the late thirties the newspapers were filled with stories of indictments and convictions coming out of Louisiana from the Governor on down. The title of the film comes from the popular name for the Long machine scandals, which were dubbed the Second Louisiana Purchase, like Watergate became the term for all the corruption stemming from the Nixon administration.
Maybe one day someone might do a serious expose of those scandals and they might make a great film. But this Louisiana Purchase isn't it.
Maybe because it was done too gently on Broadway to be real satire. The plot here and on Broadway is that the gang (who in real life would have had trouble tying their shoelaces without the Kingfish's brain behind them) frame a schnook of a State Representative as the fall guy for all the corruption. On Broadway it was William Gaxton, for the movies it was Bob Hope.
As written it's a typical Bob Hope role with a lot of topical humor that might be lost on today's audience. Irving Berlin did the songs for Louisiana Purchase. The show marked his return to Broadway, he was last there in 1933 for As Thousands Cheer. And it was his first book musical since The Cocoanuts. Berlin as a rule favored revue type shows. After Louisiana Purchase, Berlin did no other kind of show on Broadway or on film.
The other leads from Broadway, Victor Moore, Vera Zorina, and Irene Bordoni repeated their roles for the film and all did very well by them.
If this had been done as a serious drama, Hope's character would have been looking to cut a deal and turn state's witness on the others. He certainly wouldn't have gotten out of his troubles in quite the way he does in Louisiana Purchase.
Still fans of Bob Hope will appreciate the film and if people learn about the corruption in Louisiana in that period it might stimulate the more historically minded among viewers.
Five years before Louisiana Purchase made it to Broadway, Huey P. Long was shot and killed in the State Capitol building in Baton Rouge. What Senator Long's intentions were for the future as far as national office was concerned is speculative fodder for historians. But he did leave behind a political machine that was the closest thing to a dictatorship we had in America's 20th Century.
Long gathered around him a gang of crooks that had few rivals among other political machines in skullduggery. Long was also smart in making very sure that very few of them were likely to be rivals. In fact some years earlier, Huey had some real problems with a Lieutenant Governor who started showing signs of independence. But that's another story.
When he died the sins of his henchmen couldn't be covered up for any length of time. Even while he was alive, FDR's Justice Department was digging into Louisiana for scandal. After Huey Long died it all came out. During the late thirties the newspapers were filled with stories of indictments and convictions coming out of Louisiana from the Governor on down. The title of the film comes from the popular name for the Long machine scandals, which were dubbed the Second Louisiana Purchase, like Watergate became the term for all the corruption stemming from the Nixon administration.
Maybe one day someone might do a serious expose of those scandals and they might make a great film. But this Louisiana Purchase isn't it.
Maybe because it was done too gently on Broadway to be real satire. The plot here and on Broadway is that the gang (who in real life would have had trouble tying their shoelaces without the Kingfish's brain behind them) frame a schnook of a State Representative as the fall guy for all the corruption. On Broadway it was William Gaxton, for the movies it was Bob Hope.
As written it's a typical Bob Hope role with a lot of topical humor that might be lost on today's audience. Irving Berlin did the songs for Louisiana Purchase. The show marked his return to Broadway, he was last there in 1933 for As Thousands Cheer. And it was his first book musical since The Cocoanuts. Berlin as a rule favored revue type shows. After Louisiana Purchase, Berlin did no other kind of show on Broadway or on film.
The other leads from Broadway, Victor Moore, Vera Zorina, and Irene Bordoni repeated their roles for the film and all did very well by them.
If this had been done as a serious drama, Hope's character would have been looking to cut a deal and turn state's witness on the others. He certainly wouldn't have gotten out of his troubles in quite the way he does in Louisiana Purchase.
Still fans of Bob Hope will appreciate the film and if people learn about the corruption in Louisiana in that period it might stimulate the more historically minded among viewers.
Somewhat dated musical/comedy
CCsito29 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Bob Hope is the main star in a movie that blends music, comedy, and a Cajun flavored atmosphere involving political corruption in Louisiana. Bob is the scapegoat when crooked politicians are investigated by a Northern Congressman. Bob tries to deflect the investigation by having the Congressman be photographed in compromising situations. Vera Zorina plays the woman who he hires to trap the Congressman. There is a musical opening number involving lovely ladies (like the MGM musicals made during that period) and a Mardi Gras parade. However, the blending of the music with the storyline was a bit uneven. The movie was made in 1941 as World War II was raging in Europe and there are several allusions to this time period (Vera who plays an Austrian refugee makes known her resentment about the Anschluss imposed by Nazi Germany on her country) and Bob's reference to the Democrats controlling the White House (Franklin Roosevelt was elected to three consecutive terms). Bob does his usual wisecrack routines in the movie. The two funnier moments are near the end when Bob goes through a pantomime routine of how a woman would put on a girdle and a spoof of the James Stewart role in "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" where he performs a filibuster in the state legislature to avoid being convicted. This movie is missing a signature piece of many of Hope's movie, that is a jab at Bing Crosby, his partner in many of the well known "Road" series movies. When this movie was made, the pair had only made two of the "Road" series movies, so their rivalry had not developed to yet a high level.
Victor Moore upstages Bob Hope
jarrodmcdonald-11 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is a musical from the folks at Paramount, drenched in Technicolor and bolstered by elaborate song-and-dance routines. The vibrant color schemes reveal that Paramount spared no expense to up the glamour quotient significantly.
While the film does benefit from its more spectacular, flashier production values, the acting adds to its charm, too. In the lead role, Bob Hope is likable, if not given totally to restraint. His costar is European dancer Vera Zorina, reprising the role she played in the successful Broadway show upon which this film is based.
The other major performer is Victor Moore, also transferring his Broadway work to the screen for this project. Moore is a great supporting actor and shines as a crooked southern politician. Sometimes it appears as if he may have a bit more screen time than Hope does in this picture.
One sequence has Hope in a phony mustache and Zorina building up to a scandalous embrace with Moore as picture takers hide just out of sight. A good ten minutes of screen time must have been devoted to catching them in the act, and even then, when the picture snatchers have done their thing, Hope brings them back to take more incriminating photos, in case the first ones do not turn out. It seems more than a bit overplayed and belabored.
Louisiana Purchase does not contain the world's most original plot, but it suffices for nice entertainment. Although there is a disclaimer at the beginning that this is a work of fiction, one can see parallels to political leaders of the day. Though to my knowledge, Louisiana's Huey Long never had the benefit of appearing in Technicolor.
While the film does benefit from its more spectacular, flashier production values, the acting adds to its charm, too. In the lead role, Bob Hope is likable, if not given totally to restraint. His costar is European dancer Vera Zorina, reprising the role she played in the successful Broadway show upon which this film is based.
The other major performer is Victor Moore, also transferring his Broadway work to the screen for this project. Moore is a great supporting actor and shines as a crooked southern politician. Sometimes it appears as if he may have a bit more screen time than Hope does in this picture.
One sequence has Hope in a phony mustache and Zorina building up to a scandalous embrace with Moore as picture takers hide just out of sight. A good ten minutes of screen time must have been devoted to catching them in the act, and even then, when the picture snatchers have done their thing, Hope brings them back to take more incriminating photos, in case the first ones do not turn out. It seems more than a bit overplayed and belabored.
Louisiana Purchase does not contain the world's most original plot, but it suffices for nice entertainment. Although there is a disclaimer at the beginning that this is a work of fiction, one can see parallels to political leaders of the day. Though to my knowledge, Louisiana's Huey Long never had the benefit of appearing in Technicolor.
Amazingly unfunny...
planktonrules29 December 2010
Aside from some terrible films Bob Hope made in the 1960s (and there were quite a few), "Louisiana Purchase" may be among his worst for two major reasons. The biggest problem is that the film simply is not funny—a serious problem since it's a comedy! The other problem is that Hope plays a very unsympathetic character—and it's hard to root for him throughout this film that seems, at times, like a misguided rip-off of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington".
The film begins with a very unusual and rather cute disclaimer about the film being fictional—you have to see this to understand what I mean, but it's obvious that the film makers chose to lampoon Louisiana since the state has a very, very long history of political corruption.
Hope plays a state senator with very unsavory friends. While he's serving in the senate, they are involving him in all kinds of illegal deals—completely unbeknownst to him. However, and this is odd, when he discovers what they've done, he does NOT come clean about the illegal activity but spends almost all the film trying to blackmail or corrupt an honest(!) politician who is investigating the activities of Hope's organization. While I liked Victor Moore as the sweet and daffy crusading US senator, everything about Hope seemed self-centered and sleazy. And, inexplicably, a lady who somehow has come to instantly love him has agreed to try to destroy Moore! This made little sense—as did her weird reversal after they were able to set him up. The final portion of the film is right out of "Mr. Smith" and ends with an ending that just seems too pat and hard to believe.
As I said, nothing about this is funny nor is the leading man (Hope) likable—and without these elements the film cannot help but be a failure. Watchable but only of interest to very rabid Hope fans—ones who are willing to look past the film's many, many deficits.
By the way, this is on a DVD with another Hope film—"Never Say Die". This second film IS very good and makes the disk worth obtaining.
The film begins with a very unusual and rather cute disclaimer about the film being fictional—you have to see this to understand what I mean, but it's obvious that the film makers chose to lampoon Louisiana since the state has a very, very long history of political corruption.
Hope plays a state senator with very unsavory friends. While he's serving in the senate, they are involving him in all kinds of illegal deals—completely unbeknownst to him. However, and this is odd, when he discovers what they've done, he does NOT come clean about the illegal activity but spends almost all the film trying to blackmail or corrupt an honest(!) politician who is investigating the activities of Hope's organization. While I liked Victor Moore as the sweet and daffy crusading US senator, everything about Hope seemed self-centered and sleazy. And, inexplicably, a lady who somehow has come to instantly love him has agreed to try to destroy Moore! This made little sense—as did her weird reversal after they were able to set him up. The final portion of the film is right out of "Mr. Smith" and ends with an ending that just seems too pat and hard to believe.
As I said, nothing about this is funny nor is the leading man (Hope) likable—and without these elements the film cannot help but be a failure. Watchable but only of interest to very rabid Hope fans—ones who are willing to look past the film's many, many deficits.
By the way, this is on a DVD with another Hope film—"Never Say Die". This second film IS very good and makes the disk worth obtaining.
From stage to screen, disastrously
ilprofessore-15 November 2018
Although many of the same people who made this mess of a 1941 film were also involved in the original hit 1940 Broadway production, something definitely went wrong in the transition to film, and that something is Bob Hope who was not in the original show. Instead of letting this mild satire on contemporary politics in the style of "Of Thee I Sing" play as it must have in New York, Hope and his army of gag writers apparently shoved in a ton of meaningless machine gun gags, including a few on such wartime topics as immigration. The Norwegian ballerina Vera Zorina, wife of George Ballanchine at the time, was then a big star on Broadway, but pretty as she was, the camera did not love her. The only saving grace of this embarrassingly misguided musical is the superb clowning of the great Victor Moore as the befuddled senator. He, too, was a great star of the theater, but unlike the others in this film he somehow knew how to underplay his comedy for the camera. A few of the many songs Irving Berlin wrote for Broadway were retained for the film, most delightfully the catchy tune, "You're Lovely and I'm Lonely," which Zorina and Moore do hilariously as they might have done it on Broadway, in this case without the overbearing scene-stealing presence of Hope. Hope was a great screen personality and made many fine films, but this is not one of them.
Hilarious satire of "Mr. Smith goes to Washington!
edalweber15 September 2019
Excellent movie with many beautiful sets and funny jokes by that master Bob Hope,The Mardi Gras parade and the French Quarter in which it is set are Idealized and certainly not realistic but that was typical of musical comedies,like the pictures of Astaire and Rogers,typical of the period,so it is nothing to criticise,just a lot of fun,the filibuster scene is outrageously funny,and full of references to the movie it parodies.The set looks like the real Louisiana State senate chamber,but apparently is not.This movie is loads of fun and after all that is the purpose of comedies.Zorina is lovely amnd makes a good foil for hope.All in all a wonderful picture!
Minus most of the music, this becomes just another typical Bob Hope vehicle.
mark.waltz25 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
In the 1990's, a concert recording of "Louisiana Purchase" was recorded for posterity. The CD is superb, filled with such forgotten delights as "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow", "The Lord Done Lift Up My Soul", and "Wild About You". Every number is a showstopper. But in this semi-musical version of the hit 1940 Broadway show, only four songs are used, and in spite of the presence of much of the original cast, it comes off no funnier than any other Bob Hope movie of the early 40's.
Like the extremely funny Gershwin musical "Of Thee I Sing" a decade before, "Louisiana Purchase" was a political spoof that starred the popular team of Victor Moore and William Gaxton on Broadway. Moore was retained for the movie version of "LP", and is extremely lovable and funny as the blackmailed Oliver Loganberry who arrives in New Orleans during Mardi Gras to investigate corruption in the Louisiana Purchase lumber company. With his basset hound eyes, large physique and seemingly gullible personality, Moore was a comic genius. Hope, officially a star after his first two "Road" pictures, was obviously the popular choice for the Gaxton role, but it's sad that Moore and Gaxton were never paired on screen. (Two years later, he did get chosen by MGM to play Lucy's agent in the film version of "Best Foot Forward".)
Also from the Broadway version are Vera Zorina and Irene Bordini who don't get to shine as they did on stage. I was glad to see that they included the opening from the show where a studio attorney dictates a letter (set to music) indicating how to present the story without getting sued, and a mini-production number that follows. However, other than the title song, most of the music used is either cut songs (including "Sex Marches On", which I knew they'd cut) used over the action or edited versions of "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow" and "You're Lonely and I'm Lonely". Fortunately, the title song is a big Mardi Gras number that is extremely lavish and well filmed. The color photography, sets, and costumes are all superb, but it doesn't cut the fact that the missing music is much missed.
Like the extremely funny Gershwin musical "Of Thee I Sing" a decade before, "Louisiana Purchase" was a political spoof that starred the popular team of Victor Moore and William Gaxton on Broadway. Moore was retained for the movie version of "LP", and is extremely lovable and funny as the blackmailed Oliver Loganberry who arrives in New Orleans during Mardi Gras to investigate corruption in the Louisiana Purchase lumber company. With his basset hound eyes, large physique and seemingly gullible personality, Moore was a comic genius. Hope, officially a star after his first two "Road" pictures, was obviously the popular choice for the Gaxton role, but it's sad that Moore and Gaxton were never paired on screen. (Two years later, he did get chosen by MGM to play Lucy's agent in the film version of "Best Foot Forward".)
Also from the Broadway version are Vera Zorina and Irene Bordini who don't get to shine as they did on stage. I was glad to see that they included the opening from the show where a studio attorney dictates a letter (set to music) indicating how to present the story without getting sued, and a mini-production number that follows. However, other than the title song, most of the music used is either cut songs (including "Sex Marches On", which I knew they'd cut) used over the action or edited versions of "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow" and "You're Lonely and I'm Lonely". Fortunately, the title song is a big Mardi Gras number that is extremely lavish and well filmed. The color photography, sets, and costumes are all superb, but it doesn't cut the fact that the missing music is much missed.
Haul The King's Men
writers_reign10 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
If you're looking for a mish-mosh you came to the right place. When this was released in 1941 - one year after the Broadway show opened - perhaps a couple of hundred people in England would have heard of Huey Pierce Long, the door-to-door pedlar who rose to become firstly the Governor of Louisiana and secondly State Senator - and was thought to be a serious contender for President when he was assassinated in 1935. When he became Governor Louisiana was the poorest State in the Union with virtually no decent highways, schools or hospitals. Long turned it around, provided all three but also made it one of the most graft-ridden States in the Union. The Broadway show satirized Long and Irving Berlin provided some tasty songs - Fools Fall In Love, It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow, Sex Marches On - none of which are sung in the movie though four other songs are. What remains is a bland toothless satire but in its favor it does give British show buffs a chance to see both Vera Zorina and Irene Bordoni.
Louisiana Purchase- And I Thought it Was About Napoleon 1/2*
edwagreen27 March 2008
Dreadful, stupidly inane film dealing with corruption at the Louisiana Purchase Lumber Company.
Everyone in the state of Louisiana seems to be corrupt and inept. A member of the college's English Department can only sign his name with an X.
When it appears that a straight laced Senator (Victor Moore) is coming to the state to investigate, everyone there tries to blame the innocent but foolish Bob Hope character.
Is it any wonder that Vera Zorina did not get the part of Maria in 1943's "For Whom the Bell Tolls?"
Naturally, the corrupt officials along with Hope try to show pictures of Zorina with Moore so as to ruin him politically. Moore marries the head of the restaurant who he had insulted when he asked for a ham sandwich. He thought the reason that she was upset was because it was a kosher restaurant. This is the extent of humor is this absolute mess of a film.
When Hope tries to defend himself in Congress, he does a take-off of James Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." By then the film is too far gone for any good response.
The music and lyrics are both absolutely terrible. That song praising Louisiana, sung in various ways, is absolutely terrible. Irving Berlin had something to do with the music of this utterly terrible film?
Everyone in the state of Louisiana seems to be corrupt and inept. A member of the college's English Department can only sign his name with an X.
When it appears that a straight laced Senator (Victor Moore) is coming to the state to investigate, everyone there tries to blame the innocent but foolish Bob Hope character.
Is it any wonder that Vera Zorina did not get the part of Maria in 1943's "For Whom the Bell Tolls?"
Naturally, the corrupt officials along with Hope try to show pictures of Zorina with Moore so as to ruin him politically. Moore marries the head of the restaurant who he had insulted when he asked for a ham sandwich. He thought the reason that she was upset was because it was a kosher restaurant. This is the extent of humor is this absolute mess of a film.
When Hope tries to defend himself in Congress, he does a take-off of James Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." By then the film is too far gone for any good response.
The music and lyrics are both absolutely terrible. That song praising Louisiana, sung in various ways, is absolutely terrible. Irving Berlin had something to do with the music of this utterly terrible film?
Truly Terrible
raskimono25 April 2004
Recently, I was reading one of Internet columnist Jeffrey Well's articles and he wondered what the appeal of Bing Crosby was and that he doesn't translate beyond his era. One can say the same of his partner in crime from that era, Bob Hope. Truly, what was the appeal of this fella? Most of his pictures are terrible, including the Road Movies. The ones I can stomach are the Paleface pictures. All Bob Hope ever did was deliver puns and innuendos laced as wisecracks rather than real comedy - punchlines with no punch. He was a spoofish of current pop culture which he uses so frequently that a lot of the wisecracks fly over your head once you are out of the era, no let's the year, not even that three months ago pop culture events. This movie is one of his further nonsense. As the trailer spieled, this an adaptation of a Broadway smash that has been running for two years but as soon as you see the movie, you know it has been warped beyond belief for the screen because nothing this flimsy could have run on broadway for two years lest two weeks. And you just can feel there is a lot of political humor that has been cut out, the Victor Moore character keeps referencing democrats and republicans in oblique terms that do not advance the movie and thus are not funny because the terra firma has been eviscerated. The plot - Hope is a state rep in the house who is set up as the fall man for a bunch of corrupt school board officers. Moore is the good to his bones senator sent to investigate the irregularities. Somebody'd going to jail and it ain't going to be Hope so he tries to blackmail the senator by photographing him in an uncompromising situation, to say. The girl for the task the Hungarian immigrant played by Zorina. That's that. There is a Mardi Gras scene that is an embarassment to all involved in the production, us as an audience and others who have not seen this movie. Musical numbers are lovely but numb. Why does this movie have musical numbers? No reason except a Hope picture must have some and Hope is in none of them. By the time he is doing a filibuster a la Jimmy Stewart in Mr Smith goes to Washington, you the viewer will be ready to kill him. What a shame!
Slow when Hope-less
JoeytheBrit13 July 2009
This one's a real oddity: a semi-musical satire of a period of corruption that will mean nothing to anybody who is either not a resident of the United States or under eighty-ish years of age. Bob Hope stars as a naive hero who finds himself set up to take the rap when a corrupt cadre find themselves on the brink of discovery and hatches one of those ridiculous Hollywood musical plots to get himself out of trouble. Somehow, I don't think this is too closely based on factual events.
The film opens with a quirky number in which a colourful group of girls sing about how the characters are fictitious and not based on any persons living or dead, and include lyrics stating they are singing this to save the producers from being sued. Bizarre. When Hope is on screen the film is a typical Hope vehicle - which isn't necessarily a good thing - and when he's not the pace slows to a crawl. Despite this it is Victor Moore as the ageing virginal investigator on the trail of the corrupt politicos who steals the movie. Vera Zorina as Hope's love interest is an actress of extremely limited talent and best forgotten to save her descendant's embarrassment. The storyline is littered with references to contemporary matters that mean nothing today, meaning most of them flew way over the top of my head, making it somewhat flawed as a political satire - and fairly insipid as a musical
The film opens with a quirky number in which a colourful group of girls sing about how the characters are fictitious and not based on any persons living or dead, and include lyrics stating they are singing this to save the producers from being sued. Bizarre. When Hope is on screen the film is a typical Hope vehicle - which isn't necessarily a good thing - and when he's not the pace slows to a crawl. Despite this it is Victor Moore as the ageing virginal investigator on the trail of the corrupt politicos who steals the movie. Vera Zorina as Hope's love interest is an actress of extremely limited talent and best forgotten to save her descendant's embarrassment. The storyline is littered with references to contemporary matters that mean nothing today, meaning most of them flew way over the top of my head, making it somewhat flawed as a political satire - and fairly insipid as a musical
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