Sometimes a musical score from a movie becomes bigger than the movie. The Christmas song, “Silver Bells” was written by two college buds that made a career out of songwriting — Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The film starred Bob Hope as “The Lemon Drop Kid.” It’s a movie that should be more popular. But I guess Bob Hope is from another era.
There is quite a bit of on-screen and off-screen humor. William Frawley (Fred Mertz of “I Love Lucy”) is Santa Claus ringing the bell on the sidewalk to get charitable donations in the pot. He sings “silver bells, silver bells, let’s put some dough in the kitty, chuck it in, chuck it in, or Santie will give you a mickey….” Then Bob Hope shows up, in another Santa Claus costume …
Miss Andrea King who was secretly wearing a big old cowboy boot under her “Edith Head” Gown gave the “boot” kick to Bob Hope. The writers and Bob had a tif about the script and this was their little joke to get back at him. They thought he would get a “kick” out of it. But it wasn’t so funny because after the boot in the butt, Bob didn’t get up and he had to be carried off stage and taken to the doctor. The filming stopped for two days as Bob Hope stayed home recuperating from a bruised tailbone. (And those things take forever to get better!)
The film was made in 1951, in black and white, written by Damon Runyon. It’s a Bob Hope comedy, with some great actors. It’s a freebie on Amazon streaming with prime membership.
Starring:
Bob Hope, Andrea King, Fred Clark, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell and William (“Fred Mertz”) Frawley.
