Le joyeux barbier

Bob Hope had a great talent for making mediocre lines sound funny. Here the lines he delivers are actually as hilarious as his delivery.

He actually does some quite decent acting in this one. The character of the barber Beaucaire is more romantic and less cynical than the comedian Hope.

Hope has surrounded himself with some of the most talented people in Hollywood. Cinematographer Lionel Lindon was nominated three times for an Oscar and won once with "Around the World in 80 Days." Film Editor Arthur P. Schmidt was nominated twice (for "Sayonara" and "Sunset Blvd.") Composer Robert Dolan was nominated 8 times between 1942 and 1947. Sadly, he never won. He should have been nominated for this movie, but he was already nominated for "Blue Skys" in 1946. Art Director, Hans Dreier, was nominated 20 times and won 4 Oscars. He should have been nominated for this movie, but he already had two other nominations in 1946. Set Decorator, Sam Comer was nominated 22 times and also won 4 Oscars. Male Costume Designer Giles Steele got 4 nominations and won twice. Mary Kay Dobson. who did the exquisite gowns in this film, was never nominated, but she should have won an Oscar for the fantastic four foot wide hooped skirts the women wear.

Hope was never nominated for an Oscar, but this is the one movie where I think his performance merited consideration.

Joan Caulfield, in only her second film, is dazzling. As Mimi, Beaucaire's love interest, she is hilarious and has excellent chemistry with Hope. The same year, she played the love interest of both Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby in "Blue Skys". Everybody else in the cast is just delightful.

The funniest scene is when Beaucaire meets the King of Spain. Beaucaire is pretending to be an aristocrat. He is told to act "distainful" When they meet, Beaucaire and the King just glare at each other through lorngettes (opera glasses).

Second funniest is when Beaucaire gets exposed as a barber and slapped. The king tells him to slap the fellow back. "Everybody is entitled to his opinion," answers Hope meekly, "Why if I had a sword..." A lackey offers his sword to Hope, who quickly pushes him away, saying, "Mind your own business." If you're in the mood for a wonderful and sweet old romantic comedy, put across by some of the most talented people in the golden age of Hollywood, don't miss it.

Bob Hope movies of the 1930s and 40s are all very pleasant entertainment, though for comedies the laughs are usually not as obvious or often as you might find in many comedies of the era. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the films are a bit more plot-driven than many comedies and in general these films have held up much better than his later films (particularly those from the 1960s). However, I noticed one reviewer gave this one a 10 and suggested Hope should have received Oscar consideration for this film....yeah, right. They're not THAT good!

The film finds Bob playing a barber in the latter portion of Louis XV's reign (about 1770 more or less). Naturally Bob is a bit of a screw up and gets in trouble. But, there is a way out--he has to agree to pose as the Duke--a man who is to marry the Spanish princess and solidify an alliance between the countries. But, no one realizes that a crazy Spanish general (Joseph Schildkraut) has plans to kill the Duke, as he WANTS the countries at war with each other! So, it's up to the cowardly Hope to try to save his butt and, hopefully, find love. As for the Duke (Patric Knowles), he's fallen in love with a woman and doesn't really want to marry a princess he's never met. Can it all work out in the end and everyone live happily ever after?

The movie is relatively low on laughs--particularly the climactic sword-fighting scene (it's rather lame). But, Hope is an agreeable personality in the film and that makes up for the problems...which would include the3 fact that NONE of the French or Spanish people looked or talked like they came from these countries. Heck, Schildkraut was Austrian and sounded NOTHING like a Spaniard! And Hope seemed about as French as Nelson Mandella! Still, a nice and agreeable little film.

By the way, the original "Monsieur Beaucaire" was a silent film starring Rudolph Valentino and was not a comedy. Also, although this is only of interest to history teachers, the film talked about the guillotine several times, though it was not used for the first time until about 1791--during the French Revolution.

Bob Hope traipses up the palace gallery to be presented to the king—he is posing as a duke. Using a lorgnette, he can't see where he's going, and he gradually veers off to one side and stumbles into a lady kneeling on the floor and tumbles over her, knocking down about three other people….It's a ridiculously funny sequence.

Hope is Beaucaire, a court barber in costume-era France. He gets mixed up in court politics and intrigue; poses as the Duc le Chandre, renowned lover and duelist; and chases after his girlfriend Mimi—who may or may not reciprocate his romantic feelings but certainly has adventures of her own.

The entire cast is lively and beautiful in this very funny picture. Joan Caulfield as Mimi is bright, charming and silly; Marjorie Reynolds as a Spanish princess is lovely. Patric Knowles is dashing enough as the notorious duke—he is the perfect choice (King Louis thinks) to be shipped off to marry said Spanish princess, not only for political reasons but because all the "young bloods" in Paris will be happy to be rid of him. Cecil Kellaway is the harried count whose difficult duty it is to transport the reluctant duke to the arranged wedding site.

Reginald Owen is hilariously un-regal as King Louis, and owns every scene he is in. Other highlights include a goofy palace swordfight between Hope and villain Joseph Schildkraut that involves a harp, a bass fiddle, and a harpsichord.

Funny and fast-paced….A couple of decent songs and the usual assortment of Hope one-liners add up to a very enjoyable picture.

But when is Bob ever a loser? Not in this film, that's for sure; he's at his comic best as a barber in the court of Louis XV (Reginald Owen), who ends up impersonating Duc le Chandre (Patric Knowles), while trying to convince his wayward girlfriend, Mimi (Joan Caulfield) that her social climbing ambitions will not make her happy. He nearly ends up marrying a Spanish princess (Marjorie Reynolds), whose arranged marriage to the actual Duc is against her will, having fallen for a mere commoner (the Duc incognito) while she herself hid her own identity. Meanwhile, there's plots, treachery, and a very entertaining swordfight (as Bob shows off how skilled he's NOT) to add to it all.

Everyone does a great job of it, including Hillary Brooke as Madame Pompadour, Constance Collier as the Queen of France and Cecil Kellaway as Count D'Armand.

Watch and have fun!

In this one, Bob Hope is Beaucaire, the French barber to the king. Beaucaire is in love with the maid Mimi, played by Joan Caulfield. Mimi has bigger ambitions, and gives him the brush off. Part of the joke here is that Hope disparages the king, the queen, and the royalty in general quite openly, when in real life, he would quickly be punished for it. Fun scene near the beginning where Beaucaire helps to hide Madam Pompadour, while pretending to give the Duke a shave. I was never a fan of period pieces, and if this weren't a Hope project, I probably would have turned it off. Mimi is sent off to Spain, and the real Duke, and Beaucaire, dressed as the Duke, end up there as well. Some fun recognizable faces in here... Cecil Kellaway, Reginald Owen, and Constance Collier for supporting cast. The musical numbers were completely un-necessary, and should have been eliminated. It's a grand adventure, with more meat on the bones that most of Hope's quick little comedies. The sword fight at the end goes on way too long. This one is okay. Not Hope's best. Directed by George Marshall. They had worked together on numerous films.