Silver Screenings

Have you ever had an accidental stroke of genius?

This normally doesn’t happen to us (yours truly), because “genius” is not our defining quality, although we’ve had moments of extraordinary good fortune.

This is why we admire Bob Hope, one of the legendary comedians of the 20th century. He perfected the art of Accidental Genius in his movies.

This phenomenon isn’t unique to Hope; there are plenty o’ films where protagonists stumble on accidental brilliance and Save The Day. However, with Hope, it’s something we expect in his movies, and, when it happens, we’re still surprised and delighted.

Now, about Hope himself, he was a comedian with remarkable stamina:

• He lived to be 100 years old, and his career lasted for almost 80 of those years.
• His Pepsodent radio show ran for 10 years (1938-1948).
• He performed in 57 USO (United Service Organization) tours, from 1941-1990.
• He hosted the Academy Awards 19 times.
• He appeared in more than 60 feature films and over 280 television specials.

His comedy style, on stage, was to fire one-liners into the audience, waiting just long enough for the laugh, before launching the next one. “I have seen what a laugh can do,” he famously said. “It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.”

His movie persona is a less self-assured character. In his films, he portrays a below-average Joe who succeeds in spite of himself.

You can see this at work in the 1959 comedy-western, Alias Jesse James.

Hope stars as an 1880s’ door-to-door insurance salesman, who is outperformed by everyone else in the company. With his job On The Line, he drops by a drinking establishment, hoping to sell at least one life insurance policy.

Here, he meets the notorious outlaw/train robber Jesse James (Wendell Corey), but doesn’t know it, and sells him a $100,000 policy.

It’s an impressive sale, and Hope’s boss can’t believe this lacklustre salesman pulled it off – until he realizes the customer is the infamous Jesse James. Hope is ordered to (A) find James and (B) return the money, which was surely gained by train robberies.

It’s almost too easy for Hope to find the outlaw. It’s by design, of course. You see, James ain’t cancelling the policy; he’s cashing it in.

His plan is diabolical: He’ll use the unwitting Hope as his double, then he’ll kill the salesman, and, once satisfied the authorities think Jesse James is dead, he’ll enjoy a wealthy life away from The Law.

Alias Jesse James has some leaps of logic which are easy enough to overlook if you’ve bought into the premise of the movie.

There are some funny sight gags, including a scene where Hope is stuck in the floor of a wagon while horses run Pell Mell across the countryside.

He also spikes a fruit punch with hallucinogenic mushrooms(!), which make the outlaws move very slowly. (Take Note: When pursued by such criminals, you can always spike the punch bowl, because train robbers love fruit punch.)

The movie also includes actors in brownface playing First Nations people, in the obligatory Hollywood Indian wardrobe and dialect. However, these characters are smarter and more capable than Hope. For example, there’s a scene where he meets two indigenous men on a train, only to discover they are also insurance salesmen, and far more successful than he.

Even so, despite his shortcomings, Hope’s character is loyal and dogged – he continues to make insurance sales pitches throughout the film – and he surprises all of us with unexpected bouts of genius when he needs them most.

It endears Bob Hope to us, because his character never parodies the average person. He makes all of us feel we’re smarter and, perhaps, more capable of brilliance than we realize.

This is a contribution to the 2ND ANNUAL BING AND BOB Blogathon, hosted by Kristen of Hoofers and Honeys.

Alias Jesse James starring Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey. Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Written by Robert St. Aubrey, Bert Lawrence & William Bowers. United Artists, 1959, Technicolor, 92 mins.