Starring Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Jane Darwell, and Lloyd Nolan
Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Music by Jay Livingston; Lyrics by Ray Evans
We jump start Christmas this week with two adaptations of older films as holiday musicals, starting with this one based on a Damon Runyon story. This was originally filmed in 1934 with Lee Tracy as the lemon candy-loving racetrack tout, but it was heavily reworked for Bob Hope and his gags by former Looney Tunes animator Frank Tashlin, among others. How does this story of a con man who uses an older lady to make money, only to learn a holiday lesson about giving, look today? Let's begin in Florida with The Lemon Drop Kid (Hope) selling phony horse race tips and find out...
The Story: The Kid gets into real trouble when he sells a phony tip to the girlfriend of gangster Moose Moran (Fred Clark). The furious boss demands that he pay back the $10,000 she lost by Christmas Eve. He returns to New York, first trying to get money off his girlfriend Brainey Baxter (Maxwell), then from local crime boss Oxford Charlie (Nolan). Seeing all the sidewalk Santas earning money, he hits on the idea of posing as a Santa, too. He's arrested for panhandling, but that just gives him the idea of posing as a Santa earning money for charity.
Hearing how local older lady Nellie Thursday (Darwell) wasn't allowed to join a senior home because her husband is in jail, he creates the "Nellie Thursday Home for Old Dolls" at one of Moran's abandoned casinos. He and other local gangsters bring in older women as friends for Nellie and even dress as Santas themselves to earn money for her. The Kid originally intends to hand the money over to Moran, but starts to have second thoughts when Brainey leaves her job as a dancer for Charlie to look after the women and he realizes just how big this has gotten...and how important it is to the ladies.
The Song and Dance: This ended up being really cute. Hope is having a terrific time as the candy-sucking con man who thinks he's found a way to easy riches, before he realizes he's found people who really care about him instead. Maxwell also has fun as his sarcastic girlfriend who has been left sitting without a fur coat for too many years. All of the character actors playing gangsters are a riot, too, especially William Frawley as Gloomy Willie and Sit Melton as Little Louie, and Darwell is adorable and very funny as the kindly older woman whose dilemma gives the Kid his charity idea in the first place.
The Numbers: We get the chorus girls doing a dance routine at Charlie's club, claiming "You Obviously Came to Hear Us Sing." Brainey and the Kid gently remind the older women as they settle them down for the night that "It Doesn't Cost You Anything to Dream." The holiday standard here is "Silver Bells," and it gets a number worthy of it, too. Frawley begins it as an attempt to drum up customers. Brainey and the Kid encourage him to give it a softer sell...which leads into them and half of Times Square to tout the delights of the city at Christmastime.
Trivia: Frank Tashlin ended up directing part of the film along with writing part of it, but received no credit for directing.
What I Don't Like: First of all, I did read that this has nothing whatsoever to do with the original short story or the first film besides the title and a con-man who likes lemon candy. It wasn't originally set at Christmas, either. You can definitely detect Tashlin's wacky Looney Tunes sensibilities in the increased emphasis on slapstick and wacky gags for one of Hope's movies, including near the end where he dresses as an old woman to find the older ladies Oxford Charlie has kidnapped and the missing money.
The Big Finale: One of Hope's better comedies of the 1950's deserves far more love than it gets for the hilarious script and its two lovely songs. Definitely recommend checking it out this holiday season if you're a fan of Hope, are looking for an adorably hilarious comic caper, or ever wondered where "Silver Bells" came from.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.
No comments:
Post a Comment