The Paleface

Bob Hope is in his element in this type of role, here he plays a dopey dentist named Painless Peter Potter, he is the kind of dentist that pulls the wrong teeth and gets high on his own laughing gas. Here he manages to get involved with Calamity Jane {a positively smouldering Jane Russell} and a caper set around rouge Cowboys selling guns and dynamite to the Indians. After mistakenly being taken for a hero after repelling an Indian attack and killing a number of them during said attack, we are taken on this delightful journey as Potter the coward transforms himself into a bravado gun slinger whilst not realising it's actually Calamity pulling his strings and shooting the pistols. It's a smashing comedy that perfectly showcases Hope's immeasurable talent for delivering one liners, in fact few comedians in history can deliver a quip better than Hope could. The chemistry between Russell and Hope is as sharp as the writing, and to cap it all off we get the delightful song Buttons & Bows to hum along to, smashing uplifting comedy, 8/10.

*** out of ****

This is a comedy of endless gags and one-liners. You will either find them funny or you won't. I found most of them funny, so I liked it. The highlight is Bob Hope singing "Buttons and Bows".

The Paleface one of the funniest films Bob Hope ever did was a godsend to the career of Jane Russell. Take a look at her film credits and see how few there were during the Forties. She did The Outlaw which kept going in and out of release every time Howard Hughes re-edited it. She did a film called The Young Widow which she hated and was a box office flop and then The Paleface.

Although Howard Hughes kept messing around with The Outlaw and kept Russell off the screen for most of the Forties, the man did know about publicity and certainly kept her name before the public. But a movie star has to make movies. So even Hughes realized that and I'm sure he exacted a good price for Russell's services to Paramount for The Paleface.

Hope of course is his usual character. A recent graduate of a dentistry college, he's gone west to seek fame and fortune, Hope the schnook gets tangled up with the notorious Calamity Jane.

Of course Russell is Calamity Jane, she's being offered a pardon in order to trap some no good outlaws selling weapons to the Indians. When her contact is killed and she nearly is also, she picks up Hope and they get married and join a wagon train.

Of course the some of the funniest stuff in The Paleface when Russell does some fancy shooting and let's Hope take the credit for it, giving him an undeserved reputation for fearlessness. One of my favorite bits is when Iron Eyes Cody gets a hold of some of Hope's laughing gas and Hope thinks he's Russell behind a barrier.

Bob Hope got to introduce his second Oscar winning song in The Paleface, Buttons and Bows by the Paramount contract song writers, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. He sold a few records of it, but the real big hit was done by Dinah Shore. It's now become identified with Russell as well, but she sings it in Son of Paleface, not here.

This was Bob Hope's first trip to the American west in search of laughs and it was a successful expedition.

I confess a weakness for the Bob Hope of the '40s - cute, funny, and guileless. His cowardly persona played well in many films.

"The Paleface" is the story of Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) being broken out of jail and offered a full pardon by the government if she can track down who is running guns to the Indians. Unfortunately, the man who is to accompany her on the wagon train to investigate is murdered.

While running from people out to get her, she ends up in the office of Painless Peter Potter, a dentist who has to use a manual when he's working on a patient. He has his own wagon; Jane recruits him to marry her and join the wagon train.

Hope and Russell are great together. She's gorgeous in color wearing a variety of costumes. Hope is very funny, and he gets to introduce the song "Buttons 'n' Bows." One of the best scenes is Painless Peter trying to pull a tooth; another is an Indian who inadvertently inhales Peter's laughing gas.

Not exactly politically correct by today's standards, but it's still fun and wonderful to see these classic film stars, whose number is dwindling with alarming speed.

An enjoyable comedy western featuring the formidable, if different talents of its leads Bob Hope and Jane Russell. Hope plays his customary cowardy-custard character, a travelling dentist of all things named "Painless" Potter alongside Russell's mannish Calamity Jane as they seek to foil the baddies' nefarious plan to arm the Red Indians, but pay no attention to the plot, just like the two stars, and instead enjoy the fun romp they gleefully rampage through.

Filmed in glorious Technicolor, the film makes ample room for running gags, like Russell's hammer-like kisses and Hope getting pulled out of his wagon-chair every time he gees up the horses, but is best served by Hope and his ad-libs and one-liners (sample:- Hope trying to act tough at the bar - "Give me four fingers of red-eye - and throw in a thumb too!"). The funniest extended scene is probably when Hope and a hot-shot rival stalk each other around town before their shoot-out. The humour trails off somewhat in the last third when the comedy gets too cartoony and slapsticky but there's still some compensation as Russell's glacial heart melts towards her oafish husband.

Sure the treatment of the Red Indians / Native Americans is about as un-PC as you can get, but the real villains are the white guys and along the way Hope gets to sing the catchy singalong "Buttons and Bows". Popular enough to beget a sequel "Son Of Paleface" a few years, this is one of Hope's best comedies sans-Crosby and also demonstrated Russell's comedic talents at the same time.