Paris Holiday

Infobox Film
name = Paris Holiday


image_size = 160px
caption = dvd cover
director = Gerd Oswald
producer = Bob Hope
C.R. Foster-Kemp "(associate)"
writer = Bob Hope "(story)"
Edmund Beloin
Dean Riesner
narrator =
starring = Bob Hope
Fernandel
Anita Ekberg
Martha Hyer
music = Joseph J. Lilley "(score)"
Jimmy Van Heusen "(song-music)"
Sammy Cahn
"(song-lyrics)"
cinematography = Roger Hubert
editing = Ellsworth Hoagland
distributor = United Artists
released = 28 March fy|1958 "(L.A.)"
runtime = 103 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0052047

"Paris Holiday" is a fy|1958 comedy film starring Bob Hope, which was directed by Gerd Oswald, and written by Edmund Beloin, who was Hope's attorney, and Dean Riesner from a story by Hope. The film also features French comedian Fernandel, Anita Ekberg and Martha Hyer, and a rare appearance by writer/director Preston Sturges. The film was shot in Paris and in the French village of Gambais.

Plot

Popular American comedian Bob Hunter (Bob Hope), star of stage, movies and television, boards a luxury liner to travel to France, only to find his French counterpart, Fernydel (Fernandel) is on the ship as well. Also on board are elegant blonde dipomat Ann McCall (Martha Hyer), who Bob would like to get to know better, and stunning Zara Brown (Anita Ekberg), the agent for a French criminal organization which suspects that Bob is carrying an incriminating manuscript. While Bob pursues Ann, with Fernydel's help, Zara repeatedly searches Bob's stateroom, causing problems when Ann sees her leaving after a search.

When he reaches Paris, Bob visits Serge Vitry (Preston Sturges), a writer whose script Bob has come to purchase, but is told that Vitry is no longer interested in comedy: he is writing a true-life drama which he is going to produce himself! Bob pleads for a look, and is told where he can get a translated copy. A series of suspicious accidents and mishaps then leads to Bob being arrested as a suspect in the murder of Serge, but he's rescued by the American ambassador (André Morell) and Inspector Dupont (Yves Brainville), who tell him that Serge used his manuscript to reveal the identities of counterfeitors who had inflitrated their way into high offices in the French government, which is why he was murdered. The two men ask Bob to serve as bait to flush out the criminals. Bob agrees, but only because Ann's life is also in danger. Helped by Ann, Feryndel, and villainess-turned-heroine Zara, Bob is chased all over Paris by the underworld, at one point winding up in a mental asylum for safekeeping. It all ends with a parade for Bob, Feryndel and Ann, who are heroes. [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=86256&category=Full%20Synopsis Full synopsis] ] Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:37297~T0 Plot synopsis] ] [Crawford, Rod [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052047/plotsummary Plot summary (IMDB)] ]

Cast

Cast notes:
*Bob Hope's character is named "Robert Leslie Hunter", although he is always referred to as "Bob Hunter" in the film. Hope's real name is "Robert Leslie Towne."TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=86256&category=Notes Notes] ]
*The appearance by writer/director Preston Sturges was only his fourth on-screen appearance in a feature film. Sturges did a walk-on in his fy|1940 film "Christmas in July" ("Man at shoeshine stand"), played the small part of a film director in his "Sullivan's Travels" (fy|1941), and appeared as himself in Paramount's fy|1942 all-star extravaganza "Star Spangled Rhythm". Sturges' appearance in "Paris Holiday" would be his last. [imdb name|0002545|Preston Sturges]
*Bob Hope and Preston Sturges had worked together almost 20 years earlier, when Sturges was one of the writers on "Never Say Die" (fy|1939), one of Hope's first hits.

ongs

*"Paris Holiday" - by Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics), sung behind the credits by a chorus
*"Nothing in Common" - by Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics), sung by Bob Hope and Martha Hyer, but cut from the film [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052047/soundtrack Soundtracks] ]

Other songs that appear: [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=86256&category=Music Music] ]
*"April in Paris" - by Vernon Duke (music) and E. Y. Harburg (lyrics)
*"The Last Time I Saw Paris" - by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein, II (lyrics)

Production

"Paris Holiday" had the working title of "Trouble in Paris".

Although Hope initiated production of the film, and came up with the story idea, the intent for the film to be a showcase for both himself and Fernandel is indicated by the opening credits, where Hope's name and Fernandel take turns being listed first.

The film was in production in France from early April to late June fy|1957TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=86256&category=Overview Overview] ] Location shooting took place in Paris, and in the village of Gambais.. It premiered in Los Angeles on 28 March fy|1958, and went into general release shortly after. It was marketed with the tagline: "The Comedy Team Of The Century" [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052047/taglines Taglines] ]

Hope described the diffculties involved in producing "Paris Holiday" in his book "I Owe Russia $1200".

Notes

External links

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