The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection The Great Lover How to Commit Marriage The Lemon Drop Kid My Favorite Brunette Paris Holiday The Private Navy of Sgt OFarrell Road to Bali Road to Rio The Seven Little Foys Son of Paleface DVD with Bob Hope (NR) +Movie Reviews

Wonderful Set

W. Mason | Shreveport, LA USA | 03/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite the packaging - (disks pilled on top of each other so to get at the bottom disk you have to first remove the ones on top.) Very inconvientient to manage. Because of the packiaging I had to rate the set as a 4, but if I was just rating the transfers themselves I would have given it a 5. This is the best transfer of the movies included that I have ever seen. My Favorite Brunette and Road to Bali were especially good - video sharp and clear - sound acceptible for movies of this age. The color on Bali was especially good - others I've seen had very poor, washed out colors. I have been completely happy with this set and would not hesitate to recommend it."

Great Set---Bad Packaging

Linda Spratling | Perth, WA Australia | 01/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a fan of Bob Hope-then this is a great buy. Some Classics here including The Lemon Drop Kid, Seven Little Foys, 2 Road Movies ( Rio & Bali ) plus some of Hope's later-and lesser efforts, i.e. How to Commit Marriage etc.

Though not a fan of these later movies they're still interesting to watch, but it's the earlier stuff that makes this set well worth owning-and the price cannot be beaten.

The only drawback is that because of the budget price-tag the set is presented with five double-sided discs virtually stacked on top of each other making them easily damaged if not careful.

However, having said that, I'm very happy with this package at such a bargain price. Highly recommended."

Good quality Hope - finally!

MusicFilm Fan | Wash., DC | 12/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This review is based on the one movie from the Bob Hope Collection that I've watched so far -- The Lemon Drop Kid, the classic Damon Runyon Christmas story that introduced the standard "Silver Bells" as sung by Bob, Marilyn Maxwell, and even good old William Frawley (later Fred Mertz of I Love Lucy).

If The Lemon Drop Kid is anything to go by, this set is a real winner. That movie has been remastered for DVD in much, much higher quality than previous DVD versions. Assuming that the rest of the movies are of similar quality, you really can't beat the value here -- 10 films for a very low price.

Despite what the review below says, these are not the old Brentwood DVDs of Hope films. I fully agree with that reviewer that the Brentwood DVDs were very low quality, but I can say with complete certainty that the version of The Lemon Drop Kid in this new set is definitely not the old Brentwood version. The old Brentwood version of that movie was so unwatchable, with skips and bad picture quality, that I took it back to the store for a refund. This new set, by contrast, contains an almost pristine print of The Lemon Drop Kid.

So, the picture and sound quality, the most essential elements of any DVD, are very good here. What are the set's drawbacks? Well, the DVDs offer few extra features, are double-sided, and are stacked inconveniently in the case. But for this price, you can't expect deluxe treatment. At least they seem to have done the most essential thing right in remastering the films (assuming that The Lemon Drop Kid is representative of the overall quality).

If you haven't seen The Lemon Drop Kid, it's worth buying this set just to get it (since the whole set costs little more than many single DVDs). Bob plays the title character, a racetrack tout in Florida for the winter who gets in very hot water with a mobster by convincing the mobster's girlfriend not to place a large bet on what turns out to be a winning horse. After threats from the mobster, the Kid returns to frigid New York at Christmastime to find some kind of scheme that will allow him to compensate the mobster for his lost winnings. As in many Damon Runyon stories, these gamblers and small-time crooks have hearts of gold, so it's a pretty heartwarming affair by the end. Highly recommended."

No mistake about it...

Howie | Arkansas | 12/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"These *are* the old Brentwood DVDs in a new package. While this is not indicated anywhere on the packaging, it's obvious when viewing the films because the disks all open with the Brentwood logo before the obligatory FBI warning and appearance of the menu! I've also compared these to the Brentwood copies in my collection and they are identical right down to the menus and "special features" (Consisting solely of a Bob Hope biopic in text form). In no way would I consider *any* of these titles to be "remastered". Don't expect new transfers, just a good per-movie price depending on which of these you don't already own.

Picture quality is acceptable for the price of this set but as one reviewer has said, it's "muddy" on some films. On the B/W films you'll find generally poor contrast with fine distinction in black levels almost gone. The worst B/W print is "The Great Lover" which appears as if you are looking through gauze. The other B/W prints range from Fair to Good. The color prints are in better shape but still a bit inconsistent. Colors tend to be good to excellent. On all films don't be suprised to see streaks, scratches, bad edits from "repair work", missing bits ("The Great Lover" has a bad edit in the middle of one of the songs causing a portion to be missing) and other anomolies. However, nothing is bad enough to make the films unwatchable and they *are* generally much better quality than VHS copies I've seen. These are ALL Full-Screen even though several were originally filmed in Wide-Screen ratios. "Paris Holiday" teases you by starting in OAR and switches to FS about 5 minutes in!

Considering that "The Lemon Drop Kid" is currently OOP with the Brentwood copies going for upwards of $30(!) this set is a good value for that title alone. Add to that the 9 other films in the package and it's not too bad for some Hope "classics" and a few minor titles from his catalog.

The absolute worst part about this set is the packaging! What you get are "flippies" (which I dislike) in a double-sized case consisting of a overlapping DVD arrangement with a overlapping type "page" in the middle. If care is not taken while turning this "page" you'll catch the edge of one of the DVDs on the back causing it to bend upwards slightly and do a "snap" as the page edge clears the edge of the DVD. While this doesn't appear to damage the playing surface, as the "catch point" is very close to the disk edge, it is still disconcerting.

While it would be nice to see one of the studios truly remaster these films, for under $20 you won't go wrong with this set.

4 stars for the movies

2 stars for the quality/package

Update:

Since my original review this package has been re-released, also by Navarre Corporation (aka BCI/Brentwood), for less $$ under the name Legends of Hollywood - Bob Hope Series which includes all the films in this set. 4 of the films have been remastered and reports are they look better than ever. They are:

Road to Rio

Road To Bali

Son Of Paleface (with Roy Rogers and Trigger)

My Favorite Brunette

Even though I've not seen the revised version opened to determine if the packaging has been improved, the lower price coupled with 4 remastered films makes the revised release the one to purchase."

Don't Believe The Brass!

L. Wildes | 07/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All the names in movie reviews call "The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell " a BOMB, but nothing could be less true! This is a later Hope movie, full of the unexpected, giving us a lighter view of WWII in the South Pacific. This film combines the hilarity of Bob Hope with the comic genius of Phyllis Diller, giving us the answer to the big question: what do a bunch of army and navy men do on a tropical island with no women and no beer?! The answer? Try to get nurses flown in, and get Diller and a bunch of male nurses insted; then, go after a sunken supply ship full of beer yourself! In between, find your long lost love (Gina Lollobrigida).

At 24, I am the 2ed of 6 children, and this movie never fails to get a laugh and smile. So I say, watch it and decide for youself!

"

Search - The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover / How to Commit Marriage / The Lemon Drop Kid / My Favorite Brunette / Paris Holiday / The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell / Road to Bali / Road to Rio / The Seven Little Foys / Son of Paleface) on DVD

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