Rating: 
Summary: Bob Hope as the classic cowardly pirate
Review: "The Princess and the Pirate" is one of my favourite Bob Hope comedies right up there with "My Favourite Blonde" and "The Ghost Breakers". During the war years escapism was high on peoples wish list and the period saw an influx of top grade pirate adventures set in far off lands on screen such as "The Sea Hawk", and "The Black Swan". Bob Hope, ever quick to pick up on the latest popular trends created his own mini classic here in "The Princess and the Pirate", with a roushing send up of the whole Pirate genre that suited his comic talents to a tee.This film has it all, from cut throat pirates to beautiful maidens in distress, fantastic galleons filled with treasure, beautiful technicolour, swashbuckling sword play and at the centre the comic Hope in one of his famous coward roles filled with hilarious one liners. Of course no Hope film would be complete without a few Bing Crosby jokes and they are laid on in abundance here. Even San Goldwyn who produced this film comes in for a comic slaying! Bob Hope plays Sylvester the Great a second rate performing act who unknowingly gets involved with a group of cut throat pirates headed by the notorious "The Hook' played superbly by Victor Mclaglen. In a plot too convoluted to lay out here Hope unknowingly gets a rare treasure map tatooed onto his chest and thus becomes the target for the greedy pirates bent on retreiving the treasure. Along the way Sylvester becomes involved with the Princess Margaret (played by the lovely Virginia Mayo)who is being held as a captive by the pirates and who in a surprise twist at the finale, after romancing Hope throughout the entire film suddenly runs into the arms of a well known rival of Hope's whos name I wont mention here!! The film is full of wonderful scenes and performances. Walter Brennan in a distinct change of pace literally steals the show as the wacky featherhead, the giggling pirate who tattoes the map onto Hope's chest. Bob Hope's quip upon hearing him giggling to "hurry up and lay that egg" is probably one of the funniest lines in the whole film. Virginia Mayo while perhaps not the best leading lady that Bob Hope had in his films is cooly beautiful as Princess Margaret but does perhaps lack a bit of the fire that a Maureen O'Hara type would have brought to the role. Bob Hope I feel has one of his very best roles here. Whether he is playing the wisecracking Sylvester ducking from cut throat killers or dressed as a cackling old gypsy woman to avoid detection on the pirate ship, romancing the Princess or deceiving the dreaded Hook and the govenor, he is in fine form full of the lovable quips and Crosby insults that were his stock in trade. Hilarious scenes abound throughout "The Princess and the Pirate". Stand outs are the priceless scene where Hope and the princess arrive at the boarding house in port to find a room for the night and find that the previous occupant had mysteriously "checked out" while leaving all his clothes! and the absolute rib tickler where Bob ends up sharing a bath with the corrupt governer La Roche (Walter Slezak in another funny performance) and tries to hide the tattoo of the treasure map from him, that one is guaranteed to have you laughing till you drop!. The overall look of this production is lavish and no expenses was ever spared on Bob Hope films around this time. The colour is beautiful and the costumes, sets, and period flavour are top notch. For a fun filled, hour and a half of pure mayhem and Hope madness "The Princess and the Pirate", is unsurpassed. If you are a Hope fan like I am you cannot miss this one to see him at the absolute peak of his abilities and comic timing. Enjoy a rousing time on the high seas with Bob Hope at his cowardly best!!
Rating:
Summary: Good, simple pic
Review: Everytime Bob Hope made a picture in a costume, people would cringe. It doesn't have to be that way, as this movie is heads and tails above "Cassanova's Big Night". This is a fun, silly pirate movie that I loved as a kid, and still love now as a twenty-something unemployed male unable to graduate from a state college.
Rating:
Summary: Good, simple pic
Review: Everytime Bob Hope made a picture in a costume, people would cringe. It doesn't have to be that way, as this movie is heads and tails above "Cassanova's Big Night". This is a fun, silly pirate movie that I loved as a kid, and still love now as a twenty-something unemployed male unable to graduate from a state college.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Movie!!!
Review: First let me say that the previous reveiwer is quite mistaken in saying that there was "a lot of homo erotic humour in this picture". There couldn't be anyhthing farther from the truth. That being said, this was definitely one of Bob Hope's funniest "nonroad" movies. This movie has nonstop laughs and plenty of hilarious Bing Crosby cracks and other gags. It also has great sets, music and especially a great cast. I definitely recommend it to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite Bob Hope movies
Review: I just love Bob Hope movies! This one is one of my favorites. I would definitely recommend it to Bob Hope fans who haven't seen it yet.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe the best non-"Road" Hope movie
Review: I just love this movie - genuinely funny start to finish. THIS is why Bob Hope is a legend. It is perhaps the best movie Bob made apart from his "Road" cronies. Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe the best non-"Road" Hope movie
Review: I just love this movie - genuinely funny start to finish. THIS is why Bob Hope is a legend. It is perhaps the best movie Bob made apart from his "Road" cronies. Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Bob Hope and the Pirates!
Review: In this spoof of pirate adventure films, Hope co-stars with the lovely Virgina Mayo. Hope is Sylvester the Great, a comedian who comes into possession of a treasure map and escapes the ship from a band of pirates with a runaway princess (Mayo) in tow.
Sylvester now finds himself being pursued by the evil Governor La Roche, and by the pirates played by Walter Brennan and Victor McLaglen. Brennan especially stands out as the nutty pirate "Featherhead".
Some hilarious comic routines, including one where Hope pretends to be a pirate called, The Hook" and several surprisingly good action scenes, which you don't often see in comedies, combine to make this one of Hope's best comedies without Crosby.
Good fun!
Rating:
Summary: Classic Gut-buster
Review: My siblings and I caught this movie on Sunday afternoon TV once, and laughed until we cried. Very silly gags interspersed with hilarious one-liners make this oldie stay fresh. I'm not someone who generally likes classic comedy, and I LOVE this movie!
Rating:
Summary: Classic Gut-buster
Review: My siblings and I caught this movie on Sunday afternoon TV once, and laughed until we cried. Very silly gags interspersed with hilarious one-liners make this oldie stay fresh. I'm not someone who generally likes classic comedy, and I LOVE this movie!
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