Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!

I remember seeing this one for the first time when I was a kid and didn't get it. However, as I got older I thought this was one of Bob Hope's best latter day efforts. Probably the best part of the film is the climatic chase scene. That to me was probably one of the funniest in the movie. Phyllis Diller also did a great job playing Tom's maid/sparring partner. Her portrayal of that character helped to really make this film fun to watch. Elke Sommer is also good as D.D., the temperamental sex symbol who wants to do more than take bubble baths. Also, check out the interrogation scene. That one is priceless as Hope does his best imitation of a mad killer.

I saw this film when I was a kid and loved it. Watching it as an adult, I still got a kick out of it in a campy, shlocky way. The film is worth seeing as a time travel back to the WORST examples of 60's design, clothing, and decor. The garish colors and styles just have to be seen to be believed. Poor Marjorie Lord is outfitted with a towering red wig any ambitious drag queen would kill for. Bob Hope just looks too old at this stage of his career to play a suburban husband and father, despite all the expected one liners. Phyllis Diller, playing Phyllis Diller before all the glam plastic surgery, is a hoot, with bird's nest hairdo and crazy outfits. The problem is, both Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller act like they are in two separate movies, just knocking out one liners and double entendres that must have been boffo in 1966. The plot is convoluted, kind of a riff on a French bedroom farce. Elke Sommer plays a European actress who tries to escape her Hollywood life. The problem is, it is hard to tell exactly what part of Europe she is supposed to be from; sometimes, she sounds like an Ooh-Lah-Lah French maid, other times, she talks like the Fourth Gabor Sister. The chase scene at the end is a hoot, with a stunt person not even slightly resembling Phyllis Diller, riding a motorcycle and squirting mustard in people's faces (don't ask), while the loud Phyllis Diller witch's cackle laughter is dubbed into the scene. The movie is fun, in kinda a train wreck way.Just don't expect Citizen Kane.

This movie is a campfest. Elke Sommer plays a temperamental star who ends up on the run from her studio. She inadvertently gets hooked up with married man Bobe Hope who tries to conceal her from the police and his wife Marjorie Lord. Phyllis Diller steals the show as Bobe Hope's maid. Very subtle risqué humor permeates this movie. If you listen very carefully you can hear some very suggestive dialogue between Bobe Hope and Phyllis. While Phyllis is eavesdropping on Bobe & Elke's phone call she is shown peeling a banana. When she hears a vaguely sexual remark she squeezes the bottom and the banana pops out of it's skin and onto the floor! Very subtle but VERY suggestive which is what I loved about the 60's, nothing is as blatant as today. Light fluff of a movie but lots of fun. I guess some previous viewers are so bombarded with in your face grossness these days in most movies they didn't see or appreciate the innocence of this flick.

Silly, scrappy comedy with Bob Hope trying to hide sleepy sexpot Elke Sommer from his wife. Low-budget screwball antics looks really bad, with sets which are far too large for the minimal action taking place there (the kitchen in Bob's house is positively drafty), and the poor lighting and awkward camera-work do not help. Once the action swings from suburbia to a cabin in the woods, the picture perks up a bit. The one-dimensional cabin set is another eyesore, but the slapstick involved isn't too bad (and Sommer's shrieks are funny). Phyllis Diller, as the family housekeeper with a hair problem, should've written her own dialogue: the woman is all revved up and ready, yet she's given no funny lines. As for Bob Hope, I have never been a particular admirer of his, but he's not bad here, coasting through without hogging the camera too much. I would have to say "Wrong Number" isn't offensive the way Hope's "Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell" was, but--for a comedy--shouldn't somebody be having a good time? ** from ****

Basically, this is a half-hour sitcom stretched out to feature length. The main players are fine, and are comfortable in their parts. But the gags are tired and obvious. For instance, in an overlong chase scene, Phyllis Diller (on motorcycle) not only does the old "knock the fire hydrant, causing geyser" gag, but also the "rides through a ditch as several workers jump out in panic" gag. There's satire on current movies (James Bond, girls in bubble baths) and a couple of laughs (mostly from Bob), but it's primarily a tepid French farce, with Hope trying to hide a sexy movie queen from his wife.

Fans of Bob Hope (like myself) might be willing to put up with it, but if you're new to his films, please do yourself a favor and start with the 1940s road pictures with Bing Crosby.