The Iron Petticoat (1957)

Perfect cast and a good story

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Very minor reworking of Ninotchka with Hope and Kate, whose accent is all over the place, sharing little to no chemistry. The script is weak but if Cary Grant, her best costar, had appeared in this as originally planned it might not have been a classic but because of their rapport a much better film than it is. A product of much backstage enmity. Hope and Hepburn disdained each other and Hope and the film's writer Ben Hecht fought to the point they took the battle public in printed ads denouncing each other, the resulting picture hardly seems worth it. A flat, inert misfire necessary only to completist of the starring duos work.

Russian-accented war heroine Katharine Hepburn (as Vinka Kovelenko) lands in West Germany, where she is captured by the American military. Authorities expect her to announce a defection, but Ms. Hepburn wishes to remain a Communist. At the same time, wise-cracking US pilot Bob Hope (as Charles "Chuck" Lockwood) is about to enjoy a leave from military service. His superior officers cancel Mr. Hope's leave and order him to seduce Hepburn into the pleasures of Capitalism. Hope uses liquor and masculine charms, but Hepburn turns out to be a tough nut to crack...This is a wretched re-make of "Ninotchka" (1939). Hope is typical. Hepburn is terrible. A performer of Hepburn's caliber so poorly attempting Greta Garbo is almost impossible to fathom - this is an embarrassing effort. Reportedly, Hope cut a substantial amount of her material; if this is the best they filmed, he was doing Hepburn a favor. Hope's remaining one-liners and light slap-schtick are almost as awful. They wisely hid "The Iron Petticoat" from public viewing until 2012, when viewers were able to determine whether the film was either a lost classic or a train wreck. No contest.* The Iron Petticoat (6/30/56) Ralph Thomas ~ Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Noelle Middleton, James Robertson Justice

Until ironically both stars of The Iron Petticoat died within a month of each other in 2003, this film may have had until June 29 of that year of holding the record for having its two co-stars survive the longest. That was the day Katharine Hepburn died and Bob Hope died on July 27 and between them they had 196 years on earth. That's the only distinction The Iron Petticoat has.Ben Hecht got on Bob Hope's case for allowing his gag writers to intrude in on his screenplay and story. Personally I can't believe they could have loused it up as bad as what his idea originally was. Katharine Hepburn is a female Russian jet ace who defects from the Soviet Union, not because of any disagreement with Communism, but because she was passed over for promotion in the Russian Air Force.But the Americans still think they can convert her for propaganda purposes and who do they assign to the task? Not real life American air war hero James Stewart, but Bob Hope who plays the jet pilot who forced Kate's jet down. Who here really believes Bob Hope as a war hero pilot? It's obvious Hope did interfere and it probably cost Hepburn some of her scenes, but the premise was so ridiculous I can understand why he thought the film needed help. As for Hepburn she throws on an accent that might be described as Maria Ouspenskaya on crystal meth. Even such fine players as James Robertson Justice as the KGB man assigned to kidnap Hepburn back are wasted here.The Iron Petticoat was a terrible idea made even worse in the execution. No wonder it's never shown in revivals of either Hope or Hepburn.

This film had the potential to be much better. The charm and talent of Hepburn and Hope, the conflict of attitudes between East/West, Democracy/Communism, male/female. However, none of these elements work quite as well as they might have done.Despite being rather over the top at the start, Hepburn is very good sporadically (the Russian accents and characters in general are stereotypical caricatures). Her androgynous persona is well cast, although used rather crudely at times - the film has a nervously defencive and jokey treatment of burgeoning feminist ideas, probably typical of the era.Unfortunately, Hepburn's character is often relegated to be the foil for Hope's one liners. These are sometimes funny, but tend to predominate over characterisation, narrative, and the film in general, giving the whole piece an oddly disjointed, flat feel. With a more pacey and intelligent script, the likable charm of Hope and the feisty emotion of Hepburn could have made a quirky, witty film. Instead, this rather dated film remains an interesting, although sometimes uncomfortable watch, as a snapshot of attitudes in the 1950s, and the unusual pairing of these two stars.