Hey, Fancy Pants! If we resort to numbers, then the musical-comedy western of George Marshall"Fashion pants" (1950) is the fifth picture, which this director shot with the participation of Bob Hope and the second film (as well as the last), which he directed with the participation of Lucille Ball. This is also the second film (out of four) in which Hope and Ball have co-starred.
Plot: About the second half of the XIX century . Humphrey (Bob Hope) - a prim second-rate actor who plays a butler, was hired by the eccentric rich American Effie Flood (Lia Penman) in order to teach good manners to her family: husband Mike (Jack Kirkwood) and daughter Agatha (Lucile Ball).
In the United States, he is mistaken for an English aristocrat who came to marry a rich heiress, which does not suit the cowboy Cart Balknap, who has long laid his eye on Agatha. Agatha herself in strength and agility will not yield to any cowboy, so it soon becomes clear that Humphrey was wrong there. To complete the trouble, President Roosevelt is going to visit them.
Well, the director George Marshall managed to shoot a quite successful "cool" comedy, which perfectly uses "brand techniques and comic possibilities". However, unlike most of the films of this actor, here he plays together with his equal in strength "comic talent" partner - Lucille Ball
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After all, in most cases, such ladies as Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard, Virginia Mayo, Joanne Caulfield, Ronda Fleming, Jane Russell, Yvonne De Carlo, Anita Ekberg, Arlene Dahl or Rosmarie Clooney was in the main role of the film,
Much more confident with him were more self-sufficient and talented women, such as Joan Fontaine and Katherine Hepburn. However, Lucille Ball was the only one of his partners who worked in the same style of humor that was close to Hope.
The plot of this film does not seem original , but given the genres of the production , it looks quite acceptable. Although the humor of the picture, especially since the second half, seems increasingly mundane and clumsy, thanks to the actors, this drawback is forgotten. The most successful moment in this story, perhaps, can be called the room in the kitchen 'Home Cookin', performed by the main characters preparing for the arrival of the President.
The cast deserves a separate mention. Bob Hope here works in the style in which we are all used to seeing him, so I don't see much sense in presenting him. Lucille Ball (singing duplicates Annette Warren) in late 40s began to reveal more and more, as a dramatic actress
About her dramatic talent can speak roles in noir "Two intelligent men" (1946), "Dark corner" (1946) and "Seducated" (1947), as well as drama "Light living" (1949). But, in the early 50s, she achieves the greatest success, namely, as a star of comedies.
And "Fashion pants", if you think about it, one of the first advantageously demonstrate it to the viewer in this capacity (the very first attempt, perhaps, can still apply to the mid-40s - a role in the musical of 1946 "It's easy to marry ").
Of the other actors, Bruce Cabot is particularly distinguished as a cowboy who believes that Hope's hero wants to marry his girlfriend, Jack Kirkwood as the father of the family and Lia Penman as an eccentric mother.
If we sum up, the film can be safely recommended for viewing by fans of 'non-serious' westerns, light comedies and musicals, as well as fans of the work of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. Thank you very much.
7 out of 10