I read somewhere here in this forum a readers take on the Bob-Hedy friction. Let me settle this once and for all. Hedy was always Bob favorite...look at some of the old war newsreels with the stars getting involved in the war, in their own way. There's a clip where Bob is surprisingly sharing a bed with his crony, Bing Crosby and in his dreams, he keeps calling out for Hedy. Hedy was an MGM player, so odds were against them making a movie together, each under contract to different studios. It turned out that some of Hedy's best funny scenes were cut, because the studio head at Paramount, didn't want anyone to be more funnier than their bread and butter comedian. She resented it, after all she was in the midst of making a comeback, as they called it in those days, after her terrific success in Samson and Delilah for that same studio a year before. Its odd that in 1951, Bob and Hedy made a comedy radio stint on top of a U.S.Navy flattop, in front of the sailors, in San Diego port. They even made jokes about appearing together in that movie. So, if there was friction, it was short lived. As far as her role, she was suppose to be playing it straight to Bob's antics. To me,the funniest scenes involved Hedy, mainly because I was surprised at how well she did handle comedy. Her hitting Bob like a wildcat, after he 'punched' her. Her double take upon seeing "both" Bob's was priceless...and that ending, with her driving the fire truck.

While I enjoyed a few of Bob Hope's films, I must say up front that I am not especially a fan of his work. And, I think that others who are not huge fans of his work will probably not be particularly impressed by this rather limp comedy. That's because, for a comedy, this film has a remarkably small amount of humor. Apart from a slightly amusing situation, most of the "laughs" are the result of Hope's mugging and one-liners. For me, they frankly weren't funny at all. My opinion, and I know this might make me sound harsh, is that for years, Bob Hope cashed in on his early successes and then just kind of walked through many roles playing himself. And, this film isn't particularly different from a long string of very similar films from the 40s and 50s. While his die-hard fans will no doubt enjoy this, others will probably be pretty bored.The film is a story about Hope and a look-alike who is a master spy. The spy is captured and Hope is to take his place and secure some secret film. Along the way, he meets Hedy Lamarr--who just seems a bit out of her element. She is not a natural comedienne, but this film doesn't even allow her to try--forcing her to play a dramatic role most of the film. And, in the final chase scene, it looks like a limp imitation of a Keystone comedy. As a result, you're left with a slightly less than average time-passer and nothing more. While technically sound, I was frankly amazed how uninvolving this film was. There was just so little energy and few laughs.

This movie, while far from Hope's best, has Bob in a duel role as Peanuts White and Eric Augusine, the latter being a notorious spy.What is unique is that the character of Augustine is shown as a humorlous brutal killer, and for a few brief scenes we see a serious side of Bob Hope that to my knowledge has never been shown since in any effort.The closest to it in terms of range would be Beau James which he did some years later.

Typical enjoyable Bob Hope movie, enhanced by the lovely shimmering beauty of Hedy Lamarr that makes it all worthwhile. You might notice at the start of the night club scene before Lily (Hedy) sings, they play music from "Samson and Delilah" which had been a big hit for Hedy two years earlier. I agree that at times the plot seems rather thin but if you're a regular fan and hooked on Hope's films you'll like it and not worry about wondering why. Just enjoy!