Paree, Paree

You can find this on the DVD of "Silk Stockings" to which it is much superior. Apparently, this is a quickie film of part of a successful show. The songs are inventive and have much more energy than Porter's later work. The musical numbers are pretty standard fare for the time, which means pretty good.

Two things worked for me: the story was complete enough to support the songs but simple enough to grasp in a few moments. When the thing was over, I wanted more which is how it should be.

The other thing: in such projects, at least one number has to grab me, really grab me for the thing to work. In this one, there's a scene where Bob spends time with the girl he has bet he can marry. He "sweeps her off her feet." The song is forgettable, but the languid energy of her dance really was impressive: no fancy choreography, in fact it looks as if she just made it up that morning. But it came across as natural, almost real.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

"Paree, Paree" is among Bob Hope's earliest films. I can only assume his newness to the medium would explain why it really isn't a comedy--it's really a musical. Sure, he makes a few quips here and there but they aren't all that funny and seem like more of an afterthought.

Peter (Hope) is in Paris and he's smitten with a lady...though he's only seen her and doesn't even know who she is. However, he bets his friends that within 30 days he'll marry her...even though he's broke. What follows is far less romance and more just a whole bunch of musical numbers...one after the other. In other words, plot is pretty much secondary. And, considering it's a short film, it really could have used less singing and more plot. Watchable and pleasant enough but nothing more. It does, however, allow you to hear the nice Cole Porter song, "You Do Something to Me".

I would not say that Bob Hope was a major star on Broadway, that eluded him until he got into films, but he was a prominent Broadway performer during the Thirties before he went to Hollywood for The Big Broadcast of 1938. This short was made in New York probably between his run in Roberta and Say When.

What Paree, Paree is is a condensed version of the Cole Porter Broadway show Fifty Million Frenchmen. The soundtrack includes You Do Something To Me, Find me a Primitive Man, You've Got That Thing, and the title song all from the stage production of Fifty Million Frenchmen.

This short while it lacks a lot of production values is a marvelous opportunity to see something of a photographed Broadway show of the time. In that it's like The Marx Brothers Cocoanuts or Animal Crackers.

Bob Hope was not in the original Broadway cast of Fifty Million Frenchmen, but Cole Porter would provide him with a great duet with Ethel Merman in Hope's last Broadway appearance a few years later in Red, Hot, and Blue. He introduced It's Delovely with her from that show which did lead to his Hollywood contract.

Now that would be great if someone preserved them on film singing It's Delovely.

Rich American playboy Peter Forbes (Bob Hope) is in Paris doing girl-watching with his friends. He pursues Lulu Carroll (Dorothy Stone). His friends had bet him to get the girl without revealing his wealth.

This is a remake of the 1931 version which had cut out the Cole Porter songs from his 1929 hit Broadway musical. There are quite a few dance numbers. The story almost doesn't matter in this one. Bob Hope singing the iconic "You Do Something to Me" may be a bit of a waste, but at least, it's out in the world. I don't rate this high for the comedic story. I didn't actually laugh. It's really for the song and dance.

Paree, Paree (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Bob Hope plays a millionaire American touring Paris and falling in love with a woman (Dorothy Stone) who doesn't know he's rich. The man bets his friends that he can make her fall in love with him without telling her how much money he's worth. This musical-short is actually a remake of 50 MILLION FRENCHMEN, the 1931 Cole Porter film. I was pleasantly surprised at how charming this film was because of its two leads who turn in nice work and we've also got some very good musical numbers. We get five different musical numbers and they are all quite good and the dance sequences are handled very well by director Mack who was an old pro at this type of short. Stone really steals the film with her charm, which makes it easy to see why someone would fall for her. I think Hope's comic timing was still a little weak but he too is quite charming in the film.