Actually this Bob Hope movie is better than my review's title-caption indicates--I just couldn't resist using it, though the description is partially accurate. Well, where to begin? I just finished watching this film for the first time in at least 25 years, not recalling much about it, only a little, vaguely. "Holiday" generally is amusing, featuring Hope at his suavest and most appealing, in terms of his physical demeanor and comic-style . He's very smooth in this, as well as fashionably-dressed, quite a pleasure to watch both in his bodily movements and facial expressions. Although some aging is apparent, circa 1958, he remains at this time in his career still quite youthful-looking and energetic. The storyline is confusing and unfocused, mostly lost in the meandering goings-on. When circumstances dictate certain revelations and explanations, the movie becomes totally stagnant and extremely talky, with little-to-no-humor. What humor there is at these moments of verbal plot-exposition is in the way of small touches, i.e., facial expressions conveying this or that, mix-ups over language-translations, etc.--mildy amusing at most but not overly funny. I believe Hope's theory behind this personally-supervised film of his, simply was an attempt to capitalize on popular espionage films of the Cold War era, giving it a comical American-spin with Hope at the center of events, as he'd done before. However, on this go-round, he was trying to turn it into an extravaganza, cramming in way too much stuff, the movie running far longer than the plot, or comedy-potential, merits. Filmed in Technirama, "Holiday" probably was an attempt to compete with TV, to get audiences into theaters, as so many "big" movies of that decade attempted--all the lavish epics, wide-screen effects, etc. This was Ol' Ski-Noses' attempt at really "big comedy", something not truly achieved until the 60's with huge, splashy vehicles like "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World", "The Great Race", ""The Pink Panther", etc.--films with extensively star-heavy, popular casts, and which exhibited wit, style, and "big", delightfully funny comedy-concepts. None of these huge 60's comedy-movies relied on a single comic-star, like Hope, on which they'd succeed or fail. I'm a huge Hope fan but eventually even I got a little restless and slightly bored with the story, which just seemed to wander on and on--some scenes, even humorous ones, moving at a sluggish snail's pace. Fernandel adds very little to the movie, with very sporadic brief exceptions, and neither does Ekberg. Their marquee-names and presences are largely meaningless today. Martha Hyer, though, always classy, is fine as the State Dept. official whom Hope pursues without much success till late in the film. Bob's lines are pretty good, a few topically-dated, but not many. Several are quite funny indeed. The majority still work as they're primarily situational. While Hope's ambitions with "Holiday" are to be commended, it was just too much to expect for him to carry the entire movie on his name-recognition and popularity alone. Fernandel probably was meant to help carry the burden in this regard but his lack of English cancelled out much of this aspect. Ekberg no longer seems terribly awesome in terms of the kind of dated, statuesque, European sex-appeal she once represented. Although Hope has many lines of sexual-innuendo and double-entendres, no doubt considered cringe-worthy to modern-day women, I imagine many females of the current-era nevertheless would find Bob's cute and harmless lines in this regard to actually be quite funny, spoken in his uniquely delightful way, as this type of male-female humor in contemporary movies and society has totally vanished. Bob's suggestively-impish quips re: attractive women are like a breath of fresh air! Finally, then, what is one to make of "Paris Holiday"? Well, this movie, despite its plot and structural-flaws, remains a treat for admirers of Bob like me. He's a joy and delight to watch and listen to, just as much as ever. Throughout the film, he's engaged and "in-the-moment". There's no sense of boredom, embarassment, simply doing it for a paycheck, or indications that he knows "Paris" is going to be a flop. He performs confidently and most-engagingly in every scene he's in, which is almost all! There genuinely are funny lines and moments but the movie goes on too long, to no real purpose--the espionage/counterfeiting angle is totally muddled and forgettable even while watching, with Fernandel diluting what could've been swifter-pacing and sharper comedy overall. The helicopter-chase finale is wacky and funny but is over-milked, eventually, though regrettably, becoming rather tiresome, though Bob pulls it off with wry, wise-cracking aplomb. I'd say, in conclusion, "Paris Holiday" is for dedicated Hope fans only, such as myself. It won't thrill but manages still mostly to please--an overlong, largely incoherent attempt at late 50's, TV-competitive, "big comedy".
Review of Paris Holiday
