Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!

Relative to Bob Hope films, that honor should have gone to I'll Take Sweden, a smarmy non-sex no comedy farce. Not as bad as I remember, funny in places. But I couldn't get past Elke Sommers' and Marjorie Lord's hair. Their whipped frenzy bouffants made Phyllis Diller's egg beater 'do look normal. They literally distracted from the scenes the actresses were in. See Lana Turner's hair hat in Bachelor In Paradise for more of the same. Really dumb. Harmless. And nowhere near a 50 Worst contender.

Boy Did I Get A Wrong Number has Bob Hope, real estate salesman up in rural Oregon accidentally connected by a space cadet switchboard operator to Elke Sommer's room. Sommer is a film star who has pulled a diva act on her husband director Cesare Danova and she's fled her latest movie set for parts unknown. Danova and her studio gave out with that she was kidnapped by persons unknown for publicity. Hope sees a business opportunity if he can get Sommer to stay at a lakeside cottage he's been trying to unload. She just wants some privacy, but can Hope keep his mind on business? One of the saddest things about this film is that it was directed by George Marshall who did many great comedy films including five with Bob Hope in his best years. Such films like Off Limits and The Ghostbreakers are two of their collaborations. This one isn't close to being as good as those were. It is however a good showcase for Phyllis Diller. She plays Hope's maid and both of them spend a lot of the film keeping Sommer away from Mrs. Hope played by Marjorie Lord. Of course in the end it fails as you knew it would. This will never be rated among Hope's best.

source: Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!

This movie was selected by Harry Medved as one of the 50 worst films ever made (as of 1979) and I have made it my life's mission to see all 50. While this one isn't bad enough to merit its inclusion, it is pretty bad and it ample evidence that Bob Hope's later films were pretty dreadful. The film begins with European sex-kitten Didi (Elke Sommer) stomping off the set because they insist in putting her in sexy films where she appears in a bathtub. The scene then switches to Tom Meade (Bob Hope) who plays a realtor. He comes home but finds his wife is gone but his snappy housekeeper (Phyllis Diller) is home. His wife, it seems, is at the hair dresser's and so he phones her. In a "kooky" scene, the phone lines are switched and Tom gets Didi instead. Didi is hiding in a hotel and begs him to come to her aid. He wants to help, but is afraid his wife will kill him--after all, Didi's exploits are legendary. So, he sneaks out to see Didi and offers to let her stay at a cabin in a resort that is failing. While his wife would certainly be jealous, Tom's intentions are honorable--after all, if a big celebrity hangs out there, people will naturally flock to Tom to buy in this failing resort. Listening to Hope and Diller throwing out one-liners like they are doing stand-up routines was pretty bad. They really didn't act, but walked through the film spouting clever lines--making the character's unimportant. While some of the quips were funny (though most weren't), it was at the expense of the plot. However, the worst acting in this film definitely goes to Ms. Sommer. In her attempt to portray a temperamental sex-kitten, she comes off as an idiot who looks great but has all the acting talent of a drunk lemur during mating season. It's sad, because she could act--I have seen her in other films giving credible performances. Having her say "Monsieur Tommeade" again and again really began to grate on my nerves--and it seemed like she said this in every other sentence! Then, having her refer to herself in the third person was also a sign of bad writing--no glamor girl is THAT stupid!! Then having her go on tantrums as she throws things and curses Tommeade--oh, the agony! The only thing that might have been worse than this terrible performance was a lame and very unfunny chase scene at the end--which, of course, this film had in spades! In addition to lousy writing of the characters, the film had a big problem. Considering that Tom was NOT trying to cheat on his wife but drum up business by hiding Didi, why didn't he just tell his wife and introduce her to the movie star? This would have solved everything AND there would have been no reason for this film! Instead, many, many lame comedic moments were spent trying to hide Didi from the wife (such as when she slid down the hill--ugghh!). It was an idea that could have been funny for just a few minutes--not most of the film, as this was a 1/2 hour sitcom idea stretched to 98 minutes! Sadly, perhaps the funniest thing in this comedy was Marjorie Lord's hair. It was amazingly bad--even for the 1960s AND compared to Ms. Diller's!

This movie is pretty lame like most of Bob Hope's efforts, especially in the swinging 60's. The jokes are stale and uncomfortable, but Elke Sommer is beautiful as always (especially in the 1960's). Phyllis Diller screeches around on a motor scooter and tries to pick up the slack, but it's pretty much a dead issue. This type of film was already dead in the water by 1960, but they continued to crank them out to prolong of the career of old hacks like B. Hope who were no longer connected to the tastes of America, especially the youth. But if you want to see Ms. Sommer running around in a towel, this is the one!

This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. What strikes me about this flick is that I watched it with not only my parents (early 60s) but also my three sisters and two brothers, whose ages range from late 30s to early 40s, and we were all howling with laughter over it. It is one of those campy movies that it so chock full of clever innuendos and suggestive 'adult material' but is so witty in its presentation. In my opinion, Bob Hope & Phyllis Diller were destined to work together. Phyllis Diller's witty and barbed remarks traded with her "boss" Bob Hope were just too outrageous: ...Doorbell rings: Bob Hope: Wasn't that the doorbell? Phyllis: Could be...it had a familiar ring to it. Bob Hope: Aren't you going to answer it? Phyllis: Me? Bob Hope berates her for her laziness as a Maid and Phyllis answers the bell and rejoins him in the kitchen, where she resumes sipping her coffee. Phyllis: Two boys to see you, Master. Bob Hope: Didn't they say who they were? Phyllis: Look, I answered the door didn't I? Bob Hope: Yes, but you didn't keep on GOING! Loved this sweet film!!!

I remember seeing this one for the first time when I was a kid and didn't get it. However, as I got older I thought this was one of Bob Hope's best latter day efforts. Probably the best part of the film is the climatic chase scene. That to me was probably one of the funniest in the movie. Phyllis Diller also did a great job playing Tom's maid/sparring partner. Her portrayal of that character helped to really make this film fun to watch. Elke Sommer is also good as D.D., the temperamental sex symbol who wants to do more than take bubble baths. Also, check out the interrogation scene. That one is priceless as Hope does his best imitation of a mad killer.

This movie is a campfest. Elke Sommer plays a temperamental star who ends up on the run from her studio. She inadvertently gets hooked up with married man Bobe Hope who tries to conceal her from the police and his wife Marjorie Lord. Phyllis Diller steals the show as Bobe Hope's maid. Very subtle risqué humor permeates this movie. If you listen very carefully you can hear some very suggestive dialogue between Bobe Hope and Phyllis. While Phyllis is eavesdropping on Bobe & Elke's phone call she is shown peeling a banana. When she hears a vaguely sexual remark she squeezes the bottom and the banana pops out of it's skin and onto the floor! Very subtle but VERY suggestive which is what I loved about the 60's, nothing is as blatant as today. Light fluff of a movie but lots of fun. I guess some previous viewers are so bombarded with in your face grossness these days in most movies they didn't see or appreciate the innocence of this flick.

I think this movie is another underrated one for Bob Hope and the rest of the cast. I find Phyllis Diller's portrayal as the housekeeper to be very funny and even inspired. She is actually the best of the top three stars as far as funny goes. Hope is a realtor who loves his family but gets involved with a run away sex symbol played by the gorgeous Elke Sommer. While she is playing an actress fed up with being a sex symbol that is what she really was. Elke may not be the greatest actress but as long as she looks that good it is alright with me. I know, sexist pig, but that is a part of what draws male viewers. Just like the females with Elvis and the Beatles, in the past and I don't care who now. This is a decent, well done comedy that is not like those that are done today way too often.Sex, drugs, over the top profanity, and some terrible puns.

I just watched this film after taping it among several others from TCM's recent Bob Hope movie marathon. I saw it originally in a downtown theater here as a kid with my parents and sisters in the summer of 1966. I didn't see it again until about 20 years later, upon renting a copy of it from a local video store. My viewing of it the other night made it almost another 20 years since I'd last seen it. I'm a huge Bob Hope fan, so in my eyes he can do no wrong. Although it has its critics, one must realize the context of the times in which "Number" was made. Sex farces were all the rage in the 60's, especially smack-dab in the middle of the decade, when this film was released. Bob appeared regularly throughout each TV season on his NBC specials, and they always got huge ratings, especially his annual Christmas shows from Vietnam. The release of a new Bob Hope movie was a cause for celebration, especially in the long, hot summers of those days. Yes, "Number" essentially is an elongated TV sketch, but it presented a mildly risqué plot in which Bob had to deal with a world-famous sex kitten who suddenly disrupts his life as a married-with-2-children, middle-class realtor, who's experiencing a sales slump. He decides to use runaway movie star Didi as a promotional point for selling an undesirable lakefront cabin he can't sell. His plan backfires, though, but not before he fends off each crisis with his usual breezy one-liners and humorous repartee. Bob's character certainly appreciates Didi's seductive charms, but he's not lecherous. Although he has to control himself at times, the male viewer can really sympathize and identify with his plight. Just when we think he's going to give in and become unfaithful to his marriage vows, his comical responses pull him back from the brink, the viewers laughing at his self-imposed reprieves. I think female viewers enjoy watching these kinds of situations, too. In short, I still like the film. Bob had both discovered and made Phyllis Diller's career, frequently having her on his TV specials in those years. To today's audiences, she may be unrecognizable or of no special consequence in this movie, but to audiences of 1966, she was a household name, her pairing with Bob in "Number" being a big draw. I think the movie was meant primarily as a breezy summer sex comedy, not to be taken seriously. Many of the lines are quite funny, although a few are obvious and uninspired. Still, though, it remains amusing throughout, but it's more in the vein of Bob's TV presence--a huge star who just wanted to stay in touch with the modern film audiences of the mid-1960's, and be seen in the type of sex farce that Americans of that generation enjoyed. One must also realize that Bob had been promoting Elke Sommer on his TV specials at this time, too, so this movie had a lot of built-in publicity and interest surrounding it. True, it's a forgettable film, and hardly one of Bob's classics, but it showcases him as a modern suburban husband and father, and a very witty and likable one at that, thus keeping him in step with how most Americans viewed themselves at the time, or would like to. P.S.: One of my favorite lines in the movie comes during the car chase near the end, where Bob's escaping in a police car while being followed by about 4 other police cars. He looks in his rearview mirror and says, "I've got more fuzz on my tail than a French poodle!" Great stuff!