The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)

Just watched this again in order to get in the spirit of Christmas. It's another Bob Hope vehicle in which he tries to get out of jams he himself caused. He's a con man trying to raise more than a thousand dollars in order to avoid getting killed! It all takes place during the holidays. In fact, this is the movie that introduced the song "Silver Bells" in which Hope shares a duet with his leading lady, Marilyn Maxwell, here. There's also William Frawley-later Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy"-and Lloyd Nolan and Fred Clark to add in the fun. Oh, and one of the writers is Frank Tashlin who was previously a director of Warner Bros. cartoons. He supposedly directed some of the more cartoonish sequences like that of the hilarious one involving a female mannequin who is allowed to appear nude in a movie made during the Code era! Okay, so on that note, I highly recommend The Lemon Drop Kid.

Very funny 1951 Bob Hope film where he plays a small-time gangster who has accidentally dropped money of a bigger mob person at the track and then finds an ingenious way to get the money back.The gags are great with Marilyn Maxwell as Hope's girlfriend and eventual partner in the scheme.Jane Darwell showed a gift of comedy in this hilarious film. As one of the old dolls, she brings plenty of humor as the wife of a convicted safe-cracker about to be released at holiday time.Hope's great idea of setting up a licensed home for old dolls is very humorous. How will he pay for the home in a gambling home? He sends his band of crooks out playing Santa Claus and soliciting money.All goes well until Lloyd Nolan, a real big-time gangster, gets wind of the scheme and steals the money from Hope. Bob has to retrieve the money and free the dolls who have been taken hostage by a ruthless Nolan.Funny and yet very poignant with the holiday-spirit like ending.

Far too many reviewers of these old movies refuse to put aside their modern desire to be offended and harp on things, like smoking, that were accepted and not even noticed or commented on at the time the film was made. So many actually want to be offended that they miss the main story of the movie. There are only a couple of Bob Hope films that I really like, several that I sort of like and a few that were, to say the least, lousy. This is one of his best and shows how even a low-life cheat, gambler and scam artist can turn his life around. The story is flawless, the acting is superb and the main song, "Silver Bells" is a classic. Watch the film with an unbiased and open mind and you will enjoy it.

The thing I noticed about thirty minutes into the picture was how complicated the plotting got for a movie from the early Fifties. Not what I was expecting from a title like "The Lemon Drop Kid", whose title character is wonderfully performed by one of my all time favorites - Bob Hope. Hope is his trademark self most of the time with the snappy quips and one liners, but it wasn't just Hope playing Hope, indeed it appeared that Bob actually got into his character based on a Damon Runyon story. With any other actor, The Lemon Drop Kid might have come across as the smarmy con man that he was written to be, but Hope makes him a likable chap, even when he's robbing you blind.The other major curve that the picture throws at you about mid-way through is that all of a sudden, it becomes a Christmas story! I wasn't really ready for that, and yet right from the opening sound of "Silver Bells", it all seems to fit together perfectly around a con game to bring home the bacon for Nellie Thursday's Home For Old Dolls. Hope has just the perfect cast of characters to pull off this grift - Jay C. Flippen, Ben Weldon, and Tor Johnson among others, and it was especially cool to catch William Frawley in a role apart from his Fred Mertz character. I'm not so sure this bunch could have pulled off the caper in real life quite so easily, but I think you can cut the film some slack in that regard; getting there was all the fun it could be.With any of these older flicks, I'm always on the lookout for reminders of simpler times gone by - how about a hot pastrami sandwich for fifty cents! Say, I wonder too, if you can still get a salami gift wrapped for the holidays? There's also the era preoccupation with getting as many profile shots of the picture's leading lady into view as possible. On that score, Marilyn Maxwell's figure never disappoints, strategically positioned whenever possible in conversation with Lemon Drop or Oxford Charley (Lloyd Nolan). After a while I began to wonder why she ever stuck it out with The Kid, but I guess every heel has some redemptive qualities.I don't know if I'd make this a must see every year at Christmas time, but then again, it might not be the worst choice out there. It takes you back to a way simpler time than say, "Bad Santa", and you won't have to screen out the language for young viewers. All in all, a fun picture and a fine effort from Bob Hope and his gang of usual suspects.