The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover How to...

Buy This Item The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover How to... by Bci / Eclipse  Available from Amazon  $21.99  on 11-28-2008     Includes:The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)Road To Rio (1947)The Great Lover (1949)Son Of Paleface (1952)Road To Bali (1952)The Seven Little Foys (1955)Paris Holiday (1958)Private Navy Of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)How To Commit To Marriage (1969)My Favorite Burnette (1947)Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 787364749898 Reader Reviews How do you get ten movies into a box made to hold two? That's what Brentwood probably asked when they made this collection. You could put five double sided discs in five thin plastic jackets and slide them into a slipcase. You could even drop in a printed sheet with brief info on the films. That was done with a Jerry Lewis set to good effect. What Brentwood did instead was put five double sided discs in a case so that one snaps into the front cover. Next, there's a hinged piece that (barely) holds two discs, with two more discs snapped onto the back cover. As with the 'fifties craze to see how many college kids could fit into a phone booth, at some point it's too many. Also give up on the printed info sheet. The only info about the films is on the back of the box. The spine, if you can believe this, has ten tiny thumbnail color pics of the real covers for each movie, each less than an inch tall. No wonder there's no name of the company on the box; I wouldn't want to put mine on this set either. On my set, the discs are so close that the middle ones actually hit the back ones when you open the case. The odds seem low that they all play all right. The sad thing is that movie wise, it really is an ultimate collection. Why can't it have equivalent packaging? There's a prevailing myth that unless you are Criterion or TCM aiming films at conoisseurs and collectors, the audience for "classics" will only pay bargain basement prices. I think the popularity of classic TV shows on DVD has aptly demonstrated that's not the case. I'd pay five bucks more for better packaging, but I'm not sure I'd have bought this set at the present price now that I've seen it. No cavil with the ten films. My Favorite Brunette is one of the best written Hope films, and available in many inexpensive editions. Paris Holiday is rather in the same vein, and is a little- seen gem. Road to Bali is a great 'Road' film, but again, readily available. Slightly less available is Road to Rio, another strong film in the series. The Seven Little Foys is an excellent Hope film. The Lemon Drop Kid, written by Damon Runyan (on whose stories Guys and Dolls was based) is a Leonard Maltin favorite. The Great Lover is another antic Hope comedy. Son of Paleface Maltin terms better than the original it's a sequel to. Private Navy of Sgt. O' Farrell Maltin calls a BOMB, his lowest rating. How to Commit Marriage is mostly interesting as a Jackie Gleason vehicle. Most of these films are available elsewhere with better (safer) packaging. If you do get this set in good condition, my advice is to put the discs into separate sleeves for protection, and make your own ultimate collection.

The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover How to... Available from Amazon Price: $21.99 Updated on 11-28-2008.

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