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!
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!