IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Few movie comedians have had as consistent a run of quality comedies as Bob Hope. After finding his “wisecracking brave coward” character in his breakout movie, The Cat and the Canary, Hope had a fifteen year string of critical and box office hits that were almost universally good (and in some cases, great). However, in the mid-to-late Fifties, Hope’s movie career floundered a bit. Part of this downturn was inevitable, as Hope was simply aging out of his trademark character. The blueprint for most classic Bob Hope comedies had the wisecracking coward rising to the occasion to help a beautiful woman out of some dangerous predicament. Being that much of this formula was based on romance, Hope’s comedy character was more dependent on youth than those of other contemporary comedians (such as Abbott & Costello, W.C. Fields, The Marx Brothers, or the Three Stooges).

After 1954’s Casanova’s Big Night, a Bob Hope solo comedy in the classic style, the comedian put the “brave coward” character on hold and tried a change of pace with the biopics The Seven Little Foys (1955) and Beau James (1957). He also tried a more sophisticated, “grown-up” brand of romantic comedy with the underrated That Certain Feeling and the disastrous The Iron Petticoat (both 1956). While some of those experiments were pretty good films, audiences missed the Bob Hope of old, and in 1959, the comedian gave the people what they wanted. He reteamed with his Casanova’s Big Night director, Norman Z. McLeod, to make one last “wisecracking brave coward” film. Being that television Westerns were the current fad and Hope’s The Paleface (1948, also directed by McLeod) was one of his most successful pictures, it was decided that the film would be the comedy-themed Western, Alias Jesse James.

The film benefits greatly from a strong premise. In the story, Hope plays Milford Farnsworth, a struggling insurance salesman who is on the verge of losing his job. It appears that Milford’s luck has changed when he manages to sell a $100,000 policy to a stranger for $33,000 cash. Unfortunately, the stranger turns out to be the notorious outlaw Jesse James (solid character actor Wendell Corey). Due to Jesse’s hazardous career, Milford’s boss, Titus Queasley (Will Wright) fears that the company will have to pay off the policy right away. Queasley sends Milford to track down Jesse James and either refund the $33,000 or serve as a bodyguard to the outlaw to make sure James doesn’t catch a stray bullet. James has no intention of giving up the policy, as he plans to kill a sucker in his place, to make it appear that he was killed and have his girlfriend, Cora Lee Collins (Rhonda Fleming), claim the 100 grand to bankroll the outlaw’s retirement. When Milford shows up, Jesse decides that he’ll make as good a corpse as any.

Alias Jesse James doesn’t rank with the best of the Bob Hope solo comedies. It isn’t as strong a Western satire as The Paleface (1948). Nor is it as funny as the joke-packed sequel, Son of Paleface (1952). However, it was Hope’s funniest film since Casanova’s Big Night, and it was a worthy entry to serve as the swan song of the “wisecracking brave coward.”

If you compare it to the best of Hope’s 1940’s output, Alias Jesse James does suffer by comparison. The wisecracks aren’t quite as sharp; the joke density isn’t quite as packed; and some gags are milked a bit too much (such as Hope’s exaggerated mugging after downing shot-after-shot of whiskey or his “Fred Flintstone-style” chase when his legs break through the bottom of a horse-drawn carriage). Still, Alias Jesse James is a painless, breezy 92 minutes of fun, which is better than most of the comedian’s output in the 1950s. While I only laughed out loud a couple of times, I found myself smiling throughout.

Despite being 55 at the time of filming, Hope is surprisingly likeable and charming in the role of the naïve protagonist, and he has genuine chemistry with romantic interest, Rhonda “Queen of Technicolor” Fleming. For her part, Fleming makes the most of an underwritten role, and the camera absolutely loves her. The film is rounded out with a sea of familiar character faces, including Wendell Corey (who makes a very likeable baddie), Jim Davis, Gloria Talbot, Will Wright, and Glenn “Frankenstein” Strange.

Today, the film is best remembered for the climax in which Milford (Hope) takes on Jesse James’ gang in a gunfight. As Milford shoots and misses, the villains keep dropping. After each baddie falls, it is revealed that the outlaw was actually dispatched offscreen by a lawman portrayed by popular Western heroes from film and TV, including Hugh O’Brien (The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp), Ward Bond (Wagon Train), James Arness (Gunsmoke), Roy Rogers (as himself), Fess Parker (Davy Crockett), Gail Davis (Annie Oakley), Gary Cooper (High Noon), Jay Silverheels (The Lone Ranger), and Bing Crosby (as himself). These cameos are fun, but like most pop-culture references, they will diminish in their impact over time.

There may be debate over whether this is truly the last of Hope’s “wisecracking brave coward” comedies, but it is generally considered the last of his run of quality solo films. Hope did have one more team picture ahead of him, which might be considered his last good starring release, although Road to Hong Kong (1962) doesn’t come close to reaching the heights that that series had previously hit. Essentially, it was all downhill from here, in terms of Hope’s movie career.

USA/C-92m./Dir: Norman Z. McLeod/Wr: William Bowers & Daniel B. Beauchamps, based on a story by Robert St. Aubrey & Bert Lawrence/Cast: Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey, Gloria Talbott, Jim Davis, Will Wright

For Fans of: If you like Bob Hope’s classic comedies of the Forties and early Fifties, I think you’ll enjoy this swan song for his “wisecracking brave coward” character.

Video: Kino Lorber will release Alias Jesse James on Blu-ray on July 27th under their Kino Lorber Studio Classics imprint. The picture quality is more variable than most of the Bob Hope titles that they released previously. The image is sharp throughout, but the color varies from looking vibrant and authentic to looking a bit off (leaning too yellowish or brownish). I’m sure that Kino did the best they could with the elements that were provided, and the film is watchable throughout. The DTS sound is solid, presenting dialogue, sound effects, and music with clarity and no age-related hiss. This is probably the best the film will ever look or sound on home video, as a full restoration is probably cost prohibitive with the potential audience for this title.

The disc is more “bare bones” than the other Kino Lorber Bob Hope releases. The Blu-ray special features consist of a collection of trailers:

• The original theatrical trailer
• Bonus Bob Hope trailers: The Cat and the Canary, Road to Singapore, The Ghost Breakers, Road to Zanzibar, Caught in the Draft, Nothing but the Truth, My Favorite Blonde, Road to Morocco, Road to Utopia, and The Paleface
• Bonus Rhonda Fleming trailers: Those Redheads From Seattle, Jivaro, and The Revolt of the Slaves
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

Streaming: At the time of this review, Alias Jesse James was streaming as part of an Amazon Prime subscription. It can also be rented or purchased in digital form from iTunes and Vudu.

More to Explore: Bob Hope also made The Paleface (1948), Fancy Pants (1950), and Son of Paleface (1952) in the Western comedy genre. They are all worth seeing. However, Fancy Pants is the weakest, and it hasn’t yet made the jump to Blu-ray. Several of Hope’s other solo comedies have made the transition to Blu-ray.  I’ve provided Amazon links to some of my favorite Hope titles below.

Trivia: It has often been reported that James Garner (as Brett Maverick) and Gene Autry (as himself) also filmed brief cameos. It has been widely assumed that those appearances were cut out of video releases due to legal rights issues. However, I’ve been unable to find any evidence that those cameos were actually filmed or that they appeared in any release of the movie.

For More Info: There have been many film references and biographies written on “Old Ski Nose,” but the definitive tome on the comedian is Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin.  It is incredibly well researched and even-handed in its discussion of the comic’s talents and character flaws. If you are looking for a Bob Hope movie reference, The Road to Comedy: The Films of Bob Hope by Donald McCaffrey provides a nice overview.