Warren Earl Fisk Movies
A sequel to Bob Hope's 1948 box-office success The Paleface, 1952's Son of Paleface is a superior product in every way, thanks largely to the spirited, creative direction of Frank Tashlin. Hope is cast as Junior Potter, a Harvard-educated dude who heads West to claim the inheritance left him by his gunslinger father. Much to his chagrin, Junior discovers that his dad has left him nothing but debts. To stave off Potter Sr.'s angry creditors, Junior pretends that his father has salted away a fortune somewhere in the hills. This arouses the attention of curvaceous saloon owner Mike (Jane Russell), who doubles as a mysterious masked bandit known as The Torch. Meanwhile, Roy Rogers (playing a federal agent named Roy Rogers) keeps tabs on Junior, hoping that he'll lead him to The Torch and her gang. True to form, ex-cartoonist Tashlin fills the screen with a wealth of inventive sight gags and inside jokes: Cecil B. DeMille shows up as a photographer in one scene, while in another, Hope, about to embark on the film's wild climactic chase sequence, shoos away a couple of vultures wearing bibs, warning them that "You'll make the whole thing look impossible." Our favorite scenes: Hope's Wile E. Coyote-like reaction to a particularly potent drink, and his bedroom scene with Roy Rogers' wonder horse Trigger. And don't forget the film's slightly risque punch line "Let's see them top that on television," (you have to be there). Songs in Son of Paleface include "You Are My Valley of Sunshine," "Four-Legged Friend," "Wing Ding Tonight," "What A Dirty Shame," and a reprise of The Paleface's Oscar-winning "Buttons and Bows," performed by Hope, Russell and Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Jane Russell, (more)
- 1951
An excellent cast brings distinction to the pedestrian goings-on in Silver City. Per its title, the film is set in silver-mining country, with hopeful prospectors and greedy claim-jumpers abounding. The villain of the piece is miserly R. R. Jarboe (Barry Fitzgerald), who holds the lease on the silver lode worked by heroine Candace Surrency (Yvonne DeCarlo) and her father Dutch (Edgar Buchanan). Meanwhile, mining expert Larkin Moffatt (Edmond O'Brien) is prevented from finding work by the vengeful Charles Storrs (Richard Arlen), who happens to be Candace's boyfriend. Murder rears its ugly head, resulting in all sorts of skullduggery, culminating in true melodramatic fashion in an old sawmill. The "bad girl" in Silver City is played by Laura Elliot, who later changed her name to Kasey Rogers and essayed the benign role of Mrs. Larry Tate on TV's Bewitched. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1950
The Randolph Scott western Colt .45 was retitled for TV so as not to be confused with the TV series of the same name. The new title, Thundercloud, misleads the audience into expecting a Native American epic. Actually the film involves a gun salesman (Randolph Scott) whose sample case of Colt 45's is stolen by an outlaw (Zachary Scott--no relation to Randolph). Accused of being a member of the outlaw gang when they start using the Colts in their holdups, the salesman is obliged to track down the crooks. Thundercloud, or Colt .45, represented the last film of supporting actor Alan Hale Sr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Ruth Roman, (more)
