Bob Hope and Lucille Ball are a comfortable fit in “Critic’s Choice,” their fourth and final film together. It is based on the witty 1960 Broadway play by Ira Levin, adapted to the silver screen by Jack Sher. The movie also benefits from expert direction by Don Weis (“The Gene Krupa Story” 1959).
Hope plays Parker Ballantine, a theater critic known for his sharp pen and stinging remarks in print that can make or break Broadway plays. Ball portrays his wife Angela, a bored housewife known for starting projects and never completing anything. She gets the idea of writing a stage play, and surprises hubby by not only finishing the job, but also in getting a major producer to back it. The hilarity, and fireworks, proceed from there.
Hope and Ball are, of course, major Hollywood legends and their immense talents and familiar personalities are on full display here. The supporting cast includes Marilyn Maxwell, Rip Torn, Jessie Royce Landis, John Dehner, Jim Backus, Marie Windsor, Richard Deacon, Soupy Sales, Joan Shawlee, and Ricky Kelman as the son of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball.
However, the very entertaining and watchable “Critic’s Choice” was not terribly successful at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures. The three other films pairing Lucille Ball and Bob Hope were “Sorrowful Jones” (1949), “Fancy Pants” (1950), and “The Facts of Life” (1960).
Critic’s Choice (1963)
cinema
My Review
Bob Hope and Lucille Ball are a comfortable fit in “Critic’s Choice,” their fourth and final film together. It is based on the witty 1960 Broadway play by Ira Levin, adapted to the silver screen by Jack Sher. The movie also benefits from expert direction by Don Weis (“The Gene Krupa Story” 1959).
Hope plays Parker Ballantine, a theater critic known for his sharp pen and stinging remarks in print that can make or break Broadway plays. Ball portrays his wife Angela, a bored housewife known for starting projects and never completing anything. She gets the idea of writing a stage play, and surprises hubby by not only finishing the job, but also in getting a major producer to back it. The hilarity, and fireworks, proceed from there.
Hope and Ball are, of course, major Hollywood legends and their immense talents and familiar personalities are on full display here. The supporting cast includes Marilyn Maxwell, Rip Torn, Jessie Royce Landis, John Dehner, Jim Backus, Marie Windsor, Richard Deacon, Soupy Sales, Joan Shawlee, and Ricky Kelman as the son of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball.
However, the very entertaining and watchable “Critic’s Choice” was not terribly successful at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures. The three other films pairing Lucille Ball and Bob Hope were “Sorrowful Jones” (1949), “Fancy Pants” (1950), and “The Facts of Life” (1960).