Fancy Pants, starring Lucille Ball, Bob Hope
movie review of Fancy Pants, where Bob Hope plays an American actor in London, playing the role of an English butler (whew!), who is brought to America to serve as butler to an American tomboy in the Wild West, played by Lucille Ball - two of the funniest people on the silver screen together, who made a funny movie togetherEditorial Review of Fancy Pants, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, courtesy of Amazon.com
Bob Hope is up to his classic shenanigans in Fancy Pants, a loose remake of the comedy favorite Ruggles of Red Gap. Hope plays Humphrey, an American actor playing a British butler in a hokey play in London. When a fortune-hunter hires the cast to help him woo a wealthy American girl (Lucille Ball, playing her character like a female John Wayne), the girl’s domineering mother takes a shine to Humphrey and hires him to be their butler back in New Mexico. But when they arrive out West, the townsfolk believe that Humphrey is British nobility, and even Teddy Roosevelt drops by for a visit. Despite their different comic styles, Hope and Ball have an oddball chemistry together; throw in some musical numbers, physical slapstick, and a shaggy dachshund, and the results will please any Hope fan. (There are, however, some unfortunate racial stereotypes.) --Bret Fetzer
Trivia for Fancy Pants, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
- In a scene involving Lucille Ball and Bob Hope on a mechanical horse, Hope took a tumble off the horse and suffered a mild concussion.
Funny Movie Quotes from Fancy Pants (1950), starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
[as Sir Wimbley kisses her hand]
Agatha (Lucille Ball): You act if gravy was on it!
Agatha (Lucille Ball): Gee, if you’re an actor, we’ve got a chance, and if you’re a good actor this could be the biggest job you ever had.
Arthur Tyler (Bob Hope): Yeah, and I’d be the star - that’s a step up… and an audience of three - that’s a step up.
[during opening credits]
Arthur Tyler (Bob Hope): No popcorn during my performance… peasants!
[Arthur (Bob Hope) jumps onto the horse behind Agatha (Lucille Ball), only for both of them to fall off]
Arthur Tyler (Bob Hope): Wouldn’t it be much simpler to call a cab?