Product: Great Lover [VHS] (1949)
Rating: 4.0
A Solid "B" Comedy
Alas, Bob Hope's reputation suffered towards the end of his career due to too many unfunny TV specials and lackluster films. But back in his heyday (the 1940's and 50's), he really was one of the great film funnymen.This almost forgotten little black & white comedy from 1949 is a great case in point.Hope plays his classic character, the vain coward with delusions of adequacy mixed up with some serious bad guys out to do serious damage. Specifically, he is a very reluctant scout master to a troop of gung-ho junior explorer types returning from an overseas trip on a big ocean liner. He quickly becomes embroiled with a serial killer when he tries to put the make on co-star Rhonda Fleming.While this doesn't hit the comedic high spots of his best films, like "The Paleface" and the Hope/Crosby Road Pictures, it is still a solidly entertaining film in the same vein that the best of the TV sit-coms fill today.A word of warning: The DVD's packaging is a bit deceptive. It lists George Reeves as a co-star, but if you are a fan of the Baby Boomer's #1 "Man of Steel," you'll have to look quick. His part is really just a brief cameo that serves to get the action started.All in all, a solid comic adventure well worth it for Hope fans or those who enjoy black and white films from the mid-20th Century.