Casanova's Big Night

Bob Hopes typical humor. He transcends the 4th plane by talking to the audience as an actor in the middle of the production. It is very funny when done right. Both Bob and Bing are funny at this type of humor. But Bob is the master. This is close to being his best film. Venice is the setting, and Casanova's lovers prowess is being put to the test to dishonor a betrothed damsel for a price. But Casanova has fled the coop as debtors hover and those debtors want their money. The bumbling tailors apprentice must play the part of Casanova and retrieve the goods to satisfy the debtors bills! "FARFIL FARFIL PIPPIC!" A quote that I can never forget.

OK, I just finished watching this for the first time, and I laughed so hard I probably hurt something inside me. Sidesplitting comedy, literally! This movie has everything, excellent cast, cute story, good directing, pleasing to the eye, best of all, a comedy, a really good comedy that has no slow or stupid parts, sheer fun and hilarious from beginning to end! 5 stars without a doubt. The best part is when Basil Rathbone is "demonstrating" with Joan Fontaine. Too hilarious! Well, Farfel, farfel, pipick!

We enjoy the classics, and this is one of them.

If that doesn't whet your appetite...nothing will. Hope is funny. Rathbone is funny AND villianous. Price is the great Casanova himself (yes, kiddies there was a time when Vincent Price was thought of as a handsome leading man in Hollywood circles)in what amounts to a cameo. Fontaine is the perfect foil for Hope's antics. Family fun all the way and in color for the kiddies. This print is very good. All in all I have to give it four stars just for the Grand Ball scene.

What I love about Bob Hope films (Any Road films as well) is that you have to pay attention to the dialogue. Yes, there is slapstick, but a LOT of the humor is clever repartee or plays on words/ideas/politics. Like Laurel and Hardy,Chaplin, the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello, there is more going on than meets the eye. Watch and LISTEN. Hope's asides are precious. Rathbone in an uncharacteristic secondary role chews it up. Joan Fontaine - out of the Rebecca and Suspicion genres - was very good holding her own with Hope. Who doesnt love the cowardly, hopeless schlumpf who can rise to the occasion and do the noble thing? AND do it with comedy!

One of Bob Hope's best movies if not the best!

If you do not like ridiculous one-liners and manic slapstick, this is not the movie for you. I'm not the first to mention this, but the elongated ending scene which starts with Pipo (Hope) dressed as a redoubtable German Frau (which so reminds me of my Grandma!) dancing with the Doge, leaves me crippled with laughter. "Farfal Farfal Pipick", indeed, "You stupid cow!" And I love listening to Basil Rathbone delivering his lines with impeccable diction and intonation worthy of Shakespeare, while being the straight man to Bob Hope's loveable and hapless tailor's apprentice. This is a family favorite. I wore out the VHS and had to buy the DVD. Happy Reader

This movie is towards the end of Bob Hope's "golden age" but it's still an entertaining movie. He plays Pippo who is the assistant to Casanova's tailor. Hope assumes the role of Casanova which leads to many complications that Pippo is not able to handle. Vincent price makes an unbilled appearance as Casanova. Basil Rathbone is great as the real Casanova's valet &, therefore, valet to Pippo's Casanova. It's a unusual comedic role for him that he is suited for; Rathbone's most famous roles being Sherlock Holmes & the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Adventures of Robin Hood. DVD quality is excellent but there aren't any bonus features. Enjoy this one. By the very late 50's & early 60's Hope would change directions somewhat in his roles which led to a drop off in quality for his movies.

Not all bob hope movies were good but this one is. He has a style that is very much is own. It was well worth getting.

Bob Hope always seemed to be at his funniest in costume films, be it "The Princess and the Pirate", "Paleface", even the slightly more serious, though no less amusing, "Seven Little Foys". Perhaps because he looks so ridicuously out of place, trying to be someone he obviously isn't. In "Big Night" he's impersonating Casanova, here played by an uncredited Vincent Price: actually Price is billed, if you check the titles carefully. Bob lays his life, and jokes on the line, all in the name of Love, in a beautifully staged Venice, Hollywood style. It nice to see Joan Fontaine letting herself go, instead of her usually tortured heroine persona. Audrey Dalton looks delightful, and Basil Rathbone almost steals the show as Casanova's/ Bob's servant. It's all very colourful and fast-moving, with sharp one-liners. Bob talks to the audience at the end with a "popcorn" survey. This Korean import is a nice transfer, complete with Paramount logo.

Mit "Casanova's Big Night" (1954) unternahm Bob Hope nach "The Princess and the Pirate" (1944) und "Monsieur Beaucaire" (1946) erneut einen komödiantischen Ausflug ins Kostümfilm-Genre - und abermals mit großem Erfolg. Als falscher Casanova (eigentlich ein Schneidergehilfe mit dem schönen Namen Pippo Popolino, der im Zuge einer haarsträubenden Intrige den Großen Liebenden verkörpern muss) ist Hope sowohl urkomisch als auch liebenswürdig. Zudem sieht man ihm von seinen zur Drehzeit bereits fünfzig Lebensjahren höchstens fünfunddreißig an - seine Leading Lady, die vierzehn Jahre jüngere Joan Fontaine, wirkt neben dem agilen Helden geradezu ältlich. Der Film ist opulent produziert und bietet, wie sich das für eine ordentliche Parodie gehört, sämtliche Zutaten, die zu einem ordentlichen Mantel-und Degen-Abenteuer gehören: höfische Intrigen, rauschende Feste, romantische Gondelfahrten auf den Kanälen von Venedig, Duelle auf Leben und Tod ... Nur bringt Bob Hope seine ganz eigene, schräge Note ins Geschehen, was durch den Umstand, dass die meisten der anderen Darsteller ihre Partien ganz geradlinig und scheinbar ernsthaft anlegen, noch unterstrichen wird. Unter diesen Nebendarstellern finden sich etliche prominente Namen wie Basil Rathbone, Hugh Marlowe und John Carradine, die dafür sorgen, dass die Geschichte keine One-Man-Show wird. Alle zusammen machen, unter der souveränen Regie von Norman Z. McLeod, Casanovas große Nacht zu einer äußerst kurzweiligen Angelegenheit. Die Bildqualität dieser spanischen DVD ist insgesamt gut; die Schärfe könnte noch eine Spur besser sein, aber die Farben leuchten in schönstem Technicolor. Der (Original-) Ton ist ausgezeichnet; deutschen Ton gibt es nicht, auch keine deutschen Untertitel.

Bob and Joan are a great comedy team

Disappointing and not as funny as remembered. A bit laboured and too long. Good production values. Joan Fontaine wasted. Slack direction.