Paree, Paree

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.

Netflix should mention this short feature on the info for Silk Stockings. Superior in every way to that over-produced fluff. This had much better Cole Porter songs and lots more energy. Silk Stockings turned out to be a big disappointment. Fred was getting too old for this sort of thing, though the dances and Cyd are lovely. I will be on the watch for the Garbo--Melvyn Douglas version of Ninotchka. Was Peter Lorre ill during the making of Silk Stockings--he seems to be very passive in the more active numbers and with less lines? Very glad that I ran across Paree--Paree by pure accident. Made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable. Bob Hope, as a simple "song and dance man' is pure joy.

An American in Paris (a popular spot for Americans before Der Fuerur invited himself in) tries to woo his lady-love in 20 minutes or fewer.

Bob Hope, of course, isn't "Bob Hope" as we know and love him but he clearly has "movie star" potential. So did lots of photogenic actors whose careers went phut. You might guess he had a future in movies but he doesn't have "entertainment powerhouse" written all over him. It's amazing to think of people a century ago unaware they were seeing a figure who would be so dominant.

This is really like an extended music video advertising some Cole Porter's songs.

Leonard Maltin once made the shocking, but probably true, statement, that Astaire introduced more sung "standards" in the movies than anyone. Well, here's Bob Hope doing a creditable job of introducing "You Do Something to Me." Hope would never knock Crosby off the charts but he wasn't a bad warbler.

Whatever happened to Dorothy Stone?

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.

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.