Four years after his hit comedy The Paleface Bob Hope returned to the screen as Junior Potter son of Painless Peter Potter the hapless hero of the first film. The Harvard-bred Junior heads out west to claim his father’s inheritance. Returning for the sequel but in a different role is Jane Russell (The Outlaw) as an outlaw named Mike who continually has to save our hapless hero. Also starring in the sequel is the King of the Cowboys himself Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger who portray themselves. Hope teams with the pair to help get to the sequel is the Oscar-winning song “Buttons and Bows.” Co-writer and director Frank Tashlin a former cartoonist and screenwriter of the first Paleface also worked with Hope on The Private Navy of Sgt O’Farrell and wrote and directed several Jerry Lewis films such as Cinderfella and The Geisha Boy.System Requirements:Starring: Bob Hope Jane Russell Roy Rogers Iron Eyes Cody and Trigger. Running Time: (approx.) 95 mins/color. Copyright: l952 Columbia Pictures Television.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 090096098296 Manufacturer No: 60982-9Bob Hope returned to the wild West in Son of Paleface, mining the rootin’ shootin’ genre for gag after gag. Hope plays Junior Potter–another variation on his lascivious, cowardly, yet somehow endearing persona–a college boy who’s come to California seeking his father’s hidden gold. What he finds is an empty treasure chest, a pile of unpaid bills, vengeful Indians, buxom Jane Russell (as a saloon girl by day, wily bandit by night), and singing cowboy Roy Rogers. It’s prime silliness, an ancestor to movies like Airplane! that never let a moment go by without an absurd joke. Russell sashays about in spectacular form-fitting outfits, Rogers yodels a few tunes, and Hope snivels and wheedles his way out of endless scrapes. Good-natured slapstick (though its depiction of Native Americans will raise the hackles on politically correct viewers). –Bret Fetzer
Rating: 
(out of 29 reviews)
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November 2, 2010
#1
Review by Reginald D. Garrard
Rating:
Maybe because I saw “The Paleface” after I saw “Son,” I couldn’t help but find it to be a much more satisfying and entertaining film. Bob Hope, in his inimitable style, is aptly sarcastic, witty, bumbling, crafty, and just plain funny as the son of the character from the original. Jane Russell seems to parody the sexy image of which she was so famous. Roy Rogers enjoys being the brunt of some of Hope’s jibes about the cowboy’s “squeaky-clean” persona. Technicolor has never made Trigger look better. A great enjoyment for the entire family is this classic farce. Mel Brooks must have been influenced when he made “Blazing Saddles” decades later.
November 2, 2010
#2
Review by
Rating:
The movie, “Son of Paleface”, which stars Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers, and Trigger (of course), is a fast talking, laugh-a-minute riot from start to finish. I myself have seen it about 30 times or more and I have never found myself bored. “Son of Paleface” is about Junior Potter (Hope), the son of Paleface Potter, “The Man Who Won The West”. Although Paleface won the west, he didn’t win the hearts of the people in Sawbuck Pass- he died owing a lot of money to a lot of people in that town. So after Junior Potter graduates as a Harvard man all decked out in his school spirit apparel, he drives out west to collect his father’s “fortune” which had been willed to him. But after finding that his father’s fortune was nothing more than the chest in which the money was supposed to be, Junior is not only dumped by his girlfriend back at Harvard, but he is forced to fake being in shock of the sight of all that money so he wouldn’t be killed by the people to which the money was owed. Russell plays a crook on horseback- known as ‘Mike’ to Junior, who is slowly falling for her, and ‘The Torch’ to the government. And that’s where Rogers comes in. He is assigned to capture ‘The Torch’, with Trigger’s help as always. All 4 of these actors put on superb performances- yes, 4. I say 4 because in various scenes in the movie, Trigger shows off his talents as an actor wonderfully. What a horse! “Son of Paleface” is the sequel to “The Paleface” in which Hope played Paleface and Russell played his wife. Although that movie was funny, it in no way compares to “Son of Paleface”. I think this is just about the only time that I can recall where the sequel is a million times better than the original. What makes “Son of Paleface” such a terrific movie is not only the storyline, the actors and the performances, the script couldn’t be any better. The way Hope throws out those punch lines, you almost have to see the movie multiple times to catch all of them. You’re just too busy laughing to hear them all! And in the middle of all this, Hope, Russell and Rogers throw some great songs in there, too. The movie also manages to incorporate a cameo by Bing Cosby, who co-starred with Hope in several ‘Road’ movies, and an appearence of penguins in the desert. Now, even though the movie is very unbelieveable, as you will discover at the end, the whole movie is fun and entertaining…even the 30th time through! I wholeheartedly recommend “Son of Paleface” to everyone. You can’t find a better comedy movie out there.
November 2, 2010
#3
Review by Paul J. Mular
Rating:
The Brentwood DVD is an excellent way to watch this fun comedy.The picture is razer sharp from 35mm, and the colors are pure and brilliant. I wondered about the low price but the quality is there! And the movie is great, as the other reviewers had said.
November 2, 2010
#4
Review by Steven Hellerstedt
Rating:
SON OF PALEFACE is a sequel, of sorts, to Bob Hope’s 1948 hit PALEFACE. It reunites Hope with Jane Russell (Calamity Jane in the previous movie, Mike `The Torch’ Delroy in this one.) Singing cowboy Roy Rogers rounds out the lead roster as Federal Agent Roy Barton.
Hope plays Peter `Junior’ Potter Jr., a recent Harvard grad who travels west to claim his inheritance. Russell plays a masked bandit and Rogers the Fed investigating a series of stagecoach holdups. There’s a search for a cache of gold hidden by Junior’s father but beyond that the plot doesn’t get in the way much at all. If it did, you’d wonder how the masked Torch is able to keep her identity a secret. Yeah, she’s wearing a mask, but the hip-hugging jeans and tight blouse she wears when a-robbing make it kind of obvious who it is under the mask.
Not that it matters much. The plot is just thick enough, thank you. Russell and Rogers play it straight and provide Hope with strong foils to play against. By 1952, when SON OF PALEFACE was made, Bob Hope had the blustering coward schtick down cold. Teamed here was director and former Warner Brothers animator Frank Tashlin things get a little wacky. Non sequiturs, snappy one-liners and mugging close-ups are the rule here. Tashlin throws in some very cartoon-y gags, as well. Hope drinks an impossibly tall drink in a bar. After a moment the pipe he’s smoking straightens out and spits fire. The H on his Harvard shirt curls. The pipe curls and his nose is caught in the bowl. Smoke hisses out of Hope’s ears. His head spins rapidly, then his body. His head sinks into his coat and his hat covers the neck hole. Russell lifts the hat and peeks in….
You get the idea. It’s all good family fun with just a scene or two that might zoom past the uninitiated. For instance, when Hope drives his roadster across the desert two vultures perch on the rumble seat. At one point Hope turns on them and says “Hey! Martin and Lewis! Beat it!” Fortunately, the visual and verbal gags come at such a rapid-fire rate we aren’t forced to mull over such mysterious references. Before we’re given a chance to think about it Hope has driven through an ice-rink desert mirage and the vultures have changed into penguins.
SON OF PALEFACE is one of those rare movies that will appeal to almost everybody and offend almost nobody.
November 2, 2010
#5
Review by Mark Clegg
Rating:
Quite seriously (in a manner of speaking!) this is the best of all of Bob Hope’s movies. Although the Road To.. films are classics and will forever feature in the Comedy Hall of Fame, this little-known gem is a real riot! This probably comes closest to Road to Utopia in terms of zaniness.
A sequel-of-sorts to the hugely inferior The Paleface, this movie lays it’s cards on the table from the very beginning as we are introduced to the titular ‘hero’ through a very witty narration (“This girl has just the kind of lips I like to kiss – one on top and one on the bottom”) that includes the almost obligatory Bing Crosby cameo. Following this is a few minutes of plot development (and, strangely, this film has more plot than most straight westerns) before Junior Potter (Hope) bursts into town. Great one-liners abound (“I’m an innocent man and if you have any justice in you, you’ll accept my bribe”) but the real beauty of the film is the surreal, almost cartoon-like direction. Of course the direction has every right to be cartoon-like – it’s directed by Frank Tashlin who started in Hollywood directing Porky Pig! Wild action includes Hope’s reaction to a Micky Finn, Hope’s attempts to blend in with his cowboy costume, Hope and Trigger sharing a bed and talk (tastefully done!) and a crazy chase finale involving banana skins!
Supporting players Jane Russell, Roy Rogers and, of course, Trigger do extremely well in the shadow of Hope who pulls out all of the stops for a career-best performance. The songs, including Buttons and Bows with a twist, are great and the script, apart from the few straight seems which are kept to a minimum, compares well with the Marx Brothers at their best.
Don’t believe me – watch it and see for yourself!