Scarcely A Trace Of Wit.
Added 2/4/2005
Not even Bob Hope, escorted by a raft of fine character actors, can save this poorly written attempt at wartime comedy, as his patented timing has little which which to work. The plot involves a Hollywood film star named Don Bolton (Hope), and his attempt to evade military service at the beginning of World War II, followed by his enlistment by mistake in a confused attempt to court a colonel's daughter (Dorothy Lamour). Bolton's agent, played by Lynne Overman, and his assistant, portrayed by Eddie Bracken, enlist with him and the three are involved in various escapades regarding training exercises, filmed in the Malibu, California, hills. Paramount budgeted handsomely for this effort, employing some of its top specialists, but direction by the usually reliable David Butler was flaccid, and this must be attributed to a missing comedic element in the scenario. A shift toward the end of the film to create an opportunity for heroism by Bolton is still-born with poor stunt work and camera action in evidence. Oddly, Lynne Overman is given the best lines and this veteran master of the sneer does very well by them. Dorothy Lamour looks lovely and acts nicely, as well, and it is ever a delight to see and hear Clarence Kolb, as her father, whose voice is unique on screen or radio, but there is little they can do to save this film, cursed as it is with an error in script assignment.
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+1/2 Lightweight pre-war military comedy
Added 5/11/2003
Eddie Bracken and Dorothy Lamour star, respectively, as Bob Hope's comedic and romantic foils in this lightweight military comedy. Bob plays Don Bolton, a pampered, smartaleck-y movie star who latches onto marrying Lamour as a way to to avoid the draft ("I'm not a coward," he says, "I'm just allergic to bullets.") The trouble is his would-be wife is also the daughter of a bristly old-school Army Colonel, and she shares daddy's distaste for shirkers. Their love-hate relationship slowly tilts towards love, and eventually he proves himself worthy of her hand. The sketch-oriented script has episodic laughs, but is pretty predictable and sluggish: it might have been funnier at a time when universal conscription was becoming a reality, and civilian America was ramping up to meet a total war economy. In that regard, it's an interesting cultural relic.
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Pleasing wartime Bob Hope effort
Added 10/23/2002
"Caught In The Draft" is an amusing film not well known today and certainly it is not one of Bob Hope's more frequently seen films. I believe the reason for this was that it was definately a product of its time, as America was preparing to move into the Second World War and was just feeling its way about such issues as conscription and compulsory training of soldiers.Adapted as a vechicle for Bob Hope's very unique style of comedy acting it is a pleasant and at times very amusing film. While not up there in my opinion with such Hope classics as "The Cat And The Canary", "The Ghost Breakers" or "My Favourite Blonde" it is still an amusing way to pass an hour and a half. Bob Hope was one of Paramount's biggest stars in 1941 when "Caught In The Draft" was filmed. In his solo comedies and in his memorable work as a team with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in the "Road" films he had become an icon for American comedy. In this outing he is joined as his leading lady by Dorothy Lamour and the two, despite Lamour's limitations both with her role here, and her acting in general, have a real screen chemistry that plays very well. Bob Hope plays Hollywood movie star and big shot Don Bolton an actor who definately believes his own publicity and who wants to avoid the draft for army service at any cost since it will interfer with his career and his endless womanising. Falling for Lamour playing an army colonel's daughter he seeks to impress her by pretending to enlist in the army only to find that through a chain of circumstances he has indeed actually enlisted in the toughest regiment there is!! What develops then is an amusing series of incidents as Hope adjusts to life in the army and finds himself constantly getting into trouble much to the chargin of Colonel Fairbanks, just the man he needs to impress as he is the father of his love interest Antoinette "Tony" (Dorothy Lamour). His mishaps involve, attempting to parachute out of a plane without his parachute attached properly, gun practice even though he is mortally afraid of even the sound of a gun going off, attempting to drive a tank across terrain without being able to see where he is going (the most hilarious sequence in the film by far!) which results in him crashing into the Colonel's vechicle. Among the most memorable scenes is when Bob is pulled in to doing guard juty when he is dressed only in his underwear under his coat. What develops is a very funny sequence of events as Bob's two buddies Steve and Burt (Lynne Overman and Eddie Bracken in stand out performances)try to get his clothes to him under the eye of Colonel Fairbanks who is visiting the hospital at that moment. It contains some of Hope's most hilarious work as he ducks out windows, jumps into beds and receives the unwelcome attentions of a concerned nurse armed with a castor oil bottle. While not his best work "Caught In The Draft" shows Bob Hope in his familiar guise of the loveable coward right at the time his illustrious career was at a peak. It's an enjoyable farce and and even though it's Hope's vechicle all the way, Dorothy Lamour given the limited role she has to work with, makes the most of it and the superb Edith Head fashions she wears are superb and most flattering and go a long way to explaining why Lamour was considered one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood in the early 1940's. Enjoy this story set in a period which is now part of our history.
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Hilarious!
Added 7/4/2000
This is one of Bob Hope's least known and least appreciated films, but it's a gem. Bob gives his patented "dumb, naive" characterization, and it will have you in stitches. The scene where Hope tries to drive a tank while his sight is obstructed will have you on the floor laughing hysterically.If you are a fan of Bob Hope, movies of the World War II era, and if you just like to be entertained, this movie is for you.
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Excellent quality and typical Hope
Added 8/30/2008
I own all the Hope "Tribute Collection" series from Universal. All are high quality video (even the double series) with decent HTS audio and easy to watch. Hope and Lamour play their typical roles in "Caught in the Draft", so if you're a fan, you'll like it. "Give me a Sailor" features a bit too much Martha Raye for me, but all in all, a good addition to the Hope DVD collection.
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Caught in the Draft/ Give Me a Sailor Double Feature
Added 6/8/2008
Two of Bob Hope's earliest movies are presented here as a double feature. They Got Me Covered is the better known one & the featured attraction of the two. Both could probably be best described as screwball comedies especially Give Me a Sailor.
Give Me a Sailor was released in 1938 & was the second time that Bob Hope & Martha Raye were teamed together. Bob Hope & Jack Whiting are brothers vying for the hand of the same woman, Betty Grable. Grable & Raye are sisters who are both in love with Whiting. The two sisters are about as different as they can be; Grable is pretty but a tart, Raye is the super homemaker. An accidental picture of Ray's legs leads to her winning a most beautiful legs contest, all by accident. Hope & Raye have been plotting together for years to get Whiying to marry her so that Hope could get in good with Grable. It all leads to some comical situations & misunderstandings. Of course, you can figure who Hope ends up with.
The second movie is Caught in the Draft, released in 1941 & was the #1 movie at the box office for that year! It stars Bob Hope & Dorothy Lamour which was their second of many pairings, most notably the Road movies. In this one Hope is a movie star who's in love with Lamour. She's the daughter of an Army colonel but he doesn't like Hope. Hope tries several things to win her & her father but to no avail. He ends up enlisting in the Army but, due to many mishaps, Hope isn't getting any closer to winning the hand of Lamour. It's a very patriotic movie. The United States had yet to enter the war but there's a lot of flag waving in this movie. The tank scene in this movie is a must-see.
Both movies are early features for Hope. Give Me a Sailor was only his second starring role, only the seventh movie he had ever appeared in. Caught in the Draft is Hope, more well known in just three short years, in only his ninth film as a star, his fourteenth overall. By the time of Caught in the Draft the Hope screen personna was solidified. And of the two movies Caught in the Draft will be the better known & more accepted of the two. Both are entertaining though Give Me a Sailor hasn't dated quite as well.
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Pleasant nostalgia
Added 6/19/2007
This DVD set demonstrates easily that Bob Hope was an appealing performer even when the material was not top notch.
"Give me a Sailor", released in 1938, is Hope's third feature film and he supports Martha Raye in a quite funny re-working of Cinderella. Raye was being given a build up by Paramount so the film is a broader showcase of her talents than the usual rowdy burlesque comedy. She is very sympathetic here and two scenes standout - one is her tearful reaction to being dumped by Jack Whiting and the other showcases her superb vocal talent with a ballad, a talent which was not displayed enough. Betty Grable plays her unpleasant sister and hindsight tells us that all the qualities which lead to her stardom a few years later were there in 1938, simply not showcased effectively.
"Caught in the Draft", released in 1941, is Paramount's answer to the Abbott and Costello's smash hit "Buck Privates" with Hope very much the star now. Hope is a cowardly film star who is drafted into the army and the ensuing comedy is as genial as it is predictable. There is the usual excellent supporting cast, Lynne Overman being the standout, with lots of great one liners. The film was a giant hit for Paramount when it was released but the film is a bit drawn out for my liking.
The DVD contains no extras other than the trailers for the films and some liner notes. The prints of the films are excellent.
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"It's really a picture of her yum-yums."
Added 3/4/2007
This is another very good double feature dvd in the Bob Hope Tribute Collection and offers two more of his earlier, lesser known films: CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT (1941) and GIVE ME A SAILOR (1938). CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT is a wacky wartime comedy which co-stars Dorothy Lamour, the actress most often associated with him in features while GIVE ME A SAILOR again co-stars the zany Martha Raye and is one film removed from his film debut THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938, the musical-comedy that made people sit up and take notice of Old Ski-nose. It's pretty interesting to note that, even in these shorter, inaugural efforts, Bob's trademark shifty and wiseacre screen persona was already in full bloom. Even though his best works would still lie ahead of him, it really is often a treat (for me, anyway) to sample his early resume.
CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT: Lily-livered Hollywood movie star Don Bolton (Hope) tries his darndest to avoid the draft but, nevertheless, ends up in the military. Somehow, along with his agent Steve (the sometimes squeaky voiced Lynne Overman) and his clueless aide Bert (Eddie Bracken), who both have loyally signed up with him, Don must now survive the hardy rigors of Army life. But, he and his hapless cronies can't seem to avoid getting caught up in wacky shenanigans which inevitably places them in endless potato-peeling punishment. Along the way, Don does his best to court the gruff Colonel's daughter, the gorgeous Antoinette "Tony" Fairbanks (Dorothy Lamour), of which first appearance so captivates Don that it elicits this response from him: "She looks like Dorothy Lamour with clothes on." Can a skittish actor who can't stand loud noises somehow earn his stripes, win the girl, and also avoid ingesting castor oil?
It's a curious fact that YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH, the wonderful Fred Astaire/Rita Hayworth vehicle, came out two months after CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT and bears an eerie plot similarity to Bob's flick. If you were even mildly entertained by CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT, then I guarantee you'll get a kick out of Astaire, who plays a celebrated entertainer forced to join the army and then finds himself working overtime to get Hayworth's attention. It actually improves on CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT.
When GIVE ME A SAILOR was released in 1938, Bob Hope hadn't yet achieved definite star status, although he was well on his way; here, Martha Raye gets top billing over him, although Bob's name does pop up before the film title. In this one, Bob Hope and Jack Whiting play Jim and Walter Brewster, two Navy officers who also happen to be brothers. Both have a hankering for the same girl, the luscious Nancy Larkin (Betty Grable), with Walter seemingly having the inside track on her. He's about to propose to Nancy - which sets Jim to frantically conniving. Since childhood, Jim and Nancy's long-suffering, ugly duckling sister Letty (Martha Raye) have had a "secrit pact" to ensure that Walter and Nancy don't end up together. Letty, you see, fancies Walter. Watch Bob and Martha as they put their noggins together and, by hook or by crook, attempt to land their respective sweethearts.
Bob Hope is his usual self, which has always been good enough for me. Martha Raye co-starred with Bob in a total of four movies, and it's in this feature that I find her the most likable as she reveals a sweetly vulnerable side in her role of Letty. Then up-and-coming starlet Betty Grable does well as the beautiful, initially shallow and domestically inept sister ("Why, Nancy, how did you cook this? With a blowtorch?"). Jack Whiting does a nice job of blending in with the woodwork as he only stood out in the movie's one dance sequence. Meanwhile, Clarence Kolb, who played Dorothy Lamour's Colonel dad in CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT has a tiny role here as the Brewster brothers' commanding officer.
Nice songs in this one, too, with the then up-and-coming starlet Betty Grable ably singing "What Goes On Here?" and Martha Raye belting out "One Sweet Moment With You" (I think that was the title). As half-heartedly mentioned above, Whiting and Grable do a nice turn of dancing. On the comedy side, I find Martha Raye's face cream dilemma to be a piece of guffaw-filled goodness, as well as the fashion in which Bob resolves that dilemma. Another scene that's particularly amusing involves Letty and a motel bed...
Crafted in an era when on-screen profanity doesn't get more venomous than "Oh, spittle!", CAUGHT IN THE DRAFT and GIVE ME A SAILOR are two tiny Bob Hope nuggets mined from the vaults of Paramount which deserve more exposure to new generations. Bob Hope is my all-time favorite comedian of ANY era and, to me, these are two little film treasures which I can come back to time and again. I don't know how many Bob Hope fans are left in this world and I don't expect people to like these flicks as much as I do, but, even to the casual viewer, I do give both films a hearty recommendation. Four stars from me.
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