La congiura di Barovia

Here we find Bob Hope in a quite unusual role, as royalty! (He's been everything else, right?) A glamorous General Grimovich tries to convince Michael Valentine that he is the prince of Barovia and must ascend the throne temporarily until they hold their first democratic election. If he doesn't, an evil organization called the "Mordia" will take over the country. A rather involved plot for a Hope movie, but he still shines bright! Great performance by William Bendix in this one as well.

The country of Barovia is in a real pickle. A terrorist organization called The Mordia threatens to take over especially after an assassination attempt on the last king, leaves him critically wounded and clinging to life.

The king's only heir; the product of a youthful indiscretion when he was sowing some wild oats in America and guess who that is. General Signe Hasso in her best imitation of Greta Garbo in Ninotchka is sent to bring Hope back to Barovia.

Hope, who's a radio host in New York and engaged to Vera Marshe, is less than enthusiastic about the job of king, especially with the Mordia trying to kill him. But there's Hasso so the situation does have its compensations.

Where There's Life is an odd man out among Rapid Robert's films of the forties when Hope was at the high point of his career. It only runs for 75 minutes, unusually short for an A film. It's funny in a lot of spots, but not nearly as good as others he was doing at this time like Monsieur Beaucaire or The Paleface.

Where There's Life does have some good supporting players for Hope and Hasso with Dennis Hoey, George Coulouris, and George Zucco as various Barovian nationals. And of course it has the incomparable William Bendix.

Bendix, though a supporting actor at Paramount, was a star on radio with The Life of Riley at this time. He plays a New York City police officer and prospective brother-in-law to Hope. Devoted fans of Chester A. Riley will get to hear him utter his favorite radio catchphrase, 'what a revolting development this is.'

Will Barovia get out of a Hopeless situation?

This film is included on a DVD along with another one of Bob Hope's films, "Monsieur Beaucaire". Both are rather pleasant diversions, though neither are near Hope's best.

The film begins in the fictional country of Barovia. The King is making a speech when he is unexpectedly shot. As he appears on the verge of death, the General (Signe Hasso) goes on a mission to America to find the King's son--a child conceived during a brief and ill-conceived marriage to a commoner. It turns out that Hasso is looking for Bob Hope and he has no idea that he's next in line for the throne. Unfortunately, an underground organization of evil, the Mordia, are also looking for Hope, as they are the ones who shot the King and they want to rule Barovia. Much of the film consists of Hope and Hasso running from these killers and it's all cute fun. When they fall in love, it's not especially hard to predict, though it did seem to come rather out of the blue. In other words, there wasn't much of a build up to this. Despite this, the plot still worked up until the very end. Sadly, however, the ending is a total let-down in every way. It's a shame, really, as up until then I liked the film a lot and thought it among Hope's better films. But, the dumb ending undid a lot of my good will and as a result it's just a time-passer...a time-passer that could have been better.

Only two hundred votes for this so far... Turner Classics must not show this one very often. Bob Hope is "Michael Valentine", who happens to be the sole heir to the throne of Barovia. When the king is knocked off, the country officials kidnap Valentine to bring him back to Barovia. Of course, this will interfere with his wedding plans. It's the usual combination of Hope's ongong one-liners and physical gags, as he tries to escape so he can get married. William Bendix is the other big name here... he is the girlfriend's big brother, who has hated Valentine all along. The usual mix-ups, mis-understandings, and running around the mulberry bush. Dead bodies that appear and disappear. Bob Hope made this one right in the middle of all the "Road to " films. Of course there's a dig at Bing Crosby as they run past a poster of Crosby. Also the ending felt a little confusing and tacked on; they could have ended the film about 5 minutes earlier and it would have made more sense. Signe Hasso co-stars as the blonde general from Barovia. It's a fine performance by everyone. The writing isn't as clever as some of the other Hope films, but it's acceptable entertainment. Directed by Sidney Lanfield, who had directed SIX films with Hope. Writer Shavelson had been nominated for two Oscars. This is part of a double DVD with Monsieur Beaucaire from Universal.

Bob Hope hadn't quite attained top stardom outside the "Road" movies when this B-grade comedy was made, and while he's make occasional worse films later, this mediocrity is very much a routine studio product of its time. He's an NYC radio personality who is suddenly in demand by friends and foes of a fictional nation whose king is dying from an assassination attempt--and Bob is supposedly the unknowing heir to the throne, having been the product of a secret affair with an American long ago. It sounds like fun to put the comic in some Ruritania's political intrigue, but after its prologue, the movie never leaves Manhattan, where our cowardly hero is chased around by various undercover government agents (including Signe Hasso as a supposed general, in a weak stab at "Ninotchka"-type dynamics) and his own would-be assassins. All this keeps him away from planned nuptials with his fiancee and her cop brother (William Bendix), whose subplot is more amusing than the main narrative. But nothing here is very inspired. Hope talks a lot of fast patter as usual, but it's not GOOD patter, and the situations aren't clever or novel enough to make them funnier. It's not a bad movie, just a thoroughly forgettable that doesn't do anyone involved any particular favors.