Bing Crosby

"Big" Jim Stevens (Edward G. Robinson), undisputed boss of the Chicago underworld, gets an unexpected birthday present from his ambitious lieutenant, Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk). Instead of a stripper popping out of the cake, Big Jim gets shot by all the guests. Gisborne takes over. He orders all the other gangsters in town to pay him protection money. Gisborne says that Jim was not even an US citizen and was a no-good boss (as under him everybody was fighting each other rather than taking care of business) and he intends to make a lot of changes around town. Gisborne outlaws all independent operations and wants a cut from every pie. Gisborne demands a 50% cut from every business as the protection money. The news does not sit well with Big Jim's friend and fellow gangster, Robbo (Frank Sinatra), and a gangland war breaks out. Sherrif Glick tries to argue that the people were sick of Jim as there were 34 killings under his reign I 2 months. Gisborne has 85 guns under his command, and he can hit everything at once, if he so desires. Robbo recruits pool hustler Little John (Dean Martin), who demonstrates his pool skills while singing, plus quick-draw artist Will (Sammy Davis Jr.) and a few other hoods, but they are still greatly outnumbered. In addition, the corrupt Sheriff Octavius Glick (Robert Foulk) is on Gisborne's payroll. Gisborne and Robbo come up with the same idea, to destroy the other's gambling joint on the same night. Robbo chooses Gisborne's gambling joint as that is his pride and joy and the flagship of his underworld criminal empire. Gisborne as $250,000 tied up in the gambling joint. The 2 crews pass each other at a traffic intersection and both joints are destroyed at nearly the same time. The loss to Robbo is nearly $400,000. Gisborne calls Robbo and offers to build a new gambling den together, and become partners, but Robbo refuses and prefers to have Gisborne as the enemy. Big Jim's refined, well-educated daughter, Marian (Barbara Rush), shows up. She asks Robbo to avenge her father's death (wrongfully attributed to the sheriff), a request which Robbo flatly refuses. Marian offers to pay $50,000 to Robbo for her demand. Gisborne disposes of the sheriff for his failure to kill Robbo before he could strike his gambling joint. Gisborne wanted Sherrif to reduce his cut from 25% to 10% for the expenses to rebuild the gambling joint, but Sherrif resents that the entire blame for the failure to kill Robbo was being attributed to him. Gisborne kills the Sherrif and buries him in a concrete slab that is laid to set up the new administrative block for the police department. Marian then invites Robbo to dinner and gives him $50,000, thinking that Robbo did as she had asked. Robbo refuses the money, but Marian attempts to seduce him into joining forces to take over the whole town. Marian says that Jim also wanted to retire and the man he wanted to take over was Robbo. Robbo turns her down. When she sends the money to his under-repair gambling club, Robbo donates it to a boys' orphanage. Alan A. Dale (Bing Crosby), the orphanage's director, notifies the newspapers about this good deed. A new Chicago star is born: a gangster who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Robbo finds it useful to have the public on his side. Robbo and his gang receive a lot of letters from old age homes, women shelters and orphanages asking for donations of cash. Dales comes over to introduce himself to Robbo. Dale is very erudite and most of his words are not understandable by Robbo or any of his gang. Dale offers to help Robbo by writing his speeches and managing his public image. Dale says that he never anticipated the huge positive response to Robin Hood comparison he made in the papers and can build on it. Robbo invites the delighted Dale to join his gang, having him handle all the charities. Dale starts the Robbo Foundation and opens a string of soup kitchens, free clinics and orphan shelters. He even gives green, feathered hats and bows and arrows to the orphans, while thoroughly milking the Robin Hood image. In the meantime, Robbo and Little John teach Dale a little about "Style." Robbo's joint re-opens and it is a hit. Gisborne, whose place is now empty, is infuriated. He and the new sheriff, Alvin Potts (Victor Buono), organize a police raid. Robbo has anticipated this. when a few switches are pulled, the entire club is disguised as a mission. The sheriff and Gisborne burst in to find Robbo's gang singing gospel songs and preaching the sins of alcohol, complete with hymnals and tambourines ("Mr. Booze"). Robbo is framed for Glick's murder. At the trial, Gisborne and Potts claim that Robbo planned the whole thing. Dale tries to teach the despondent orphans to view this as a lesson ("Don't Be a Do-Badder"). The jury finds Robbo innocent. Wearing a green suit, Robbo publicly thanks everyone in Chicago ("My Kind of Town"). When he returns to his club, Robbo finds every one of his charities is now a front for counterfeiting. The soup kitchen smuggles fake bills in soup cans over state lines. Robbo also finds Little John living it up in Marian's mansion. Marian is willing to keep Robbo as a front, as long as she is in charge. Robbo shows his contempt for her and leaves. Little John decides to go with him. Marian finds another willing partner in Gisborne. However, the gangster is not a match for Robbo and ends up dead. Robbo tells a shocked Marian to clear out of town. She instead turns public opinion against him, starting a Women's League for Better Government and framing Robbo for the counterfeiting ring that she and Little John started. Unable to fight an angry mob of women, Robbo and his gang flee. Robbo and his merry men are reduced to working as Santa Clauses to solicit charitable donations. They watch dumbfounded as Marian steps out of a car with her latest partner, Alan A. Dale. He casually gives them money before going off with Marian.

As socialite Tracy Lord prepares for her wedding to priggish George Kittredge at her Newport, Rhode Island estate, her ex-husband, millionaire song writer C. K. Dexter-Haven, organizes a jazz festival for the same weekend, using his neighboring home as a rehearsal hall. On the eve of her wedding, Tracy informs her precocious kid sister Caroline that she has not invited their father, Seth Lord, because he has left their mother for a chorus girl. Soon after, when Tracy hears Dexter play her and Dexter's favorite tune, she runs to Dexter's and accuses him of setting up the festival to disrupt her wedding. Dexter confesses he is still in love with her, but reminds Tracy that she left him because her expectations for him differed from his own. Tracy retorts that instead of becoming a respected composer, Dexter has lowered himself to being a "jukebox hero," and leaves. Back at the Lords', Uncle Willie calls to tell Tracy's mother, Mrs. Lord, that Spy magazine will withhold a slanderous article about Seth's affair in exchange for being allowed to send reporter Mike Connor and photographer Liz Imbrie to cover Tracy's high-society wedding. To appease her mother who fears for the family's reputation, Tracy agrees to the blackmail, but she and Caroline greet Mike and Liz, who arrive shortly after, with exaggeratedly gauche mannerisms and interrogate them about their lives, while avoiding any questions about their father. Soon after, George and Dexter arrive at the Lord house, prompting Liz to request a photograph of Tracy standing between her past and future husbands. Tracy reluctantly agrees, but later intentionally knocks the camera over, ruining the film. Tired of the reporter's constant badgering about her father, Tracy introduces her Uncle Willie as "papa" when he arrives at the house. The family goes along with the lie and when Seth arrives, they call him "Uncle Willie." Later, as they peruse tables filled with extravagant, impractical wedding gifts, Mike and Liz confide that they would rather have true happiness than be married into a wealthy, but obviously dysfunctional family. Later at the pool, Dexter suggests to Tracy that she soften her expectations of George to ensure a happy union and notes that she has little tolerance for "human frailty." Later alone, Tracy unwraps Dexter's wedding gift, the model of their honeymoon yacht, and fondly remembers the first few romantic weeks of her and Dexter's marriage. Suddenly, George interrupts her reverie to promise unfailing adoration of his "goddess." Upset that she might be seen as distant, Tracy demands that she be treated as a real woman. When Tracy later confronts her father about his affair, Seth supposes that his philandering is an attempt to maintain his youth and suggests that Tracy is partially to blame for refusing to show him any affection. Distraught by the day's events, a drunken Tracy takes Mike on a drive to tell him that his presumptions about the Newport upper class are unfair. As they stop at Uncle Willie's house for a drink, Tracy admits she has been sheltered by wealth, while an enamored Mike insists that Tracy needs only the right man to "fire her heart." Although her inhibitions are diminished by alcohol, Tracy flees the room when Mike tries to embrace her. After returning to the house, Tracy overhears Dexter sing a love song for his "Samantha," her nickname, rekindling her attraction to him. Later at the bachelor ball held at Willie's house, Dexter, Louis Armstrong and his band entertain the crowd with jazz, while George insists that Tracy sleep off her drunkenness alone in a parlor. Meanwhile, Mike wanders into a study, where he shares glass after glass of champagne with Dexter until the men break into song about the "swell party," mocking the haughty crowd. Later, Tracy climbs out the parlor window and joins Mike on a walk back to the Lords' house, where Mike tells her that she is a "flesh and blood" woman. After embracing him, Tracy jumps into the pool, fully clothed and swooning at the compliment. While escorting Liz back to the Lords' house, Dexter asks her why she and Mike have not married, prompting the patient Liz to reply that Mike must first outgrow his love for Tracy. Meanwhile, George, having discovered Tracy missing, rushes to the Lords' house, where he, Dexter and Liz witness a woozy Mike carrying Tracy back from the pool, both soaking from a swim. Horrified by what he assumes is a case of infidelity, George prepares to take a swing at Mike, but Dexter jumps in and punches him instead, hoping he has saved Mike from a savage blow of the truly jealous groom. The next morning, as dozens of wedding guests arrive, Tracy is so hung over that she has forgotten the previous evening's escapade. When she asks Mike about the night, he tells her only that he enjoyed himself. In a moment alone, a guilt-ridden Tracy asks advice from Dexter, who suggests that a mistake can sometimes help a couple learn. Soon after Mike and Liz announce they are through with dirty journalism and so will not to publish the story, George arrives and proclaims that he is undecided about continuing the wedding. When Tracy cannot provide an explanation for the previous evening, Mike informs the worried groom that the "affair" consisted of only two kisses and a swim, prompting Tracy to accuse Mike of thinking her too "unattractive and distant" to sleep with. After Mike tells her he did not want to take advantage of her drunken state, George, now full of self-righteousness, tells Tracy he can forgive this one mistake. Tracy, realizing the larger mistake is marrying George, tells her fiance that she "couldn't bear a perfect man." As George marches off and the processional music begins, Tracy, at a loss for words, seeks Dexter's coaching to address the awaiting crowd. As she repeats his phrasing unthinkingly, Tracy parrots that she eloped with Dexter two years ago and then announces she will now marry him in a full ceremony. Tracy turns to Dexter, ecstatic at his off handed proposal, and then thanks her father for helping her become more human. Meanwhile, Mike and Liz, inspired by the turn of events, decide to marry, as a jazzed-up version of the processional begins again.

A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems. Washed up singer/actor Frank Elgin has a chance to make a come-back when director Bernie Dodd offers him the leading role in his new musical. Frank however is very insecure, turns to alcohol and shuns even the smallest of responsibilities, leaving everything up to his wife Georgie who finds it harder and harder to cope with her husband's lack of spirit. Bernie tries to help Frank regain his self-confidence, believing that it is Georgie who's the cause of his insecurity. —Leon Wolters <wolters@strw.LeidenUniv.nl> Broadway director Bernie Dodd is in desperate need of a male lead for his new play and pushes to hire Frank Elgin, an aging one time star with just the experience and skills required. The downside is that he has a reputation for being an unreliable drunk. Elgin has the talent for the job, but seems to be entirely dependent on his wife Georgie to make all of his decisions for him. He tells Dodd that she has to come with them when they go to Boston to fine tune the show. He describes his wife as the drinker and suicidal at times and simply can't be left alone. Dodd takes up his cause, blaming Georgie for Frank's lack of self-confidence and a clash of wills ensues. He soon realizes he may have incorrectly assumed who was supporting who in their relationship. —garykmcd The hard-drinking Frank Elgin, a once-popular Broadway star whose glory days have passed. When director Bernie Dodd gives Elgin a role in his new musical, he must also deal with the actor's sour and ever-present wife, Georgie, who Dodd believes is the cause of her husband's failure. However, as Dodd spends more time around Georgie, the truth about her husband becomes clear. —Jwelch5742 Famed Broadway director Bernie Dodd is known for making risky casting choices which may not make the process of the show smooth, but generally has electrifying results on stage. With only a couple of weeks until out of town Boston previews, he has to recast the lead in his new musical, he lobbying for Frank Elgin, formerly a Broadway heavyweight whose career years ago sank under the weight of the onset of his alcoholism. Bernie is the only one on Frank's side, producer Philip Cook in particular who does not want to risk what is largely his money on Frank. Winning out in casting Frank albeit on only a two week run contract, Bernie, who nonetheless wants to provide as much support to Frank knowing the potential problems, is up front that one bender is enough to fire him. In hiring Frank, Bernie learns that he is a package deal with his wife, frumpish Georgie Elgin. In explaining the situation to Bernie, Frank tells a story of his and Georgie's life going off the rails following the death of their infant son, he, in trying to help Georgie deal with her grief in her turning to the bottle and attempting suicide, turned to the bottle himself while Georgie emerged out of her alcohol dependence. With Frank having problems in rehearsals up to and during the Boston run, he maintains a happy and cordial demeanor to all including Bernie, while behind the scenes is demanding that Georgie lobby for more and more on his behalf. Georgie supports Frank in being that liaison to Bernie solely in wanting Frank to be the man he once was. And Bernie, who handles Frank with kid gloves, blames all their problems on Georgie, not only in she being the crutch on which Frank always leans, but in his belief that she is the reason for Frank's alcoholism. This leads to a complex situation between the three, which the truth may be the only catalyst for them dealing meaningfully with what is going on. —Huggo

On Christmas Eve, 1944, somewhere in Europe two World War II, two U.S. Army soldiers, one a Broadway entertainer, Captain Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby), the other a would-be entertainer, Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye), give a show to the troops of the 151st Division in a forward area with Bob singing "White Christmas". But the mood is sombre: word has come down that their beloved commanding officer, Major General Thomas F. Waverly (Dean Jagger), is being relieved of command. He arrives for the end of the show and delivers an emotional farewell. The men give him a rousing send-off ("The Old Man"). After the war, over the next 10 years, the pair make it big as performers in nightclubs, radio, and then on Broadway, doing many different songs, and finally becoming successful producers living in Florida. They eventually mount their newest hit musical entitled 'Playing Around'. The same day they receive a letter from "Freckle-Faced Haynes, the dog-faced boy," their mess sergeant from the war, asking them to look at an act which his two sisters are doing. When they go to the club to audition the act ("Sisters"), Phil notices that Bob is slowly smitten with Betty Haynes (Rosemary Clooney), while Phil has eyes for her sister, Judy (Vera-Ellen). Following their number, Betty and Judy join Bob and Phil at their table, and believing he may have found the right woman for Bob, Phil brings Judy on to the dance floor so that Bob and Betty can get to know each other better. Phil and Judy hit it off ("The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing"). Judy tells Phil that she and her sister are headed for the Columbia Inn in Pine Tree, Vermont, where they are booked to perform over the holidays. Phil gives the sisters his and Bob's sleeping-room accommodations aboard the train to Vermont. When the train arrives in Pine Tree, there's not a flake in sight, and the weather is so unseasonably warm, chances of it falling appear dim. Bob and Phil discover that the inn is run by their former commanding officer, General Waverly. Waverly has invested all of his savings and pension into the lodge, which is in danger of failing because of the lack of snow and consequent lack of guests. Deciding to help out and bring business up to the inn, Bob and Phil bring up the entire cast and crew of their new musical 'Playing Around', and add in Betty and Judy where they can. At the same time, Bob and Betty's relationship starts to bloom ("Count Your Blessings") and they begin to spend a good deal of time together. Meanwhile, Bob discovers the General's rejected attempt at rejoining the army, and decides to prove to the General that he isn't forgotten. Bob calls Ed Harrison (Johnny Grant), an old army buddy, now the host of a successful TV variety show. Bob tells Ed that he wants to make a televised pitch to all the men formerly under the command of the General, asking them to come to the inn on Christmas Eve as a surprise. In response, Harrison suggests they go all out and put the show on national television, playing up the whole "schmaltz" angle of the situation and generating lots of free advertising for Wallace and Davis in the process. What Bob doesn't know is that nosy housekeeper Emma Allen (Mary Wickes) has been listening in to the phone conversation on the extension but has only heard about the whole schmaltz suggestion, hanging up before Bob rejects the idea. Mistakenly believing that her beloved boss will be presented as a pitiable figure on a prime-time coast to coast broadcast, Emma reveals what she heard to a shocked Betty who is originally loath to believe Bob would pull such a stunt for his own gain, but mistakenly comes to believe he would indeed stoop to such depths when Phil asks her if he made the call to Ed. The misunderstanding causes a now-disillusioned Betty to grow suddenly cold toward a baffled Bob. Unaware of the real reason for her sudden change of behavior, Judy becomes convinced that Betty, ever-protective of her little sister, will never take on a serious relationship until Judy is engaged or married. She pressures an extremely reluctant Phil to announce a phony engagement, but the plan backfires when Betty abruptly departs for New York City, having received a job offer. Distraught, Phil and Judy reveal to Bob that the engagement announcement was phony, and Bob, still unaware of the real reason behind Betty's annoyance, heads to New York to explain. Bob goes to see Betty's new act ("Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me") and reveals the truth about the engagement, but is called away by Ed Harrison before he can find out what is really bothering her. The sight of Ed pushes Betty who was nearly forgiving Bob, back down. Meanwhile, back at the Inn, Phil fakes an injury to distract Waverly so he won't see the broadcast or Bob's announcement. On the broadcast, Bob proceeds to ask the veterans of the 151st Division to come to Pine Tree, Vermont to surprise General Waverly ("What Can You Do with a General"). When Betty is backstage between performances, she catches Bob's pitch on a television set. She, then, realizes she was mistaken and behaved foolishly that ignited a chain of events such as Phil and Judy's false engagement. She returns to Pine Tree just in time to be in the show and to make amends. Emma convinces Gen. Waverly that all his suits were sent to the cleaners and suggests he wear his old uniform to the opening of the show. Initially reluctant, he agrees. When the General enters the lodge where the show is to take place, he is greeted by his former division, who sing a rousing chorus of "The Old Man." Emotional and delighted, Waverly expresses his gratitude and admiration for his division. Just as the following number ("Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army") ends, he is notified that snow is finally falling. In the finale scene, Bob and Betty declare their love for one another, as do Phil and Judy. The background of the set is removed to show the snow falling, everyone raises a glass, and toasts, "May your days be merry and bright; and may all your Christmases be white." Bob then performs the last musical number before the final fade-out (a reprise of "White Christmas").

Foreign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted. Pete Garvey, foreign correspondent, has been running an impromptu adoption agency for war orphans in Paris, when an ultimatum from his erstwhile fiancée Emmadel Jones draws him back to Boston, complete with two adopted orphans to melt her heart. Too late! She's now engaged to rich, handsome Wilbur Stanley. And if Pete's not married within five days, he loses the kids. He'll have to work fast... —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Remake of the movie "Broadway Bill" (1934)

Two vaudeville flops pose as bad guys and join the Klondike gold rush with a saloon singer. At the turn of the century, Duke and Chester, two vaudeville performers, go to Alaska to make their fortune. On the ship to Skagway, they find a map to a secret gold mine, which had been stolen by McGurk and Sperry, a couple of thugs. They disguise themselves as McGurk and Sperry to get off the ship. Meanwhile, Sal Van Hoyden is in Alaska to try and recover the map; it had been her father's. She falls in with Ace Larson, who wants to steal the gold mine for himself. Duke and Chester, McGurk and Sperry, Ace and his henchmen, and Sal, chase each other all over the countryside, trying to get the map. —John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

Parish life at Saint Dominic's includes gossip, youth mischief, and a rather shady landlord, but new curate Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley (Bing Crosby) seems to land on his feet. As older Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald) watches Father O'Malley in action, he feels his days as pastor of his flock may be numbered. The two priests must find "modern" ways to deal with an age-old problem ministering to the people in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood. O'Malley, for his part, must deal with an interrupted romantic relationship from his past with opera star Genevieve Linden (Rise Stevens) and Carol James (Jean Heather), a "wayward" aspiring singer. Father O'Malley and his friend Father Timothy O'Dowd (Frank McHugh) take the elderly Fitzgibbon to play golf. The old priest calls a golf course "a pool room outdoors." Father Fitzgibbon goes to ask the bishop if he is being replaced. He becomes ill and speaks to Chuck of the 45 years since he was in the "old country." Father Fitzgibbon says his mother in Ireland is over 90. O'Malley makes the neighborhood boys into a choir. He gives the youth leader, Tony Scaponi, (Stanley Clements) his St. Louis Browns baseball jacket. Just as all the pieces of the plot seem to have fallen into place, the parish church is damaged in a massive fire. On Christmas Eve the people gather in a temporary church. Father O'Malley transferred to a new assignment, the new assistant is Father O'Dowd. Prior to the Mass, Mrs. Fitzgibbon totters in the embrace her beloved son. Father O'Malley quietly slips away.

Famous showbiz trio breaks up, as crooner Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) plans to take his fiancée Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) out to Connecticut to live on a farm and enjoy the lazy life. The problem is that suave dancer Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) has stolen Lila from Jim and runs off with her to continue their showbiz careers. Farming does not prove as easy as Jim had hoped and after a year, he ends up having a nervous breakdown. In the sanitarium, Jim comes up with the idea to turn his old barn into a nightclub that is only open on holidays. Jim visits Ted and Lila in New York and tells his old agent Danny to send him any talented acts for his club. Danny encounters a young woman at a flower shop who is bent on a career as a dancer and singer. Her name is Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds), and he gives her tickets to a show and tells her to audition at Holiday Inn. At the show she meets Jim and both pretend to be more important than they really are. When she arrives in Connecticut they are surprised to be caught in their lies. Linda auditions and Jim agrees to let her star in his shows beginning with the upcoming New Year's Eve performance. In the meantime, Lila leaves Ted for a Texas millionaire. This starts Ted to drinking, and sends him to his buddy who knows what it is to have the woman you love stolen away from you. When he arrives at the inn he is extremely drunk and ends up dancing with Linda. They dance an incredible improvised comic dance routine that is still a classic. Agent Danny arrives in time to see Linda's back as she walks up the stairs. In the morning when Ted wakes up, he can't remember anything about her but the way that she danced and he know he wants her to be his partner. He and Danny decide to come back to the club on Lincoln's birthday to scout for "the back of a woman they don't know." Meanwhile, Jim has fallen in love with Linda, who can really sing and dance, and he offers her a life at the Inn, and sort of proposes to her. She agrees to stay with him at the Inn and is excited to be sort of engaged. Of course, Ted has also fallen in love with his mystery dance partner who he rediscovers on Valentine's day. He decides to stay at the inn and dance with Linda there. In an elaborate plan to get Linda away from the inn and Jim, Ted arranges for men from Hollywood to watch the 4th of July performance. Jim learns of this plot and decides to sabotage their routine by preventing Linda from arriving that day and inviting Lila, whose millionaire was not who she hoped he would be, to come in her place. In her attempts to get to the inn, Linda meets up with Lila and learns of Jim's plot. When she finally does arrive she is furious with Jim and in her anger agrees to leave with Ted for Hollywood. Jim closes the inn and mopes around. His housekeeper gives him sage wisdom that sends him to Hollywood to get his woman back. He arrives on the day before Linda and Ted's wedding, and sneaks onto the set. Linda gradually picks up signs that he is there and when he finally reveals himself she joyously runs to meet him. The movie culminates with a rewrite of the opening number in which we learn that Jim and Linda will be staying together at the Inn to sing and Ted will resume his dancing career with Lila. Holiday Inn is a Christmas treasure that shows a simpler time in history in a warm and endearing light.

The film opens with a freighter at sea exploding and news announcements about the ship disaster and of the second world war already underway. The cause of the explosion is a mystery, with all crew accounted for with the exception of two unidentified stowaways. Jeff Peters (Bing Crosby) and Orville 'Turkey' Jackson (Bob Hope) are seen floating at sea aboard a pile of wreckage. It was Jeff's idea to stow away, but it was Orville "smoking in the powder room" that caused the explosion. As the two joke about eating one another to survive, they spot land in the distance. As they sit on the beach, Orville reminds Jeff of his promise to Aunt Lucy, to take care of him. Jeff reminds him that Aunt Lucy died before he could agree. They are interrupted by a convenient camel, and they hitch a ride. Once in the city, they are nearly run over by Arabs shooting guns, led by the sheik Mullay Kasim (Anthony Quinn). Jeff and Orville learn the sheik is pursuing a princess for marriage. Orville is approached by a group of bearers carrying someone in a veiled box. A beautiful hand takes his and then leaves, with Orville in pure bliss. In a restaurant, Jeff and Orville eat heartily, while trying to figure out how to get past the knife-wielding owner without paying. A man (Dan Seymour) takes Jeff aside and hands over a great deal of money. Orville is happy to be able to pay for the meal, until he learns that Jeff 'sold' him. Orville is furious, especially since neither of them know why the man bought him. Jeff calms him down and tells Orville he'll buy him back, eventually; and two men throw a hood over Orville and carry him off. A week later, Jeff is woken by a vision of Aunt Lucy (played by a harp-wielding Bob Hope) who shames him for his act. Jeff says he tried to buy Orville back, but learned he was re-sold to someone else. Aunt Lucy tells him he has to find Orville, and recommends singing Orville's favorite song. Jeff walks through the street singing, (accompanied by Aunt Lucy's ghost) until a note, with Orville's locket is tossed at him from the palace window. The note, written by Orville, says he's being tortured and warns Jeff of danger. Jeff, thinking Orville is in trouble, scales the palace wall. Hearing a woman singing, Jeff sneaks into the palace and see a lot of beautiful girls dancing for the beautiful Princess Shalmar (Dorothy Lamour) and singing to a very relaxed Orville. Jeff storms in and is grabbed by guards. Orville feigns ignorance and tries to send him away. The princess dismisses everyone, except for Jeff. Orville admits the truth, but it's clear he's still mad at Jeff. He says he and the princess are to be married. Jeff is surprised, but the princess says her wise man read the stars and told her to marry Orville. She was the one that passed Orville in the veiled box, and also the one that purchased him. As she plants a passionate kiss on Orville, Jeff decides to stick around; a decision that almost brings him and Orville to blows, but the princess invites Jeff to stay. As Orville is waited on by beautiful girls, he learns from one of them, Mihirmah, the princess was supposed to marry Kasim, but also tells Orville she loves him too. Jeff breaks up the party and confronts Orville, who has Jeff thrown out. Jeff wanders the palace singing, an act that attracts the princess and they go on a moonlit walk. Mihirmah tries to get Orville to run away with her. Jeff tries to tell the princess that HE was the one sold and should be marrying her, but he is interrupted by a sword-wielding Orville. The next morning an angry Kasim confronts Princess Shalmar for marrying someone else. He is prepared to kill Orville but the princess takes him to the wise man Hyder Kahn. Hyder Khan said he had read the stars and found that Princess Shalmar's first husband is destined to die a violent death within a week of the marriage, and the second husband would be blessed with long life and happiness. The princess tells Kasim that Orville is the first husband, and when he dies, she'll happily marry Kasim and they will live in happiness. Kasim finally understands and embraces the princess. Orville finds out about the prophecy and runs to Jeff and convinces him that the princess actually loves him and he's going to run off with Mihirmah. Later that night, Orville is visited and shamed by Aunt Lucy's spirit, but Orville refuses to tell Jeff the truth. Meanwhile, the wise man realizes that he had been misreading the stars due to fireflies in his telescope; his prophecies are incorrect. Princess Shalmar refuses to marry Jeff, even though Orville is eager to get out of the marriage. The princess sends Orville away to get ready for the wedding. The wise man runs in and tells the princess and Jeff of the incorrect prophecy. The princess is happy and tells Jeff now she can marry him and not Kasim. Jeff realizes why Orville was so eager to get out of the marriage, but decides not to tell him. Instead he says the princess changed her mind, and Orville is only too eager to accept. Meanwhile the wise man's assistant tells Kasim, who rallies his men. The Princess and Jeff decide to get married in the U. S., accompanied by Orville and Mihirmah but they are confronted by Kasim, who takes the princess and gives Mihirmah to one of his men. Jeff and Orville try to use their 'patty-cake' routine on Kasim, but it backfires. They escape into the palace with the girls but are found and captured. Kasim takes the women and strands Jeff and Orville in the desert. They wander aimlessly, seeing a diner, but it's a mirage. They see a vision of a singing Princess Shalmar, which spurs them onward. They find an oasis which is near Kasim's camp. They try to sneak in, but are captured. They see another set of horsemen and learn its an enemy sheik who was invited as a token of peace. They manage to escape and set the two sheiks against each other. In the chaos Jeff and Orville grab the girls and escape. Later, on a boat home, Orville sneaks into the powder room for a cigarette. There is an explosion and then we see all four afloat a pile of wreckage. Fortunately, they are near New York harbor.

Stranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures, featuring two attractive con women. Chuck and his pal Fearless flee an African carnival after their sideshow causes a fire. Following several similar escapades, they've finally saved enough to return to the USA, when Chuck spends it all on a lost diamond mine. But that's only the beginning; before long, a pair of attractive con women have tricked them into financing a comic safari, featuring numerous burlesque jungle adventures. —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>