Cancel My Reservation

Bob Hope's swan song is pretty lame. Yet somehow, I feel this film is a compelling one to watch and I can't quite put my finger on it.

Hope had sharp wit and was somewhat subversive back in the 40's, but once he got rich he became an unbearable conservative - his shows for the troops nothwithstanding. As such, I think I really enjoyed watching him embarrass himself in this horrific bit of celluloid swill.

This has a lot in common with Preminger's "Skidoo" in that it really does try to be hip and modern without having a clue what that means. Director Bogart doesn't want to seem to move the camera anymore than he has to and so the flick has a very TV movie feel to it... not surprising since Bogart did a lot of TV work - most notably, "All In the Family". For a much better look at what he could do, watch "Mr. Ricco" with Dean Martin. Bogart did a good job in this one, released in 1975.

Bogart wastes what could be an interesting story by failing to utilize some really great southwestern scenery. I'm not sure who the cinematographer was, but they should be beaten, waterboarded and shot as soon as they can be located.

The storyline is very contrived and serves only to allow Hope to joke around and toss out some one-liners as a talk show host on vacation with his much-too-young wife played by the totally wasted here Eva Marie Saint. Toss in marital troubles, Native American preaching and a murder mystery and you've got a tremendous mess. This movie has a "make it up as you go" feel.

The only real reason to watch it is to be amazed at how bad it is, and to watch it unfold, like a train wreck in slow motion. It's like watching your rich, arrogant, drunk uncle soil himself on the dance floor at a wedding reception - and you like it because the old bastard is such a jerk.

I need some tummy tones. I'll stop now.

I, like many other viewers have stated, got an opportunity to see this as a youngster on TV...probably late one night back when television stations would play movies like this into the wee hours of the evening/morning. I didn't remember much. Of course there was Bob Hope. I remembered Keenan Wynn for some reason and knew it was about murder in the desert. Well, I finally acquired a copy and was pleasantly surprised. Yes, Bob Hope's game is off. He is 69 or so here(looks absolutely incredible for his age). He turns out a one liner almost every minute he is on screen - which is almost every minute for the film. Most fail, but after awhile I was laughing at some of them - some because they were pretty good and others because he was trying SO terribly hard. Hope glides through the film with his typical Hope persona. Enjoyable but nothing great to be sure. The supporting cast is also equally enjoyable. Keenan Wynn playing a crusty sheriff with his usual flair for such roles. Ralph Bellamy and Forrest Tucker as a local rancher and his henchman. Bellamy is wheelchair-bound and as always quite good with dialog. Tucker looks tired though. Eve Marie saint plays Hope's wife. She is okay but has a dazzling set of legs which she shows off quite a bit. This is Anne Archer's first major film role and she is stunning - a buffet for the eyes and also quite good in her role. The plot is something out of the 40s with a body, then a missing body, and that kind of stuff. Nothing great but watching established pros work with inferior material makes it rise to a level no-talents could not achieve. There is a dream sequence with cameos by John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Flip Wilson, and old Bing Crosby himself. It is pretty brief but nice nonetheless. So this stroll down memory lane was enjoyable. Scenes I saw decades ago started to come back to me, and I will most definitely watch the film again soon as well as check out some more Bob Hope films. Honestly, I miss this stuff. Nothing today, though there is awesome television and good filmmaking abounding, creates the same kind of feel for me as that stuff I watched as a kid. Guess that is how it will be for young people today too.

Old-fashioned, leisurely paced private-eye (though there are no actual private eyes on the screen) spoof, littered with one-liners and then-topical pop references, some of which will mean nothing to today's viewers, though others will be caught by almost everyone even today. The bad guys are revealed in the middle of the picture, and the direction and - especially - the music score make the movie play like a prolonged TV series episode. But Bob Hope's lines have a reasonably high success ratio, and he is complemented by two lovely co-stars: classy, milf-y Eva Marie Saint (there is a showstopping frame of her legs), and fresh, bodacious Anne Archer. **1/2 out of 4.

"Cancel My Reservation" is just what it wants to be. In other words, it's a very successful movie, even if it's just successful at being completely confusing and silly. Bob Hope fumbles through this movie looking old and confused (even this far back), and the dated sexual roles and racist overtones are just one more factor that makes the viewer wince. There is a cute sight gag or two, but the movie just seems like a drawn out Hope skit from a television special. Fans of Johnny Carson or John Wayne can catch short cameos that will bring a smile.

Unlike many of the these reviewers, Cancel My Reservation does not take itself too seriously. It is no more than a fun flick, without pretensions of high drama. Much of the seemingly stilted dialogue may indeed be deliberate self-parody. The film reminds me of the old Saturday double feature presentations, for those of you who can remember those afternoons at the movies. Relax, and enjoy it as a pleasant diversion, as well as for nostalgic reminders of actors and comics of years past. Bob Hope is a true classic, who provided us with years of pleasure, and who had the courage to tackle many forms of entertainment. He was able to laugh at himself about his film flops, much as Jack Benny did with his The Horn Blows at Midnight. (And the critics are on the mark about the nubile Ms. Archer.)