The Paleface (1948)

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Iris Adrian, Robert Armstrong, Robert Watson, Clem Bevans, Jackie Searl, Charles Trowbridge, Joseph Vitale, Jeff York.

Western comedy with Bob Hope as a Bob Hope-like traveling dentist who gets caught up in confrontations with smugglers, Indians, gunslingers, etc., after marrying Calamity Jane (Russell), who did so just to keep her cover while working with the government. Some very funny moments, especially when Hope puts on a tough guy act, but it also becomes strained at times, and goes on too long even at just ninety minutes. Russell brings almost nothing to the table, failing at being a foil, a “straight man,” and a romantic interest; Bob would’ve been better off sticking with saloon singer Pepper (Adrian). Won an Academy Award for Original Song with “Buttons and Bows”; because filming was finished more than a year before the movie’s release, the tune was already a hit before it ever played on a screen! Followed by a sequel (Son of Paleface) and remade as a Don Knott’s vehicle in 1968 (The Shakiest Gun in the West).

56/100