The Paleface [Blu-ray]

Director: Norman Z. McLeod, Norman McLeod Norman Z. McLeod

Overview

In this western spoof, Painless Potter is a hopelessly inept dentist who heads West to seek his fortune. Meanwhile, Calamity Jane is engaged in undercover work on behalf of the government. To put up an innocent front, Jane marries the befuddled Potter, then convinces everyone that Potter is a rootin'-tootin' gunslinger.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/14/2020
UPC:	0738329248055
Original Release:	1948
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:31:00
Sales rank:	27,432

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Critic Sergio Mims; Entertaining the Troops; Command Performance 1945; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bob Hope	Painless Peter Potter
Jane Russell	Calamity Jane
Iris Adrian	Pepper
Robert Armstrong	Terris
Bobby Watson	Toby Preston,Actor
Jackie Searl	Jasper Martin
Joseph Vitale	Indian Scout
Charles Trowbridge	Gov. Johnson
Clem Bevans	Hank Billings
Jeff York	Joe,Henchman
Stanley Andrews	Commissioner Emerson
Wade Crosby	Web
Chief Yowlachie	Chief Yellow Feather
Iron Eyes Cody	Chief Iron Eyes
John Maxwell	Village Gossip
Tom Kennedy	Bartender
Henry Brandon	Wapato the Medicine Man
Francis McDonald	Lance
Frank Hagney	Greg,Greg
Skelton Knaggs	Pete
Olin Howlin	Undertaker
George Chandler	Patient,Tough-Looking Galoot
Nestor Paiva	Patient
Earle Hodgins	Clem,Clem
Arthur Space	Zach
Trevor Bardette	Horseman
Alan Bridge	Horseman,Horseman
Edgar Dearing	Sheriff
Dorothy Granger	Bath House Attendant
Charles Cooley	Mr.'X'
Eric Alden	Bob
Babe London	Woman on Wagon Train
Loyal Underwood	Bearded Character
Billy Engle	Pioneer
Houseley Stevenson	Pioneer
Al Hill	Pioneer
Margaret Field	Guest
Laura Corbay	Guest
Ethan Laidlaw	Henchman
John 'Skins' Miller	Bellhop
Wally Boyle	Hotel Clerk
Stanley Blystone	Onlooker
Bob Kortman	Onlooker
Oliver Blake	Westerner
Carl Andre	Horseman
Ted Mapes	Horseman
Kermit Maynard	Horseman
Dick Elliott	Mayor
Betty Hannon	B-Girl
Charmienne Harker	B-Girl
Dee La Nore	B-Girl
Maria Tavares	B-Girl
Marilyn Gladstone	B-Girl
June Glory	B-Girl
Harry Harvey	Justices of the Peace
Paul E. Burns	Justices of the Peace
Jody Gilbert	Woman in Bath House,Woman in Bath House
Hall Bartlett	Handsome Cowboy
Syd Saylor	Cowboy
Sharon McManus	Child
Robert "Bobby" Watson	Toby Preston
Jay Livingston	Composer
Ray Evans	Composer
Victor Young	Composer

Technical Credits

Edmund L. Hartmann

Frank Tashlin

Jack Rose

Edmund Harttmann

Farciot Edouart	Special Effects
Gordon Jennings	Special Effects
Norman Z. McLeod	Director,Director
Robert L. Welch	Producer
Edmund L. Hartmann	Screenwriter
Frank Tashlin	Screenwriter
Jack Rose	Screenwriter
Edmund Harttmann	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

The great civic historian Otto Friedrich, in his study of Los Angeles in the 1940's, made a stunningly accurate analysis on the films of Bob Hope. All of Hope's movies, he wrote, revolve around the same three basic gags: the size of his nose, his innate cowardliness, and his complete ineptitude with women. With the exception of the ski beak, these truths are self-evident in The Paleface. Featuring an extremely attractive Jane Russell as Calamity Jane, the thin plot revolves around an undercover operation to discover who is selling guns to Indians. Jane agrees to pose as the wife of a government agent in exchange for a pardon, but through a series of mishaps must dupe Hope's eastern dentist into marrying her so she can secretly prop him up as an agent. All that is really besides the point, since the plot allows Hope to essentially play his typical role and provides all sorts of instances where he can be a coward and a frustrated lover. The major plot points are as predictable as they come, but it doesn't really matter. The jokes are for the most part typically funny material, especially the climax in the Indian camp where Hope disguises himself as the medicine man, and Russell has probably not looked better on screen with perhaps one or two exceptions. The script was co-written by Frank Tashlin, who would go on to become a well-known director and, in fact, directed the sequel Son of Paleface when he felt the director Norman Z. McLeod had not handled the original to his liking.