The Paleface (1948)

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

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.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The Paleface is not as funny as it first seemed back in 1948, when a spoof western was more of a novelty. Nevertheless, there are still some very amusing situations and many of Bob Hope's wisecracks and comebacks are just as snappy and laugh-getting now as they were back in '48. Good old Norman Z. McLeod's direction even occasionally evinces a bit of style such as the wedding ceremony observed entirely with close-ups of the players' hands, and most notably in the whole episode of the shoot-out, starting with its really inventive pan in the saloon with all the characters lined up at the bar! Jane Russell – in only her third film – registers agreeably both as a filler for curvy period costumes and as a straight man for Bob Hope's foolery. Bobby Watson heads a great support cast featuring some of our favorite cameo actors including Olin Howlin as a grinning undertaker, Nestor Paiva as a tough guy patient and George Chandler as a meek one. Is that Glenn Strange who changes clothes with our hero? No, I guess not. The film's only drawback lies in the non-humorous sequences in which the plot is laboriously explained. These are directed in a totally lackluster style. Fortunately, whenever Hope is on-screen, the movie ticks along nicely. He even gets a chance to sing an agreeable little ditty called "Buttons and Bows" which went on to win Hollywood's most prestigious award for Best Song. Ray Rennahan's color photography is also first-rate. In fact, production values generally leave nothing to be desired. Available on an excellent Universal DVD.

If comedy is about making us laugh then The Paleface is comedy at its finest; it's goofy, spoofy, and just superb. Bob Hope hams it up, Jan Russell burns the screen with her dark looks and all in all this really is one of the funnier films ever made.The plot of the dentist who gets mixed up with the wild west gunshooting girl is just an excuse to hand line after line of comedy. Every grimace, every double take is perfection, but more than that, it's not trying to be smart, it just aims to make you forget the world and lose yourself on the silver screen for a while.Every time I watch The Paleface, and I must seen it more than ten times now, it just always, but always, makes me laugh, and it always makes me wish that Bob Hope was still with us. It's vaudeville and farce, but it's also the kind of comedy that is absolutely timeless - I guarantee we'll be watching this one into the next century and beyond!

Bob Hope has a way with murder and mayhem. It just goes down extremely easy with the guy. Jane Russell is eye candy but is a one note actress if I've ever seen one. The villains are bowling pins to be knocked down and the movie doesn't have a racial tolerant bone in its body. Frank Tashlin understood how to stage his films with the most extreme cartoon-like aspects. Very broad but without depth. The final punch line, however, revealed a dark humor that was played out on the edges of the story. Whenever I look at a western these days I immediately try to imagine what David Milch could have done with it."What were you expecting? A happy ending?"

There are so many wonderful moments in this gloriously silly movie, that it would be impossible to mention more than a few. Hope's timing, the verbal and sight gags combined, a fairly bawdy undercurrent,involving Painless Potter's unsuccessful attempts to bed his new bride, and probably the funniest parody of the classic showdown ever filmed, add up to a very entertaining movie.Some of the most priceless moments go by very quickly, and may not be obvious at first. Painless Potter is smilingly massaging the bald head of a tough dental patient, and they both begin chuckling uncontrollably, due to a leak in the laughing gas machine. Painless Potter is shaving outdoors, with a small mirror hung from a tree branch. An arrow whizzes by, and he remarks that he must be shaving too close. A very obvious man ,trying to conceal himself behind a bush, comes closer, and Potter remarks with a sort of deadpan whimsy, " Must be a Virginia Creeper." When another arrow nearly hits him, he examines it curiously, and muses aloud on who it is that shoots arrows. He lists the possibilities, including Cupid and William Tell, before shrieking " Indians!" and running for the blockhouse. When he tries to get wife Jane to let him in, he hollers, " Help, help, there's a million Indians out here against one coward!"Viewers who can let themselves get immersed in the wisecracks and sight gags, along with just about every western cliché you can think of, will have a good laugh with this delightful film.And, the scene where Painless Potter serenades his sleepy wife with a concertina, singing " Buttons and Bows", as their covered wagon moves slowly along the trail, is absolutely charming. There's something very tender about the way the naive husband sings the funny little song to his drowsy bride.