Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

ksf-2 In this one, Bob Hope is Beaucaire, the French barber to the king. Beaucaire is in love with the maid Mimi, played by Joan Caulfield. Mimi has bigger ambitions, and gives him the brush off. Part of the joke here is that Hope disparages the king, the queen, and the royalty in general quite openly, when in real life, he would quickly be punished for it. Fun scene near the beginning where Beaucaire helps to hide Madam Pompadour, while pretending to give the Duke a shave. I was never a fan of period pieces, and if this weren't a Hope project, I probably would have turned it off. Mimi is sent off to Spain, and the real Duke, and Beaucaire dressed as the Duke end up there a well. Some fun recognizable faces in here... Cecil Kellaway, Reginald Owen, and Constance Collier for supporting cast. The musical numbers were completely un-necessary, and should have been eliminated. It's a grand adventure, with more meat on the bones that most of Hope's quick little comedies. The sword fight at the end goes on way too long. This one is okay. Not Hope's best. Directed by George Marshall. They had worked together on numerous films.

moonspinner55 Foppish skewering of the Booth Tarkington novel, previously filmed with Rudolph Valentino in 1924, casts Bob Hope (in dryly engaging form) as a barber in the French Court of King Louis XV who inadvertently gets his chambermaid-sweetheart banished to Spain; he follows her there while impersonating the Duc de Chandre, a notorious ladies' man who is to be married in an act of patriotism to the Princess of Spain. Seems lengthy at 93 minutes, with a few peaks and valleys in the plotting, and yet it's relaxed and pleasant enough to be palatable to even non-Hope buffs. Still, ace screenwriters Melvin Frank and Norman Panama don't know when to quit, and even the funny tag at the end is ultimately spoiled by unnecessary silliness. A couple of nice songs by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, a good production, and a funny duel (with Hope's ski-slope nose getting caught in the harp strings) make for a fitfully amusing time. ** from ****

MartinHafer Bob Hope movies of the 1930s and 40s are all very pleasant entertainment, though for comedies the laughs are usually not as obvious or often as you might find in many comedies of the era. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the films are a bit more plot-driven than many comedies and in general these films have held up much better than his later films (particularly those from the 1960s). However, I noticed one reviewer gave this one a 10 and suggested Hope should have received Oscar consideration for this film....yeah, right. They're not THAT good! The film finds Bob playing a barber in the latter portion of Louis XV's reign (about 1770 more or less). Naturally Bob is a bit of a screw up and gets in trouble. But, there is a way out--he has to agree to pose as the Duke--a man who is to marry the Spanish princess and solidify an alliance between the countries. But, no one realizes that a crazy Spanish general (Joseph Schildkraut) has plans to kill the Duke, as he WANTS the countries at war with each other! So, it's up to the cowardly Hope to try to save his butt and, hopefully, find love. As for the Duke (Patric Knowles), he's fallen in love with a woman and doesn't really want to marry a princess he's never met. Can it all work out in the end and everyone live happily ever after? The movie is relatively low on laughs--particularly the climactic sword-fighting scene (it's rather lame). But, Hope is an agreeable personality in the film and that makes up for the problems...which would include the3 fact that NONE of the French or Spanish people looked or talked like they came from these countries. Heck, Schildkraut was Austrian and sounded NOTHING like a Spaniard! And Hope seemed about as French as Nelson Mandella! Still, a nice and agreeable little film.By the way, the original "Monsieur Beaucaire" was a silent film starring Rudolph Valentino and was not a comedy. Also, although this is only of interest to history teachers, the film talked about the guillotine several times, though it was not used for the first time until about 1791--during the French Revolution.

bkoganbing Some current film fans with a perfunctory knowledge of cinema stars of the past will be shocked to learn that Rudolph Valentino and Bob Hope played the same title role in two different versions of Booth Tarkington's Monsieur Beaucaire. Of course you can believe there's a vast difference in the version.The Valentino version is a straight dramatic part about a Parisian barber in the court of Louis XV pretending to be a nobleman. Rudy was at his most romantic in the role and it was one of his biggest hits in the Twenties.Bob Hope's Monsieur Beaucaire finds Bob as a barber at Versailles in the court of Louis XV and worried about the romantic intentions of his sweetheart, scullery maid Joan Caulfield. Cole Porter wrote it best that Caulfield is true to Hope in her fashion, but she's an ambitious girl who knows what it takes to get ahead in the court. She aspires to be Madame Pompadour who is played here by Hillary Brooke.Due to a set of circumstances way too complex to write about, Hope and Caulfield both get themselves banished, mainly because of Hope's fantasies and both get themselves involved in the politics between France and Spain where a royal marriage is being arranged to the dismay of both participants, Marjorie Reynolds for the Spanish and Patric Knowles for the French.Playing the puppet-master in all the intrigue is Joseph Schildkraut who shows a real flair for comedy. His final duel with Hope ranks right up there with one Hope engaged in with Basil Rathbone in Cassanova's Big Night. Rounding out a wonderful cast of supporting players are Howard Freeman as the King of Spain and Reginald Owen and Constance Collier as the King and Queen of France. You don't doubt why Louis has Madame Pompadour around when you take one look at the Queen. By the way Joseph Schildkraut comes to one of the most satisfying ends a villain ever got in film. You'll have to see Monsieur Beaucaire and laugh all the way through to see what happens.