Son of Paleface

source: Son of Paleface

Just as is the case with most sequels, Son of Paleface isn't nearly as funny as its predecessor, The Paleface. There are a couple of funny gags, and but for the most part, this movie is pretty silly. Lots of Bob Hope movies are silly, but if you're looking for one that stands the test of time better, rent the 1948 original instead. Bob plays his own son in this movie, and when he travels to a small western town from Harvard to collect his inheritance from his father, he's in for a real surprise. Everyone in town expects to be repaid what Paleface Potter owed them, but the treasure chest is empty! Bob has to stall for time and come up with a get rich quick scheme with his sidekick, Paul E. Burns. At a saloon, Bob get mesmerized by singer Jane Russell performing a jaw-dropping number in a beautiful costume, and he hopes to marry her for her money, then pay everyone off. What he doesn't know is that she moonlights as a gold thief, and she's only pretending to be rich so she can marry him for his money! Add in Roy Rogers as an undercover cop, and you've got some cute songs, lots of horse-y tricks from Trigger, and a funny love triangle. Also, there are couple of hilarious cameos by Bing Crosby and Cecil B. DeMille! Honestly, though, the real reason to watch this one is to see Jane Russell in breathtaking Edith Head costumes. Her figure is so beautiful, and it's showed off to its best advantage in this flick. If you happen to watch this movie before you rent Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, you'll probably think Marilyn Monroe isn't worth a second glance.

"Son of Paleface" is sort of a musical western comedy, so it is not to be taken too seriously. It is a mostly good time though and features some of the old Hollywood stars like Jane Russell, Bob Hope, and Roy Rogers, so it is worth a watch in my opinion. Also I liked Trigger the horse, he did some good stunts. This was my first time seeing Roy Rogers as he was before my time. On the whole, I thought this sequel was about on par with the first film "The Paleface." My rating: 5/10.

IMHO this is probably Bob Hope's best comedy. He is ably supported by an excellent cast, especially Jane Russell - who I think was always more gorgeous,sexier and a better actress than Monroe. Some fantastic one-liners make it a hoot from start to finish and it works on several levels. I loved this when I was a kid and still love it now 40 some odd years on. Seen it lots of times and it never gets stale. It made me a Bob Hope fan and I forgave him a lot of later rubbish because of it. A special mention for Trigger - steals several scenes - whoever trained him (Roy Rogers?) did a wonderful job. A little off the subject, but how come Kelsey Grammar has never done Bob Hope in a biopic-he is absolutely a natural for it.

Note: The DVD for this film has no closed captions nor captioning as an option. Fortunately, the sound and picture quality are very good. This film is a sequel to the 1948 Bob Hope/Jane Russell film "The Paleface"--a very enjoyable comedy. This time, Hope plays the son of the man he played in the first film, 'Painless' Potter the dentist. The film begins with Junior graduating from Harvard (as perhaps their oldest senior in school history) and coming West. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that his father has left a ton of debts and the townsfolk are more than willing to hang him if he doesn't pay them out of his inheritance--but there is no apparent inheritance. So, Junior pretends there is--stalling for time and hoping to figure a way out of this mess. At the same tie, there is a completely anachronistic plot involving 'the Torch'--a female bandit (Russell) who leads a gang of gold thieves. Unbeknownst to her, the hero (Roy Rogers) has been sent undercover to try to discover her whereabouts and bring her to justice. Eventually these plots all come together, as the Torch hears of Junior's gold and wants it for herself. Along the way, there is a lot of singing and laughs. As in the original film, you'll hear the pleasant and mega-hit "Buttons & Bows" (with some new lyrics by Hope) as well as several other tunes that generally don't get in the way of the plot and are pretty enjoyable. A few times, however, there seemed to be perhaps one or two songs too many and it got in the way of the comedy on occasion. As for the laughs, they are there but a bit broad compared to the original, but Trigger was actually a nice addition to the film--and often got the most laughs! And, overall, it's a lot of fun and a worthy follow-up film. Hope--"What's the matter--don't you like girls?" Rogers--"I'll stick to horses, Mister."

Wow, what a movie ! The very beautiful Jane Russell, either as a saloon girl/owner or cross-dressing female outlaw, looks absolutely luscious & stunning. Jane teaming up with my childhood idol , Roy Rogers ,does a great chemistry relationship. Jane as the Outlaw, looks very sensual in her cowboy outfit. Her men's clothes that she wears can not hid her gender.Roy has been known for his fancy " Nudie Cohn " cowboy duds. Bob Hope swipes Roys outfit and dons it in order to fool " Trigger " for an attempted escape that fails. Jane as " Mike " is obviously interested in sexy cowboy clothes, her own outfit attests to that statement.Frank Tashlin, the director, should of had Jane "Mike " strip Roy of his fancy cowboy duds and donned her new conquest outfit herself.Jane had the opportunity to do this after she pistol-whips him from behind and knocks Roy out cold. She would have looked more erotic prancing around in " The King of The Cowboy's clothes " and sitting mounted on " Trigger " ! She is the sexiest cowgirl ever !

A terrifically funny movie. Bob Hope's wisecracking persona and writer-director Frank Tashlin's cartoon-like gags make a perfect blend. And anyone who enjoys Jane Russell has to check out her opening shot in the movie, in which the camera pans up her gorgeous legs while va-va-voom plays on the soundtrack. Top-notch comedy in every department

"Son of Pale Face" is good clean fun performed by 3 great stars who are joined together with Trigger as one great team. Roy plays the good guy and government agent going after the infamous bandit , "the Torch", played by the sexy Jane Russell. Gumming up the works of course is Bob Hope who plays the off-spring of DDS Pale Face Potter from the earlier movie, "Pale Face" 4 years before. I saw this movie in 1952 and was a great fan of Roy Rogers. I remember I was disappointed during the movie that Roy wasn't wearing his twin six-shooters and was just using his secret agent's guitar hidden gun by pulling one of the strings to thwart his foes. I was happy though that he didn't have any kissing scenes with Jane Russell. I was sure he was going to (dread the thought) during the bar scene and was relieved that he thought the better of it. Afterall it was a sissy thing to do in those days if he did. His reputation remained intact with me from then on.

For me this is one of the rare occasions where a sequel trumps the first and previous instalment, comedy as we all know his very varied and we all see different things that make us laugh, and until now I have only given the highest rating I can to a handful of comedies, but this film is just flawless comedic entertainment to me, a laugh riot indeed. Here Bob Hope plays the son of Painless Peter Potter from the first film, and the plot involves him going West to claim his Fathers inheritance. Naturally he gets involved in a number of shenanigans that sees him being hounded by the whole town for his Fathers debts. He gets embroiled in the midst of a wanted gang of robbers, and of course he has the sizzling Jane Russell making his heart go giddy up. On and on it goes as the film delivers for laughs every cliché from the Western genre, lynch mobs, Indians on the attack, ghost town, hidden gold, sexy gals, heroes and villains, it's all in there for a laugh a minute satirical piece of work. Added bonus here is we get Roy Rogers and the irrepressible Trigger joining in the fun, in fact Trigger steals a scene of Hope and himself in bed,! yes it's that sort of film. The gags are faster than the rifles on show and the film only pauses for breath for us to sample some quite wonderful tunes; California Rose, Wing-Ding Tonight, What A Dirty Shame, Four Legged Friend, Am I In Love and a brilliant reworking of Buttons & Bows from the first film, it's as good a 95 minutes entertainment I could wish to have from a film, 10/10 for me always. Bobe Hope, RIP legend.

What a great team-up - my favorite 'B' Western movie cowboy, Roy Rogers, getting together with probably my favorite all time humanitarian, Bob Hope. Adding Jane Russell to the mix was just the icing on the cake for this zany and off beat comedy Western. And before I forget, this has GOT to be Trigger's finest performance, always billed as 'The Smartest Horse in the Movies' - but here he does it all. He dances, runs up and down stairs, and even gets to do a bedroom scene with Bob Hope. Wait a minute, that didn't really come out right, but yes, it WAS a bedroom scene, and it was just hilarious. Can't give it away though, you'll just have to watch it for yourself. You really have to keep an eye on Roy every time he has an encounter with Junior Potter. It looks like he doesn't really know how to take him, so just kind of grins and goes along with the master. Case in point, the saloon scene when Roy sets his guitar up on the bar; Hope's rejoinder - "Aren't you glad you wrote that letter to Santa?" You know, I had a Roy Rogers guitar once, maybe even got it from Santa. The story itself is probably secondary to all those great Hope quips and one liners. His scenes with Jane Russell sizzle in a way only Hope could provide, and I get just the biggest kick out of his brand of humor. I could never miss one of his TV Christmas specials entertaining U.S. Troops around the world; even now I think back on those shows with great fondness. The bonus here of course is that the film was done in color, and the newly restored print on the five DVD, ten film 'Legends of Hollywood' set looks just great. So you have all those colorful outfits on Roy looking splendid, and Russell looking especially sexy in her singing number at the Dirty Shame Saloon. Even with the all black outfit, she cuts quite an impressive sight as the story's lead villain. And you couldn't help but laugh every time Bob came out in that over the top floor length coat with the huge 'H' on it. It might have stood for 'Harvard', but in one of those great coincidences where fact and legend collide, it could just as well have stood for Hope!