SimonJack This was only the third short that Bob Hope made in the start of his film career in 1934. It's interesting that he has second billing here. Of this entire small cast, he is the only one who went on to stardom or even any kind of film career at all. Only Charles Collins of this cast had more than half a dozen shorts, and his 14 appearances were mostly shorts or uncredited roles. Other reviewers give the background on this short. It has some songs from Cole Porter's 1929 Broadway musical, "Fifty Million Frenchmen." Hope sings the hit song, "You Do Something to Me." One other thing that struck me about this entertaining film is the choreography with a dance troupe listed as The Climas. No other information about this group is readily available, but they do some dance and choreography numbers that remind one of the lush Busby Berkeley films of the past. This is a mini version of the Broadway play, and Hope's Peter Forbes wins a bet with his wealthy friend, Baxter (Charles Collins) that he can woo LuLu to the altar within a month. The hitch is that he must do so without his bankroll, so he turns his wallet and cash over to Baxter. Baxter bets his motor boat against Peter's best polo pony. Peter wastes no time and asks Lulu point blank if she will marry him. Having broken the ice so quickly, and convincing her that he's not a "maniac," he soon wins her heart and hand and the bet. The quality of this short isn't very good. It has an interesting and diverse plot. A fight scene in the Café de la Moir has a close-up of the bartender. If that isn't Claudette Colbert in a cameo, it's a woman who could pass for her double or twin sister. This is a fun little musical comedy extra that came on a DVD of "Silk Stockings." See the Quotes section in the IMDb Web page on the film for some funny lines.

classicsoncall In one of his earliest film efforts, Bob Hope displays the charm and comic timing that would one day make him a major star. I'm not familiar with his opposite in the picture, Dorothy Stone, and she only has a handful of credits here on IMDb. For it's meager length, the story is an energetic one, as Hope's character Peter prepares to win a bet from his buddies that he can win Lulu's (Stone) hand in marriage without revealing how rich he actually is. I thought his prospects might have been better if he hadn't introduced himself by asking her to marry him right off the bat, but it allowed the story line to have some fun with the idea. A handful of songs and some dance sequences make this an entertaining little film short, with Peter winning his bet in the end, even if it looks like he goofed by tearing up a winning race ticket.

Michael_Elliott 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.

p m-c 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.