The Paleface

Filmmaker Norman Z. McLeod’s 1948 Western comedy classic was Bob Hope’s biggest box-office hit, a slapstick farce that paired the voluptuous—if somewhat thespian-challenged—Jane Russell with the comic king. Russell plays Calamity Jane, who is shanghaied into doing undercover work for the government, trying to track down a band of ne’er-do-wells who are selling guns to Native Americans (referred to here, of course, as Indians and Redskins and portrayed with stereotypical buffoonery—although that last charge also pretty much covers everyone else onscreen). Hope is 'Painless' Peter Potter, a dentist who reads from a correspondence course book while treating patients, liberally applying laughing gas to his hapless customers. The laughing gas machine is utilized in a running series of gags throughout the film. As part of her cover, Jane woos the unwitting Potter, steering him into joining a wagon train heading through 'Indian country' in her attempt to catch the bad guys. Naturally, the settlers are set upon by Native Americans who are surprisingly dispatched by Potter’s peerless marksmanship—although unbeknownst to him, Jane is doing the actual shooting. Given a hero’s welcome in the frontier town of Buffalo Flats, the heretofore cowardly Potter trades his city slicker outfit for cowboy duds and adopts the persona of a tough-talking gunfighter, eventually squaring off against the town bully in an extended routine that is one of the best scenes in the film. Also featuring the Oscar-winning song 'Buttons and Bows,' The Paleface remains one of Hope’s signature films, and it was followed up in 1952 with Son of Paleface. Making its Blu-ray debut with a beautiful digital transfer presented in glorious Technicolor, extras include audio commentary by film historian and critic Sergio Mims, a featurette on Hope entertaining military troops, a 1945 special performance by Hope, and a sing-along version of 'Buttons and Bows.' Recommended. (R. Pitman)