Völlig falsch verbunden!

A real Bob Hope farce is the 1966 film, "Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number."

A businessman (Hope) gets a wrong number and it turns out to be that of a hot-tempered actress (Ilke Sommer) who seems to have a love-hate relationship with her lover-director, a very handsome Cesare Danova. During a major spat, she runs off and is hidden by Hope.

Marjorie Lord plays the goody-goody wife and Phyllis Diller is literally along for the ride as a ditzy housekeeper, Lili. Diller is the sole of the film. She is hilarious and she aids her boss Hope.

Of course, when it appears that Sommer is dead, Hope becomes the main suspect. True to form, there is a major chase scene and an ending that we can say is appropriate for a comic "soap" opera. Silly, but the laughs are worth it. Hope and Diller were an excellent twosome together.

I saw this film when I was a kid and loved it. Watching it as an adult, I still got a kick out of it in a campy, shlocky way. The film is worth seeing as a time travel back to the WORST examples of 60's design, clothing, and decor. The garish colors and styles just have to be seen to be believed. Poor Marjorie Lord is outfitted with a towering red wig any ambitious drag queen would kill for. Bob Hope just looks too old at this stage of his career to play a suburban husband and father, despite all the expected one liners. Phyllis Diller, playing Phyllis Diller before all the glam plastic surgery, is a hoot, with bird's nest hairdo and crazy outfits. The problem is, both Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller act like they are in two separate movies, just knocking out one liners and double entendres that must have been boffo in 1966. The plot is convoluted, kind of a riff on a French bedroom farce. Elke Sommer plays a European actress who tries to escape her Hollywood life. The problem is, it is hard to tell exactly what part of Europe she is supposed to be from; sometimes, she sounds like an Ooh-Lah-Lah French maid, other times, she talks like the Fourth Gabor Sister. The chase scene at the end is a hoot, with a stunt person not even slightly resembling Phyllis Diller, riding a motorcycle and squirting mustard in people's faces (don't ask), while the loud Phyllis Diller witch's cackle laughter is dubbed into the scene. The movie is fun, in kinda a train wreck way.Just don't expect Citizen Kane.

Silly, scrappy comedy with Bob Hope trying to hide sleepy sexpot Elke Sommer from his wife. Low-budget screwball antics looks really bad, with sets which are far too large for the minimal action taking place there (the kitchen in Bob's house is positively drafty), and the poor lighting and awkward camera-work do not help. Once the action swings from suburbia to a cabin in the woods, the picture perks up a bit. The one-dimensional cabin set is another eyesore, but the slapstick involved isn't too bad (and Sommer's shrieks are funny). Phyllis Diller, as the family housekeeper with a hair problem, should've written her own dialogue: the woman is all revved up and ready, yet she's given no funny lines. As for Bob Hope, I have never been a particular admirer of his, but he's not bad here, coasting through without hogging the camera too much. I would have to say "Wrong Number" isn't offensive the way Hope's "Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell" was, but--for a comedy--shouldn't somebody be having a good time? ** from ****

I write this review after having finished a private double feature of Bob Hope films. Being a big fan of Hope, I really wanted to like "Boy Did I Get A Wrong Number!" His 1960s films are generally considered by most cinephiles to be his weakest but I enjoyed "Bachelor in Paradise"(1961), "The Road to Hong Kong"(1962), "Critic's Choice"and "Call Me Bwana"(both 1963), none of which are regarded as among Hope's better works. Perhaps it's the fact that I watched it just after watching a vastly superior, funnier and well-written Bob Hope comedy called "Caught in the Draft"(1941), but I have to say this would-be attempt at bedroom farce/Hollywood celebrity spoof falls completely flat. What went wrong? Hope and his 2 main female co-stars(Elke Sommer and Phyllis Diller) have great comic ability, and George Marshall had previously directed top-notch Hope laughfests "Fancy Pants"(1950) and "Monsieur Beaucaire"(1950), but no amount of talent in the actors or director can make up for a leaden script which plays like a 98 minute extended rerun of "Three's Company." The comic timing which is so necessary for a film of this type to work is completely off. The funniest thing in the picture is Marjorie Lord's humongous hairdo and I don't think that was the intent of either her or the filmmakers. Even Hope's immediate predecessor film, the so-so "I'll Take Sweden"(1965) was more entertaining.

Hope fans should skip this one and watch a "Road" film or any of the above mentioned Hope films instead while Elke Sommer fans should watch "A Shot in the Dark"(1964) or "The Prize"(1963) in lieu of "Wrong Number!".

Bottom line: 3 of 10 with 1 point for each of the 3 leads only.

I saw this film twice: once when I was a pre-teen in the 60s and then about 40 years later. The first time I saw it, I thought it was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen. The second time I saw it, I wondered what I saw in it the first time. Since it was the same movie, I guess it had to be me, but what a difference 40 years makes. This movie seems to have been made as a vehicle for Bob Hope's and Phyllis Diller's comic skills. However, what seemed knee-slapping funny back then, seems dull and trite now, especially Hope's one-liners. Most of the movie revolves around Hope's character keeping his association with Didi secret. It was funny then but a little overbearing now. His "murder confession" seems just silly now. I gave the movie a 6 rating because the chase scene with Phyllis Diller still ranks high as a hilarious chase scene, just as funny now as when the film was new.