Son of Paleface
Bob Hope returned to the wild West inSon of Paleface, mining the  rootin' shootin' genre for gag after gag. Hope plays Junior  Potter--another variation on his lascivious, cowardly, yet somehow  endearing persona--a college boy who's come to California seeking his  father's hidden gold. What he finds is an empty treasure chest, a pile of  unpaid bills, vengeful Indians, buxom Jane Russell (as a saloon girl by  day, wily bandit by night), and singing cowboy Roy Rogers. It's prime  silliness, an ancestor to movies likeAirplane!that never let a  moment go by without an absurd joke. Russell sashays about in spectacular  form-fitting outfits, Rogers yodels a few tunes, and Hope snivels and  wheedles his way out of endless scrapes. Good-natured slapstick (though  its depiction of Native Americans will raise the hackles on politically  correct viewers).--Bret Fetzer