Le joyeux barbier

An average TV B plot about a Duke and his barber as they try trade places after a plot to woo the barber's love back caused them to be both be banished AND try to outrun their problems. Trouble Ensues.

A fine film. Apparently based from a book and have a version with Valentino starring. Its very by the numbers comedy that is anchored by competence and charms of the characters in the screen. Other than that, nothing really to write about. It is what it is. Bob Hope had definitely redone this role time and time again (ala Paleface). But as usual, plays it well. He just captures well on camera when his on it.

Otherwise, good but forgettable.

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.

This film was done when Hope was at or near the peak of both his film popularity and his comic abilities. Based on a Booth Tarkington novella, which had served Rudolph Valentino with mixed results in 1924 (he acted well, but the part labeled him as gay with certain male critics), the story is how Hope is the barber at Versailles to King Louis XV (Reginald Owen), gets into serious hot water with the King and Queen (Constance Collier) and is forced to flee the palace disguised as the Duc de Chandre (Patrick Knowles). Owen has sent Knowles to Spain to get rid of him (he's a rival for Madame de Pompadour - Hillary Brooke), and to have him marry the daughter of the King of Spain (Marjorie Reynolds, who is daughter to Howard Freeman). But Knowles is a target for an assassination by minions of the head of the Spanish Army (Don Francisco - Joseph Schildkraut). So Knowles and his associate (Cecil Kellaway) let Hope masquerade as Knowles. Knowles, in the meantime, is looking for the delightful looking woman he met on the way to Spain - he does not realize it is Reynolds. And Hope keeps crossing paths with his old girlfriend, Mimi (Joan Caulfield), who is furious at him for getting her banished from France accidentally.

In 1946 Hope was between 44 and 42 years old, so physically he still looked reasonably presentable as a man (when properly made up with make-up) who is in his 30s. That helps considerably. Compare this film to it's Technicolor counterpart in the middle 1950s, CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT. In that film the plot is very similar, but the middle aged man, with the middle aged spread is not believable as even a comic substitute for the great lover. He is just plausible in BEAUCAIRE. He also demonstrates his timing is sharper, and he even demonstrates (possibly accidentally, but one wonders) a gift for mimicry. At one point he is speaking when behind a mask as though he is Owen, and he momentarily does capture something of the speech pattern and bluster of the English actor.

As pure escapism the film is more than adequate. As history it is questionable. Schildkraut is a type of Spanish Napoleon, wanting to overthrow the royal family in a war between Spain and France. Hence the need for the royal marriage that involves Knowles and Reynolds. But the military in Spain in the 18th Century produced no such figure as Don Fernando (it is hard to believe the screen writers Norman Panama and Melvin Frank were thinking of a later adventurer and court favorite Count Godoy). Owen is quite good at being Louis (he had played the role a decade earlier in the George Arliss film VOLTAIRE). The year is never giver - actually it is quite vague, but 1765 seems the most probable year: At one point Collier and Owen are reminiscing about their wedding. Queen Marie (the daughter of the King of Poland) married Louis in 1725, and Owen mentions they've been married 40 years). The Queen died in 1768, and Louis died in 1774. The problem is that the Spanish King is Philip II in the cast. King Philip II of Spain ruled from 1555 - 1598. The King of Spain in 1765 was Carlos III (notable for a number of reforms, and being reluctantly drawn into policies by the French). You see, the Bourbon Family had begun ruling Spain in 1714, at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, when King Louis XIV's second oldest son became King Philip V of Spain (the Philip they screenwriters were probably thinking of). But the so-called "Family Compact" united the foreign policies of Spain and France for most of the 18th Century. So the threat of a war between the two countries never really existed in history at this time.

There are many nice touches in the film: Hope's attempt at suicide (with an unknotted hangman's noose) that is almost pushed to completion by his friend Leonid Kinski; Hope's mimicry of Owen (mentioned above); the climactic duel between Hope and Schildkraut, in which both men get entangled with a harp and a cello. Caulfield and Knowles both get a chance to sing. And Hope even (with Schildkraut's assistance) gets a passing shot (literally) at his rival/friend from the "Road" Pictures. It remains an entertaining spoof, and one of Hope's best comedies.

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.

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.