Never Say Die

This early Bob Hope feature is very funny, and quite charming in its own particular way to boot. Of Hope's more frequent leading ladies in film, I have always found his teamings with Martha Raye to be the most satisfying, possibly because Bob and she seem to feed off each other in a way his other regulars (Paulette Goddard/Lucy/Dottie) didn't. Perhaps it has something to do with their vaudeville background. Anyway, both Bob, and particularly Martha, are far more subdued in their roles here than usual, and Never Say Die benefits enormously as a result. (Perhaps in the case of Hope this is due to the fact that this film comes so early in his screen career, before his on-screen persona of the egocentric and cowardly would-be ladies man was so firmly established). Their characters of John Kidley and Mickey Hawkins here somehow have a human dimension which is usually lacking in the usual Hope or Raye portrayal (no matter how enjoyable), and the warmth of the romantic scenes between the two in this picture is something which in my opinion is unique, never repeated by either of them in any of their other film work again.

There are other aspects of Never Say Die which have always made it one of my favourite Hope pictures...Gale Sondergard as a man hungry widow, Monty Woolley in a small role as an ambitious medico, Andy Devine as Martha's intended, and especially Sig Rumann as Poppa Ingleborg in some hilarious scenes at the hotel. Also Preston Sturges involvement in the script does show. And has already been noted elsewhere, fans of Danny Kaye may be interested in viewing this picture if only to see an earlier (and one must admit less successful) incarnation of the "flagon with the dragon" routine from The Court Jester.

I recently discovered this movie, the first one I ever saw with Martha Raye, and I can't decide who was funnier, her or Bob Hope, but what chemistry they had together! (I don't know if they did any other films together, but I'm sure going to find out, with fingers crossed.)

This was hilarious, with Bob as John Kidley, a (supposedly) fatally ill millionaire, Martha as Mickey Hawkins, the girl he marries to save her from Prince Smirnov (Alan Mowbray), the man her newly rich, social climbing father (Paul Harvey) is pushing on her, whom she can't stand, and who's only after her family fortune. (When John dies, Mickey will inherit everything and be rich in her own right, as well as independent.) Throw into the mix Henry Munch (Andy Devine), Mickey's hometown (and very unromantic) bus driver boyfriend, as well as John's fiancee, Olympic sharpshooter Juno Marko (Gale Sondergaard, in the first role I've seen her where she isn't talking to ghosts), who's not too pleased about being thrown over, and you get a real laugh riot!

Watch and enjoy!

I give this one a 10. I can't think of more than a minute or 2 going by without laughing. Martha Raye is the best female counterpart to Bob. She has the same comic sense and the two of them play off each other perfectly. Perhaps the first movie with full-on gay subtext jokes as well. Don't miss it if you like Bob Hope or classic comedy.

Wealthy Bob Hope (Kidley) is a hypochondriac - one of those annoying people who always think there is something wrong with them - and is living in a quiet retreat in Switzerland. However, he is tracked down by husband-collector Gale Sondergaard (Marko). She murders her husbands, collects the money and then moves on to the next. Bob Hope is her new target and she arranges the wedding date for him, which is imminent. As fortune has it, farmer's daughter Martha Raye (Mickey) is due to marry Prince Alan Mowbray (Smirnov) on the same day and Hope and Raye come up with a scheme to help themselves out of their respective messes.

The film is a comedy and it doesn't really make any sense but it is surprisingly entertaining, despite the usually annoying cast members of Hope and Raye. They are actually funny! There is also some funny dialogue! I note that Preston Sturgess was involved in this film, usually a writer of complete drivel, so that is another rare thing, Sturgess actually being funny! We can't be sure, of course that he actually wrote anything funny. The funny lines may well have come from Hope. He definitely brings life and comedy into his interpretation of the dialogue. Everyone does well. Except the annoying butler character.

A surprisingly entertaining film.

"Never Say Die" is a very good early Bob Hope comedy. It's just the fifth feature film for Hope and the third in which he had the male lead. Martha Raye is billed ahead of him, reflecting her longer tenure and cinematic popularity at the time.

The film is very funny and has touches of satire throughout. The first is in its portrayal of an Alpine spa somewhere is Switzerland or Bavaria. The opening scene has some spoofing of names - the village of Bad Gaswasser, and the Kurhotel Edelweiss. And it shows a worker in the bowels of the place adding Epsom salts, bi-carbs, plum extract and Sulphur dioxide, and then turning on the water supply for the hotel's natural springs.

In this setting is American millionaire, John Kidley, played by Hope. He is a hypochondriac who has come to Bad Gaswasser for two reasons - a cure or treatment for all that ails him, and to escape the clutches of a gold-digger he had met in Paris. Mrs. Juno Marko, played by Gale Sondergaard, is pursing Kidley to tie the knot with him. But Kidley has more than one reason to be leery of the woman who seems to lose husbands in strange ways.

At the same time, a new oil-rich Texan, Jasper Hawkins (Paul Harvey) is there with his daughter, Mickey (Martha Raye). Dad has her engaged to marry into European royalty - namely, Prince Smirnov, played by Alan Mowbray. He's willing to sacrifice his daughter on the altar of love for the prestige that will open the doors to him at the country club back home. That bit of satire is fueled by Mickey's intended groom, Prince Smirnov (Alan Mowbray). He is marrying only for the money to pay off the debts owed to the high society collector hounding him.

Of course, Mickey doesn't go for the forced marriage. Her heart belongs to Henry Munch (Andy Devine) back home. Even if she weren't to marry the prince, dad Jasper can no longer tolerate the hick, Henry, since coming into their wealth. Henry is a lowly mailman. But, he pines for Mickey and eventually shows up himself in Bad Gaswasser - having taken a cattle boat across the ocean.

These characters should be enough to stir the imagination of any movie goer as to how this story plays out. Any crazy plot is possible. And an extended cast of top supporting actors of the day adds to the humor. They include Sig Ruman, Monty Woolley, Ernest Cossart, Frances Arms, Ivan Simpson and many more.

One of the funniest segments is a duel that reminds one of a scene in the 1956 "Court Jester" that starred Danny Kaye. A tongue-twister scene in that film has "the vessel with the pestle" and the "flagon with the dragon." One wonders if the writers of that later comedy didn't get an idea or two from this film. In the scene of a duel, Hope's and Mowbray's characters have to try to remember which weapon to choose, as told them secretly by the loader.

As they walk to face each other and select their weapon, they repeat the confidant's direction: "There's a cross on the muzzle of the pistol with the bullet and a nick on the handle of the pistol with the blank." It turns into gibberish by the time they meet, and Prince Smirnov has just said to himself, "There's a noss on the crizzle of the mistol with the pillet, and a pullet on the nozzle of the nickel with the blank."

The preposterous ending to this film is a fitting finish to a very funny, nonsensical comedy and spoof. Here are some favorite lines from this film.

Concierge, "Ah, good morning. And how is poor, dear Mr. Kidley?" Jeepers, Kidley's valet, "His gall bladder spent a rather peaceful night... However, he complains of a shooting pain in his sacroiliac."

Hotel Proprietor, "Ah, Jeepers, good morning. How is Mr. Kidley this morning?" Jeepers, "Up and down-ish, thank you, sir. His liver was a bit squeamish during the night."

Mrs. June Marko, "Mr. Kidley staying here?" Doorman, "Yes, madam. Rooms 201, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7."

John Kidley, "Oh, yes, the one they said you shot." Mrs. Marko, "It's not true! It's a wicked, slanderous lie!" Kidley, "Oh, I should say it is. Just because you were there and there were holes in him, Mrs. Marko, is no reason why people should..." Mrs. Marko, "I was acquitted. Just because I'm impulsive and quick tempered, people talk." Kidley, "Yes, and with you being an Olympic pistol champion...." Mrs. Marko, "You too?"

John Kidley, "Poor Pierre? What happened to him?" June Marko, "He fell off the Matterhorn." Kidley, "Oh, that's too... That's a mountain!" Mrs. Marko, "Thirteen thousand, six hundred and sixty-nine feet. He was never found." John Kidley, "Did they look? Were you there, Mrs. Marko?" June Marko, "I saw it all. It was horrible. And when it happened, I... I wasn't a foot behind him." Kidley, "Think of that. I'll bet you could've reached right out and touched him, eh, Mrs. Marko?" June Marko, "Easily."

Jeepers, "The coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero dies but once."

Dr. Schmidt, "You are the first human dog."

Mickey Hawkins, "Oh, Henry, that moon. Look at the moon." Henry Munch, whittling a piece of wood, "Yeah, it's big."

Dr. Schmidt, "I'll call it Schmidt's disease." Associate Doctor, "After you?" Dr. Schmidt, "After me."

Dr. Schmidt, "Side by side, we will live through all eternity. Schmidt and his disease," pointing to Kidley.

Henry Munch, "Well, I can't get it outta my mind that I'm kissin' somebody else's wife. Makes me feel like one of them playboys."

Mickey Hawkins, "No, no. And a nick on the pullet of the whistle with the blank."