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.

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!

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 was a movie Bob did while he was still hungry, using his reliable wise-cracking coward character as Pipo Popolino, a tailor's assistant in 18th century Venice. Enamored of a baker played by Joan Fontaine, Pipo masquerades as the legendary Casanova to steal a kiss, when it turns out that Casanova is being pursued by creditors and has skipped Venice completely to escape them. To appease the creditors, everybody Casanova owes money to, Fontaine included, force Pipo to continue his masquerade as the storied rake to get enough money to pay the creditors through marriage. What follows is a crazy quilt of dumb luck and one liners as Pipo actually manages to win a few sword fights and woo a duchess in the bargain.This is primo, late-period Bob Hope, with an uncredited Vincent Price playing Casanova, Basil Rathbone playing his relunctant valet, Arnold Moss doing his usual Mephistophelian thing as the Doge of Venice amd Audrey Dalton looking just like Linda Darnell in her part as the new object of Pipo-Casanova's affections.The reception scenes where Pipo challenges a rival for the duchess' affections are sidesplitting, especially when he and Fontaine both have to cross-dress to get in there to begin with. The usual anachronistic Hope oneliners are spewed like apple pits all through the movie and Hope once again proves why Paramount held onto him for something like 25 years! Also why Universal paid Paramount to market some of his movies with a double studio imprint...The man was a legend!! "Farfle, farfle...pipick!"

Have loved this movie for decades. Bob Hope's zany cowardice turns to sheer bravery and although an apparent simpleton, by the end of the movie you will be cheering him...laughing but cheering. The sword fight scene alone is worth the watch. The movie is very family friendly although I would say the adult humor is a bit too sophisticated for children under twelve and should fly gently over their heads. Great family comedy.

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!

This was my kids favorite movie when they were growing up so when i found this on amazon i had to get them each a copy. They were so happy when they got got the dvd. Each time i gave one of them the dvd they starting singing the same song ( I ticka ticka ticka love you). Anyone who has seen this Bob Hope classic will know the song! It is lot of fun to watch.

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.

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.

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.

Herrliche Komödie mit Bob Hope! ( Eine seiner Besten!) Leider habe ich bis heute keine Deutsche Fassung finden können!?

An interesting film with the great Bob Hope, wooden in places, but on the whole quite enjoyable

Bob and Joan are a great comedy team