Bob Hope (Bennett) is given $10,000 by Paulette Goddard (Gwen) and asked to double it in a few days so that she can pay a charity that she has promised the money to. Hope sees his chance to achieve this by accepting a bet from his fellow business partners that he can tell the truth for 24 hours without uttering a single lie. The three doubters - Edward Arnold (T.T.), Leif Erickson (Tommy) and Glenn Anders (Dick) - stick by his side for this period which mostly involves a night on a yacht. Can Bob hold out.....?
This film has some funny moments but it should have had more. The film is entertaining in the scenes where Hope is put on the spot and has to tell the truth, eg, his response to a telephone enquiry about an investment in one of his company's stocks - "It stinks", his confession to robbing a bank with a policeman nearby, and his performance at a dinner party on the yacht where he manages to insult most of the table. However, there aren't enough of these moments and the film slips into farce for some night-time running about between bedrooms, hiding people in rooms and also some slapstick, which ends the film on a slightly uninventive note as we see Hope and Goddard stalling for time by dragging out lots of introductions (not funny) and shoving food in people's faces (tiresome).
Still, it's an entertaining film in which Bob Hope actually isn't annoying like he usually is with his unfunny wisecracks. Someone has given him a script - thank God. Willie Best (Samuel) does the black racial stereotype, although they clearly missed a trick by not calling him "Sambo". The story is slightly daft as all Hope has to do is tell everyone about the bet and prevent a lot of bother. There is also a moment that hadn't been thought through at the end - how about checking your watches, dur-brains? Overall, it doesn't matter as the film does carry the audience along. It just needed more comic dialogue as a result of the plot premise. And it does have a very good moral, ie, don't give to charity.
This film has some funny moments but it should have had more. The film is entertaining in the scenes where Hope is put on the spot and has to tell the truth, eg, his response to a telephone enquiry about an investment in one of his company's stocks - "It stinks", his confession to robbing a bank with a policeman nearby, and his performance at a dinner party on the yacht where he manages to insult most of the table. However, there aren't enough of these moments and the film slips into farce for some night-time running about between bedrooms, hiding people in rooms and also some slapstick, which ends the film on a slightly uninventive note as we see Hope and Goddard stalling for time by dragging out lots of introductions (not funny) and shoving food in people's faces (tiresome).
Still, it's an entertaining film in which Bob Hope actually isn't annoying like he usually is with his unfunny wisecracks. Someone has given him a script - thank God. Willie Best (Samuel) does the black racial stereotype, although they clearly missed a trick by not calling him "Sambo". The story is slightly daft as all Hope has to do is tell everyone about the bet and prevent a lot of bother. There is also a moment that hadn't been thought through at the end - how about checking your watches, dur-brains? Overall, it doesn't matter as the film does carry the audience along. It just needed more comic dialogue as a result of the plot premise. And it does have a very good moral, ie, don't give to charity.