The Paleface
1948 | Not Rated | Comedy, Western | d. Norman Z. McLeod
Bob Hope, Jane Russell
In this western comedy, Bob Hope plays an old west dentist who you wouldn’t want anywhere near your molars. Buxom Jane Russell stars as a fictionalized version of Calamity Jane, who marries ‘Painless’ Potter (Hope) in an attempt to cover her undercover work for the government while working to find out who is selling firearms to the local Indian tribes. Winner of an Academy Award for Best Song (Buttons & Bows), The Paleface offers grand humor, spoofing all of the typical pitfalls and situations of the western genre from the era when westerns were king. - JB
Ah, The Paleface, the classic Bob Hope Western which introduced his second trademark song (“Buttons and Bows” ranking just behind “Thanks for the Memories”). The plot is simple but highly effective farce, and when dentist Hope is mistaken as an Indian killer (due to sharpshooting wife Jane Russell), Hope shifts gears from coward to braggart. Among the supporting cast, the gun runners include slick-talking Robert Armstrong fron King Kong and Bobby Watson (the “Moses Supposes” speech coach in Singin' in the Rain and Hollywood's favorite Hitler impersonator). The frantic script was co-written by Frank Tashlin, a former Looney Tunes cartoon director who would go on to write and direct the even more raucous sequel, Son of Paleface (1952). - AL