Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories Collection

This six-film set spotlights the early career of Bob Hope, whose comic timing, self-effacing demeanor, and audience rapport took him from stage to radio to screen. The opener is filmmaker George Archainbaud's Thanks for the Memory (1938), a slim little comedy of the idle class—set in Depression-era New York—featuring Hope's titular signature song. The heart of the collection, however, belongs to his three pairings with Paulette Goddard, the first of which is Elliott Nugent's The Cat and the Canary (1939), an oft-filmed haunted house chestnut that is admittedly hokey, but Hope is quite charming (using wisecracks to cover up his fear) and displays marvelous chemistry with Goddard. Their follow-up, George Marshall's The Ghost Breakers (1940), revisits the formula with less wit but more spooky style, while Nugent's Nothing But the Truth (1941) spins a gimmicky plot—Hope is a stockbroker who bets $10,000 that he can tell the truth for 24 hours—into a web of misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and romantic antics, spiced with Goddard's comic dizziness. All four present Hope as a light romantic lead with a quick sense of humor and a genuine courage under his modest front (the films also include some egregious African American stereotypes, a reminder of the era). Filling out the set is David Butler's Road to Morocco (1942), Hope's third “road” movie with Bing Crosby, in which the two are castaways who end up in a desert city where they compete for the affections of Dorothy Lamour (portraying an Arabian princess); and Victor Young's The Paleface (1948), a hilarious cowboy spoof with Hope as a tenderfoot and Jane Russell as a shapely outlaw. While these last two films, along with The Ghost Breakers, were available in previous releases, the other three titles are making their DVD debut. DVD extras include documentary featurettes (with exclusive footage of Hope's USO tours), archival shorts (with Hope performances from the 1940s), sing-along songs, and photo galleries. An excellent collection featuring an American comedy legend, this is highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)