Blu ray review: Fancy Pants (1950)

Kino Lorber continues to release vintage Bob Hope features, including the comedian's best screen work. This delightful comedy features him playing opposite Lucille Ball just before her classic I Love Lucy series would debut and define her career.

Often presented as a reworking of Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), Fancy Pants is really a separate comedy feature unto itself. Lucille Ball is delightfully boisterous as an unmannered American whose family has run into some money and tries to connect with the pretentious upper crust. A broke gentleman hires a family from a stage play which includes Bob Hope who plays a butler. Bob and Lucy make a great team as he travels back to the old west with her and is assigned to teach her some manners, without revealing he is just an American actor and not a genuine gentleman. There are some general elements of the original film, with Lucy's mom wanting to embrace society and her father wanting to maintain his earthy western ways. But the whole show belongs to Lucy and Bob whose scenes are filled with wisecracks and slapstick humor.

The supporting cast includes such welcome names as Bruce Cabot and Eric Blore, while John Alexander plays Teddy Roosevelt just as he had in Frank Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace. And, notably, the interior of the house where Lucy's family lives is the same set used by Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd, giving us a chance to see it in color.

Kino's blu ray is remastered by Paramount Pictures from 4k scanns of the 35mm YCM three-strip Technicolor elements. It looks beautiful with sharp visuals and vibrant colors. But it is the comedy from two old pros that makes Fancy Pants a worthy addition to anyone's movie library.

The blu ray is available here: FANCY PANTS