User reviews

This is the closest thing to a good dramatic performance Bob Hope ever gave...and its pretty good. Of course, the film soft pedals and simplifies: Walkers great antagonists, Seabury and LaGuardia, barely appear in it. In fact, there is a great dramatic and tragic film waiting to be made of the Jimmy Walker story, with terrific roles for the actors who would portray the "little flower' LaGuardia, and the incorruptible, if cold -hearted, "man who rode the Tiger", Seabury, as well as Jimmy Walker ( not to mention his wife and mistress). Maybe Scorsese could do it someday.

Based on the charmingly cleaned up biography of a minor but colorful figure in New York history, sometime songwriter/Mayor James J. ("Gentleman Jimmy") Walker, this unjustly neglected Paramount film was a healthy success in its day but has not (as of this writing) been made available on DVD despite an outstanding cast and ties to truly remarkable figures in entertainment and history. One of Bob Hope's warmest, most thoughtful performances, it should be rescued from the occasional "fool screen" broadcast and made available in a good VistaVision release reflecting the original.

The no less fictionalized musical biography of Walker's successor as Mayor of New York, Fiorello H. LaGuardia (the sadly unfilmed FIORELLO), won a Pulitzer Prize and tied with THE SOUND OF MUSIC for the Tony as Best Musical of 1959, but Fowler's biography of Walker with Hope in the lead (looking nothing like Walker, but beautifully capturing Fowler's idea of Walker's character) was as good as it got for Gentleman Jimmy - the less well cast 1969 musical (JIMMY, inflicted on Broadway by movie mogul Jack L. Warner) suggested by the same book but with far less skilled hands writing (BEAU JAMES' director, Melville Shavelson was one of the writers) died a painful death in just over two months (October 23, 1969-January 3, 1970, at the Winter Garden Theatre after a tryout at Philadelphia's Forrest Theatre; a long out-of-print Broadway Cast Album of the enjoyable but uneven score on RCA LSO 1162 is all that survives.) In the movie, the glamorous Alexis Smith (Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical for 1971's FOLLIES) furthered her reputation as Hollywood ice princess as Walker's unappreciated but sympathetic wife, Allie, and had to work hard to allow audiences to believe that Bob Hope's finely layered but (on screen anyway) naive Walker would leave *her* for Vera Miles higher billed chorus girl, Betty Compton.

The film does make New York at the end of the "Roaring Twenties" almost a co-equal character in the piece, and appearances of several real life characters from the era (Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny and others) add to the impression beautifully - as does the deft narration from Fowler's book appropriately read by Walter Winchell.

It isn't great history or even great Hollywood, but it is a very warm, enjoyable film well worth a look - and a great example of how "bad" casting (Hope's lack of *physical* resemblance to Walker) can be brilliant if it gets the *psychology* right. When they tried to musicalize the idea a decade later, the production was probably dead the moment they cast the skinny impressionist/actor Frank Gorshin (who actually did bear a passing resemblance to Walker) in the Hope role. All the qualities Gene Fowler infused in his book (to MAKE the reader and later, viewer of the movie, feel "warm and forgiving all day long") disappeared. The movie understood this - and you will.

I believe it was Walter Winchell who coined that nickname for James J. Walker, Mayor of New York from 1926 to 1932 and the subject of this biographical film starring Bob Hope. It was Hope's last stab at a serious dramatic part. While he does well in it, Hope never tried as serious a role again in his career.

Jimmy Walker was the Majority leader of the State Senate and was the personal choice of Governor Alfred E. Smith to be Mayor of New York. Then as now, Republican mayors of New York City were a rarity, the Democratic nomination was sufficient guarantee to be elected.

Al Smith had dreams of being the Democratic presidential candidate. He almost was in 1924, but could not get past William Gibbs McAdoo that year in the famous 103 ballot convention that eventually turned to compromise dark horse candidate John W. Davis who went down in November to Calvin Coolidge. Smith wanted to secure his home base, but the mayoralty of New York and the patronage of the office was controlled by Smith's arch enemy, publisher William Randolph Hearst and his stooge Mayor John F. Hylan. Smith ran Walker in the 1925 primary and beat Hylan and then Walker handily won the General Election.

Smith knew Walker was a lightweight and he took the unusual step of having a gubernatorial office put in City Hall where he would be at least once a week, keeping tabs on Jimmy. Smith became the Democratic presidential candidate in 1928 and lost to Herbert Hoover. No longer governor, Smith was not around to keep Walker on a short leash. That's when he got into trouble.

Walker was a colorful figure during Prohibition. He and Smith were both unalterably opposed to the idea and Smith even served notice that the law enforcement arm of New York State would not be wasting its time on policing the drinking habits of New Yorkers. Walker got the nickname the Night Mayor of New York because as often as not he'd sleep all day and be partying all night at the famous Central Park Casino.

It was there that Walker met showgirl and began a long term affair with her. His marriage to his wife Allie was long over, but for appearance's sake, for the millions of Catholic voters in New York he kept the facade up.

Times have certainly changed. We now have a former Mayor of New York, named Rudolph Giuliani running for president with three marriages to his credit and a nasty divorce that got spread out in the tabloids.

Nobody ever mentioned Walker and president in the same breath. It was trouble enough to keep him paying attention to his job as mayor. The cronies he had from Tammany Hall ran wild, especially when Smith was no longer governor to keep them and him in line. During the boom times of the Twenties, people laughed at his colorful antics, but come the Depression and the stories of graft became routine newspaper stories, public opinion turned against Walker overnight.

Bob Hope made a fine Jimmy Walker and the two women in his life, Vera Miles as Betty and Alexis Smith as Allie give him good support. In one of his last films, Walter Catlett makes a brief appearance as Alfred E. Smith, and the rest of the cast is headed by Paul Douglas as a Tammany boss and Darren McGavin as Charles Hand, Walker's press secretary and conscience.

Beau James is a colorful account of a colorful era. It certainly as a film version of his life one that Jimmy Walker would have approved of.

A recent biography of Hope on Channel 13 mentioned that his perennial joke at the Oscars about not getting the Oscar) was actually based on the truth. After 1944, when his close friend and partner Bing Crosby won the Oscar for GOING MY WAY, Hope was bothered by his inability to get nominated. One of his writers explained the problem: Hope could not read a straight speech in a script without fearing he was losing his audience. He had to always have a good one liner to leave 'em laughing. Unfortunately, this type of script doctoring prevented him from giving the type of performance that would have merited an Oscar.

Yet in the middle years of the 1950s Hope came close to achieving a balance of comic and dramatic possibilities. In three films (two biographies and one comedy) he played central figures with actual problems. They were THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS, THAT CERTAIN FEELING, and BEAU JAMES. All three films are his best films. THAT CERTAIN FEELING deals with a man with major psychological problems competing with a superior,successful man (George Sanders) for the woman they love (Eva Marie Saint). THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS gives a history Eddie Foy Sr.'s marriage to an Italian lady, and their children, and how (when his wife died) his sister-in-law tried to have the children taken from him. And BEAU JAMES (based on a biased, but well written biography by Gene Fowler)is about the Mayor of New York City from 1926 - 1932, James J. Walker.

Walker was a very popular mayor in the 1920s, re-elected by a majority (over Fiorello LaGuardia) of half a million votes (a considerable achievement then). But his administration was corrupt, and he was abandoning his wife for his girlfriend, Broadway actress Betty Compton. Judge Samuel Seabury tore the Walker administration apart in a series of hearings from 1930 to 1932. They culminated with Governor Franklin Roosevelt holding hearings involving Walker in Albany that showed he accepted "gifts" from people doing business in the city. Walker could not really explain away this behavior and he resigned. The handling of the scandal by Roosevelt assisted him in getting the Democratic nomination for the Presidency in 1932.

Hope does very well as Walker. He does have a serious role where his flippant jokes match the character. He also shows the right degree of serious behavior, panicked when Betty is spirited away by Paul Douglas and Tammany Hall, or when he tells off the citizens of New York at Yankee Stadium for electing him. But the gaps in the script - the unwillingness to show the uglier side of the corruption - prevent one from taking it too seriously. Hope deserves recognition for his performance here, but he didn't merit (nor receive) an Oscar nomination for BEAU JAMES.

This is a celluloid version of Gene Fowler's valentine to his old chum Jimmy. It tries to make a case that Walker did not realize his taking the bribes/gifts was wrong. Walker knew it was wrong, but he never admitted it - he had been brought up in a city run by the Hall, and he was doing business there exactly as every boodling Mayor of New York had done since the 19th Century. Walker (a good Catholic, presumably) also knew that he was committing adultery when he took up with Ms Compton. Later, after he left City Hall, he divorced his wife (playedwell by a coldly calculating Alexis Smith here) and married Betty. Interestingly that marriage eventually failed, although Jimmy and Betty did adopt a girl. Compton died in 1941. Jimmy in 1947.

Historians generally rank Walker among the worst Mayors of New York, and in the major cities of the U.S., in the twentieth century. However, recent scholarship has suggested that Walker was maligned. Nobody suggests that the corruption was not there, but it was to the interest of FDR and Judge Seabury (who had unrealistic political hopes of his own) to go after the Hall and Jimmy. Interestingly enough, Walker's old adversary Fiorello LaGuardia was more forgiving and pragmatic than FDR was. Walker went to Europe for a number of years with Betty (where did he have the money for this move - the film ignores this matter). When he returned (a Federal tax investigation decided there was nothing to go after), LaGuardia appointed Walker to be labor mediator in the garment industry. He did that job well. Also, some recent scholars seem to support what Darren McGavin's character says in the film. McGavin tells Hope that although he works only four hours a day he does more work each day than the last four mayors did working full days. The reason is that he's bright. There is evidence that he was remarkably adept at thinking out quick, to the point solutions on his feet.

As a Democrat, Walker had the constant problem of working under Republican federal administrations in Washington (Presidents Coolidge and Hoover). In his first term, Cunard and other oceanic lines announced plans for building bigger and faster steamships. This meant their current piers would be too short for them. Walker contacted the Department of Commerce (under Hoover during Coolidge's administration) for permission to extend the piers into the Hudson River. The problem was that this would interfere with transportation in interstate commerce on the Hudson (longer piers mean less room for boats sailing on the river). Coolidge and Hoover said no. When told this, Walker immediately asked if there was any problem of blasting into the granite bedrock of the island of Manhattan to extend the piers into the island. His engineers said it could be done. There was no further problem about the extension of piers. If Walker could think that clearly on such a problem he probably could do his job half-well. But his moral lapses can't be easily dismissed, as this film tries to do.

This is a rare film because Bob Hope plays it straight. That did not happen in many of his films. Not only that, but Hope proves here he can actually take a straight role & act being a solid star in this movie.

While the studio that put this film out didn't give it a big push, the supporting cast is top notch as Vera Miles is an actress that was A list enough that even Hitchcock wanted her for some roles during this time period. Why she chose a Hope film over Hitch might be quite a real story. Understand though that when Hitch was ready for her, she got pregnant so she could not do his film.

Not true here as she is part of an A list support cast for Hope in this film. While the story has been highly fictionalized, most movies really do leave fact a little on the short side. The term "May-September Romance" might be related to JJ Walker as his affair with a very public life.

This film is quite good as if follows the rise & fall of one of New York Citys more colorful mayors.

Right from the outset, Bob Hope seemed to be an odd choice of casting to depict the political rise of New York mayor Jimmy Walker in the late 1920s. Indeed, it all starts quite inauspiciously when he starts singing and dancing on the hustings for his first mayoral campaign. History tells us that he romped that election and now, ostensibly empowered to do good for his city, he discovers that his power is but a mirage. Soon, he realises not just that strings are being pulled around him, but that he, too, can pull strings - something he does rather shamelessly to ensure his girlfriend Betty (Vera Miles) gets top billing in a music show. Hope is actually quite engaging here. He has a nice but dim look to him that would appear to play well to the real appraisals of the man who was widely believed to be more dumb that duplicitous in real life. His charismatic style also illustrates quite well how the real Walker managed, as politicians continue to do to this day, to engage with the electorate using humour, sarcasm and a charm offensive that belied the lack of any real policy or political clout or acumen. This may well be my favourite role for Hope and Vera Miles, Willis Bouchey and Richard Shannon all contribute well to create an affable biopic of a man who symbolised so much of post depression hope and optimism in the Big Apple.

"Beaux James" is a biopic of the flamboyant politician, James John Walker (1881-1946), who served as mayor of New York City from 1926-1932. The film is based on a 1949 biography by Gene Fowler, "Beau James: The Life and Times of Jimmy Walker." Jimmy Walker was born of Irish immigrant father who owned a lumber yard. After a stint at writing songs and getting his law degree, Walker became active in politics. He was a liberal Democrat who served in the New York Assembly and then the Senate. In 1925 he ran for mayor of New York, and was elected to two terms. He resigned in 1932 amidst corruption investigations.

Many people in the working and upper classes liked Walker, even for his flamboyant persona. He was a snappy dresser - a fop or dandy, who was at home wherever he went in public. He relished the adulation of the people when he attended baseball games, ethnic neighborhood clambakes, or high class night spots. His favorite hangout was Central Park Casino. He helped a friend turn it into the swankiest nightclub in New York.

This movie covers the period of Walker's run for mayor in 1925, to his sailing for Europe after resigning in 1932. The film is supposed to be an accurate portrayal of Walker's flamboyant persona. It has references to the good achievements during his tenure. But, it highly romanticizes the character, and his story. It also downplays or smooths over some of the politics. One example is Walker's single meeting with Al Smith, who was then the governor of New York. But, according to history books, Smith directed Walker's mayoralty. The film also shows Walker deciding to resign, while basking on a high note during the probe of his corruption. In reality, Roosevelt and the Party forced Walker to resign to save face and hopes for an FDR presidency.

So, how well does Bob Hope play Jimmy Walker? Quite well, it seems. He may not even be as flamboyant as the real Jimmy Walker. And, I don't know if Walker himself was as quick on his feet and clever with his quips and speeches. He may very well have been, with his interest in the entertainment field. Regardless, Bob Hope plays a character who is quite likable even with his flamboyancy and character faults. The hand in his life of politics that the Democratic machine (Tammany Hall) plays, is portrayed very well by Paul Douglas as Chris Nolan. He clearly sends the message that the Party rules and everything must be for the Party. It made me think of George Orwell's warning against a future tyranny in his classic novel, "Nineteen Eight-four."

Alexis Smith and Vera Miles are very good in their roles as Allie Walker, Jimmy's wife, and Betty Compton, his girlfriend. I don't how much they are covered in Fowler's biography. Since most shortened reference accounts just list Compton as Jimmy's girlfriend and don't mention his wife at all, one can conclude that their portrayals here are mostly fictional. For instance, did Allie campaign so activity with Jimmy for his elections, and then they split? Was she solely dedicated to the Party, and his political career, as the film intimates? Walker's Catholicism is just touched upon, but there's no mention of Cardinal Patrick Hayes criticizing Walker for his corruption and immorality. After Walker resigned, he went to Europe, as the film shows. The threat of prosecution soon died, and Walker returned to the States and worked on radio and the recording industry, until his death at age 65 in 1946.

Here are some favorite lines form this film.

Charley Hand, as a newspaper reporter, "Oh, Mr. Mayor, who have you chosen for your new police commissioner? Or haven't they told you yet?"

Jimmy Walker, entering the mayor's office after his election, "I've never seen a room this size without a floor show." Charley Hand, "It's got one now."

Allie Walker, "You've had a drink." Jimmy Walker, "It's a free country." Allie, "There is such a thing as prohibition." Jimmy, "All right, so it isn't a free country. Let's drink to that, and to the republic for which it stands."

Allie Walker, "Aren't you taking a lot for granted? You didn't get enough votes to carry the bedroom - not for a while." Jimmy, "I thought once I was mayor, I'd be off probation. You holding out for the presidency?"

Chris Nolan, "And remember, you can't really run a city on brotherly love - not even Philadelphia."

Allie Walker, "Chris Nolan phoned me." Jimmy, "From my phone, no doubt." Allie, "Sometimes you have to play along to get ahead." Jimmy, "Why get ahead?" Allie, "You haven't changed, have you?" Jimmy, "No, I'm still the fun-loving rover boy."

Jimmy Walker, before his first public appearance with Betty, "You're trembling." Betty Compton, "Why, it's cold out here." Jimmy, "This is nothing. Wait'll you get inside."

Charley Hand, "You're a married man. Worse than that, you're a married mayor." Jimmy Walker, "Allie and I are only untied in the hold bonds of politics, Charley. You'll find there's nothing holier than that.":

Jimmy Walker:, "I'll match my private life with any man's." Charley Hand, "Any man's - like Henry the eighth?"

Chris Nolan, "You give the people too much truth, they'll hate you."

Jimmy Walker, after hearing about the stock market crash in 1929, "Macarthur, I've only got one rule about money. If you have to worry about it, don't have any." Arthur Julian, "Well, Jimmy, you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Betty Compton, "Now is the time for all good girls to come to the aid of the Party." Christ Nolan, "That's right." Betty, singing sadly, "Happy days are here again."

Jimmy Walker, "There's three things a man has to do by himself - be born, die, and testify. One down and two to go."

Jimmy Walker, "This town would corrupt the angels."

I was a teenager when James J. Walker was the Mayor of New York. Bob Hope doesn't look anything like him but catches the essence of his exuberant spirits and lack of responsibility very well. The narration by Walter Winchell adds just the right touch.

Paul Douglas is perfect as the Tammany boss. Hope is especially terrific in the dramatic conflict and emotional scenes with both Alexis Smith and Vera Miles. It makes me wish Hope did more straight-up dramas. It is especially a shame in retrospect, because after Beau James, Hope really never had the opportunity to make a good movie again (unless you count Critic's Choice which I don't).

If you enjoy nostalgic sad-and-funny movies about New York, this is one for you.

After seeing "Beau James" I was left wondering..."why would they want to make a movie out of THIS??". After all, Mayor Jimmy Walker was far from being honest or virtuous. And yet, oddly, the film is trying to say that he was KINDA these things.

The film is a Hollywoodization of the career of Jimmy Walker (Bob Hope) once he became mayor of New York City. Mostly, it shows him worried about his wardrobe, taking bribes and being a man adored by New Yorkers. But, the object lesson appears to be "He wasn't nearly as dishonest as he could have been!". Huh?

For me, by the time the movie ended I was left with a strange sense of confusion. Why was Walker worthy of a biopic? And, why should I care about his love life? And, was Bob Hope playing Walker...or Bob Hope?

Bob Hope turned in a great performance as N.Y. Mayor James Walker in this 1957 film.

While the film did not delve into the exact intricacies of the corruption of the Walker Administration, we do have Judge Seabury heading the investigation prompted by Gov. Roosevelt, who wanted that nomination in 1932 and would use Walker's alleged corruption to get it.

Remember the song- the little tin box? That best describes what was going on when Walker, a really decent not-too bright guy, let corrupt officials run the show at City Hall.

Adored by the people at first,(Will You Remember Me in December is sung with zest), he can't accept the booing he encounters at a baseball game, once the corruption details start coming out.

Adding fuel to the fire is Walker's abandonment of his wife for actress Betty Compton, played by Vera Miles. Walker eventually resigned and went with Compton to Mexico.

I went to our neighborhood theater to see Beau James when it came out. It was not exactly a serious biopic, more just a collection of anecdotes of little dramatic substance or continuity. My grandmother was a year younger than Jimmy Walker and lived on Leroy Place in Greenwich Village just down the block from the Walker family residence. She told me that her brothers hung out with the Walker boys. After seeing the movie, in order to get some first hand feedback, I went to visit Grandma and told her about the picture and how it seemed at the end to suggest Walker hadn't been treated fairly. Grandma didn't say anything but made a face that told me she thought he had gotten what was coming to him. Now that I am about the same age as she was then, I have to agree with her opinion. There seems to be little about Walker's life to be glamorized.

Over all the many times I've seen this film, it never once occurred to me that it might actually be historically accurate. Nor did it occur to me that it would matter much either way. This is the perfect glossy 1950s Hollywood 'biopic'... a totally charming film, yet with more emotional depth and dramatic substance than most that were cranked out in this politically-delicate period.

For starters, there's a totally charming performance by Bob Hope. This was the perfect part for him: the chance to seriously play a character who was never quite serious. Hope makes the good times effervescent, and the sad times not quite so sad. He makes the central love affair between a man and a city seem completely believable. (Where in real life, obviously things could never be so simple.)

But the real star of this film is the City of New York itself. Not the 'real' city... the fabulous city of myth, as only Hollywood can spin that myth. Resonant with names that are familiar even to people who've never been within thousands of miles of New York, and evocative of a history that even New Yorkers probably recall only vaguely. Just as The Untouchables etched out a stark black-and-white portrait of 1920s Gangland Chicago, Beau James paints a fond, Technicolor memory of 1920s New York.

It's true that Bob Hope's performance, while perfect for the film, was perhaps not Oscar-worthy. (The question would be moot if the Academy had the brains to give out occasional Oscars for the great art of Comedy!) But no matter... Beau James is a well-polished gem of a movie for more reasons than just Hope. Yes, it's corny, and commercial, and formulaic... but in the best way. It romanticizes something that really deserves it.

I wish I was watching it right now...

Very limp movie barely watchable Wanted to break into a musical but had to keep returning to a serious drama. So, neither one thing or another. Unless you are really bored, give it a miss.

Having watched this movie many times -- it's in my library, I firmly believe that the role could only have been played by Bob Hope. To my mind, this is his best performance. That coupled with an excellent cast, highlighted by the duet with Jimmy Durante (and Jack Benny's cameo) make this a thoroughly enjoyable movie to watch -- just for fun. >

In Beau James, Bob Hope does a great job of depicting how the enormity of New York courses through its Mayor's blood and at least partially takes over every aspect of his life. Politics, in general, makes it difficult, if not impossible some times, to actually have a private life. When New York is your wife, you have no time for mistresses. Bob Hope did a great job of illustrating this in Beau James. He neither looked nor spoke like the tall, angular, thick-accented Jimmy Walker, but Hope captured his spirit and his joie-de-vivre. Paul Douglas is superb as Chris, the Tammany Hall boss. Alexis Smith is marvelous as Walker's pragmatic spouse and Vera Miles is gorgeous and winsome as ingénue Betty Compton with whom Walker had an affair. There is a great cameo by Jimmy Durante while Darrin McGavin and James Flavin both resonate in strong supporting performances. This is an enjoyable film that never forgets that New York is its actual star.

The life of Jimmy Walker would make a great film. It could be a tragedy in the Greek tradition - a man of many gifts with a single fatal flaw. A pretty good, though short-lived, musical Jimmy, was on Broadway in 1969 for about 85 performances. It had a good score, excellent casting and quite a story..... it missed it's audience though - theater goers in the late sixties were played out on musicals of the past, and didn't want to hear about politicians not attending to duty.

The film does well to capture the spirit of the 1920s via the 1950s, and stays true to Gene Fowler's memorable biography. Hope is an inspired choice for the tin pan alley songwriter turned politician.

Alexis Smith does a good job. And its always a pleasure to see Jimmy Durante, that well-dressed man.

Though pretty one-dimensional, it is good this film was made if only to chronicle the story of a man who really could have done great things, if he'd only paid attention to business and not got caught up in extra-marital problems and suspect financial transactions made by friends on his behalf.