The Princess and the Pirate (1944)

I'll admit that it has always puzzled me that war-weary American troops could ever have been entertained by Bob Hope. His so-called "zany" humour always struck me as being contrived and obvious. This film, however, does go some way to contradict that rather simplistic impression of the star. He plays a cowardly actor who finds himself along with "Princess Margaret" (no, not the real one) captured by pirates en route to their island to retrieve some buried treasure. When they discover her identity, they try to ransom her and it's all down to "Sylvester" (Hope) to save the day. It's got a great supporting cast - Walter Brennan as the aptly named "Featherhead"; Walter Slezak as pirate "La Roche" and an on-form Victor McLaglen as "The Hook". Virginia Mayo as the "Princess" never could act her way out of a paper bag, and here is no different - she has the glamour and the looks, but the charisma of a wet haddock. There are plenty of quippy one-liners; Mr. Hope's asides to the audience are actually quite funny now and again and coupled with some good, hammy, set piece buckle and swash it's actually quite a watchable little pantomime-style effort. Not great, but much better than I was expecting.