The thing I noticed about thirty minutes into the picture was how complicated the plotting got for a movie from the early Fifties. Not what I was expecting from a title like "The Lemon Drop Kid", whose title character is wonderfully performed by one of my all time favorites - Bob Hope. Hope is his trademark self most of the time with the snappy quips and one liners, but it wasn't just Hope playing Hope, indeed it appeared that Bob actually got into his character based on a Damon Runyon story. With any other actor, The Lemon Drop Kid might have come across as the smarmy con man that he was written to be, but Hope makes him a likable chap, even when he's robbing you blind.
The other major curve that the picture throws at you about mid-way through is that all of a sudden, it becomes a Christmas story! I wasn't really ready for that, and yet right from the opening sound of "Silver Bells", it all seems to fit together perfectly around a con game to bring home the bacon for Nellie Thursday's Home For Old Dolls. Hope has just the perfect cast of characters to pull off this grift - Jay C. Flippen, Ben Weldon, and Tor Johnson among others, and it was especially cool to catch William Frawley in a role apart from his Fred Mertz character. I'm not so sure this bunch could have pulled off the caper in real life quite so easily, but I think you can cut the film some slack in that regard; getting there was all the fun it could be.
With any of these older flicks, I'm always on the lookout for reminders of simpler times gone by - how about a hot pastrami sandwich for fifty cents! Say, I wonder too, if you can still get a salami gift wrapped for the holidays?
There's also the era preoccupation with getting as many profile shots of the picture's leading lady into view as possible. On that score, Marilyn Maxwell's figure never disappoints, strategically positioned whenever possible in conversation with Lemon Drop or Oxford Charley (Lloyd Nolan). After a while I began to wonder why she ever stuck it out with The Kid, but I guess every heel has some redemptive qualities.
I don't know if I'd make this a must see every year at Christmas time, but then again, it might not be the worst choice out there. It takes you back to a way simpler time than say, "Bad Santa", and you won't have to screen out the language for young viewers. All in all, a fun picture and a fine effort from Bob Hope and his gang of usual suspects.
The other major curve that the picture throws at you about mid-way through is that all of a sudden, it becomes a Christmas story! I wasn't really ready for that, and yet right from the opening sound of "Silver Bells", it all seems to fit together perfectly around a con game to bring home the bacon for Nellie Thursday's Home For Old Dolls. Hope has just the perfect cast of characters to pull off this grift - Jay C. Flippen, Ben Weldon, and Tor Johnson among others, and it was especially cool to catch William Frawley in a role apart from his Fred Mertz character. I'm not so sure this bunch could have pulled off the caper in real life quite so easily, but I think you can cut the film some slack in that regard; getting there was all the fun it could be.
With any of these older flicks, I'm always on the lookout for reminders of simpler times gone by - how about a hot pastrami sandwich for fifty cents! Say, I wonder too, if you can still get a salami gift wrapped for the holidays?
There's also the era preoccupation with getting as many profile shots of the picture's leading lady into view as possible. On that score, Marilyn Maxwell's figure never disappoints, strategically positioned whenever possible in conversation with Lemon Drop or Oxford Charley (Lloyd Nolan). After a while I began to wonder why she ever stuck it out with The Kid, but I guess every heel has some redemptive qualities.
I don't know if I'd make this a must see every year at Christmas time, but then again, it might not be the worst choice out there. It takes you back to a way simpler time than say, "Bad Santa", and you won't have to screen out the language for young viewers. All in all, a fun picture and a fine effort from Bob Hope and his gang of usual suspects.