The Paleface

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Kyle M @RT77296778 Sep 19, 2025 Relatively influential in this questionable western galloping on simplicity that is only eventful when noting Jane Russell’s disgruntled humbleness reacting to Bob Hope’s amusing comedic form that’s stirred decent laughs. (B) See more William L @RT77267842 Apr 21, 2021 Politically rather poorly aged, The Paleface leans too heavily on Hope's shoulders to really remain solid in the modern day. He's plenty energetic and goofy as dentist-turned-wannabe-hero 'Painless' Potter who gets into a number of predictably unfortunate situations, often benefiting from lucky timing or the benevolently violent Calamity Jane (Russell), but as a spoof Western even Hope in his prime finds it difficult to drag an entire 90 minute feature film that provides little else to support him. The plot is appropriately silly but occasionally lacks engagement, dragging out some scenes well past their welcome (like Potter's slow walk down the street to a showdown), and the film wears its technical age on its sleeve. For its time (given the content of Westerns of the period), you can easily see The Paleface earning its status as a popular hit, but its better qualities can't really bring it to the status of a classic in the modern day. (2.5/5) See more s r @ScottR Sep 1, 2020 1001 movies to see before you die. I enjoyed the sequel much better, but I suppose this is also better than most Bob Hope shows. See more Thomas M @TMProofreader Feb 2, 2019 The best movie song ever sung: Buttons and Bows! See more Feb 7, 2015 jane Russell digs in as calamity jane and bob hope blunders along as "Painless" the out of depth dentist in this maybe good for its time but now dated screwball comedy See more Aug 23, 2014 Bob Hope. Bob Hope? Bob Hope! That was going to be the entire review - but it's probably misleading. Instead, this pairing of Hope and Jane Russell in a spoof of Westerns is only middling at best with a few funny lines. Apart from the racist nature of the plot (par for the course at the time), the film really is so family friendly as to not really be comedy at all. Indeed, I think you could substitute Daffy Duck for Hope and the film would play the same (except perhaps Daffy is more subversive at times). Writer Frank Tashlin apparently so disliked what Norman Z. McLeod did with his script, that he opted to make the sequel (Son of Paleface) himself, before moving on to work with Jerry Lewis. I haven't seen the sequel and I haven't built up my courage for Lewis yet. See more Read all reviews

The Paleface

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