That was an excellent one.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fantastic!

Absolutely the worst movie.

Abysmal Bob Hope-Katharine Hepburn film of 1956 that fails to achieve its takeoff on "Ninotchka."Why does it fail so badly? It essentially becomes a Bob Hope vehicle with many of his corny one-liners. He even brings in the Democrats to lighten things up.This is a story of a Soviet military lady who flies to the west when she is passed over for a promotion. What follows is sheer lunacy where our government brings military man Hope into the picture to soothe the lady.The scene of trying to get Hepburn back to the Soviet Union by utter duplicity becomes tiresome at best.The ending tries to depict a change for moderation at the Soviet government. No wonder writer Ben Hecht was disillusioned by this farce and wanted his name removed from the credits. A colossal bomb.

Hard to believe this was written by Ben Hecht but he gets sole screenplay credit on screen though IMDb throws in a nod to Harry Saltzman, not previously known to me as a writer but had he written the whole thing it would be quite believably. Neither is Hecht celebrated as a gag-writer and it's crystal clear that Hope used his clout to insert typical Hope-type one-liners from his stable of writers. The film was shot in 1956 and perhaps significantly Silk Stockings (Cole Porter's last Broadway musical), a musical version of 'Ninotchka', opened on Broadway in 1955. Whilst it's true the main plot has been jettisoned there are still links notably a strong Russian female venturing into the West and being 'Westernised' via an item of clothing, in Garbo's case a hat, in Hepburn's a negligee. Apart from the two leads the film is fleshed out with a B-team of British journeymen, Sid James, Richard Wattis, etc with the seriously wooden Canadian Paul Carpenter in a hefty supporting role. More value as a novelty entry than anything else.

What was Hepburn thinking? This is a really poor film that goes nowhere and feels like it takes a long time doing it. Bob Hope relies, as ever, on the knowing side-glances but hasn't anything funny to say to justify them, whilst Hepburn spends the whole film doing a dreadful Russian accent to no purpose other than to annoy. It's a clumsy, stereotyped and frankly disturbing film that says much about the paranoia of the times. For the film's publicity to rave about the chemistry between Hepburn and Hope is laughable....their only chemistry is of the kind that brews sleeping potions.Is there anything to salvage 87 minutes that feels like 200? Absolutely, the great Richard Wattis makes an appearance just as you are reaching for the remote. It's only a brief moment as he tries to sell sexy under-ware to Hepburn, but it's an oasis worth waiting for.Bottom line....dreadful nonsense that never raises a smile

This is the great mystery movie for fans of Hope and Hepburn. First of all it is the sole time they ever appeared in any movie together. Secondly it is dated - it has to be seen recalling what the heart of the Cold War was like in 1956, the year of the Hungarian Up-rising and the Suez Crisis. Apparently it is more available for viewing in Great Britain (it was a British film). I have never seen it listed on any American television station. Isn't it about time they would show it - just to settle our curiosity about this particular pairing? My suspicion it would not be great movie viewing, but it would be interesting anyway. At least we could compare it to it's "cold war" film comedy predecessors (NINOTCHKA, COMRADE X, and SILK STOCKINGS).Addendum: February 20, 2008 - Finally I see the film.Some films have to be seen to see why they were never repeated. Bob Hope did enjoy working with certain actresses many times, most notably Dorothy Lamour and Lucille Ball. But he made this one film (in 1956) that was with Kate Hepburn, and it is certainly not the best film either of them ever played in. Both were highly capable performers/stars. Both were good in comedy. But there is no chemistry between them, and they are in roles they don't fit.Hope is a hotshot heroic U.S. pilot, hoping to marry an English aristocrat (Noelle Madison) for financial reasons. He is pushed into an assignment by his commanding officer (and supposed friend) Alan Gifford to put his romance on hold while romancing Russian pilot - heroine Kate Hepburn. Now Hepburn is not defecting. She took her MIG fighter (this film may be the first that mentioned the term "MIG" for a Russian plane) to England out of anger at being by-passed for a promotion for an inferior rival who is a man. She is not anti-Communist, and Gifford's hopes that Hope will make her into a propaganda victory for the West.The Russians are led by James Robertson Justice (supposedly the head of a trade commission - it was a running joke that trade commissions on both sides were loaded with KGB and CIA agents). He is determined to bring Hepburn back to face trial as a traitor to Russia. He uses the services of her helpless ex-boyfriend Robert Helpmann. But Helpmann is really a weak reed to lean on. Justice tries alternative ideas, including kidnapping Hepburn when she is with Hope, Gifford, a jealous Madison, a Senator from Alabama (Alexander Gauge), Madison's cousin (Nicholas Phipps), and an air force major (Paul Carpenter). This too fails, despite the large number of agents that Justice brings with him (they include "Carry On" Sid James, Tutte Lemkow (from A SHOT IN THE DARK, THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW, and THE WRONG BOX), and David Kosloff - Carl in INDISCREET). Also on hand, in one sequence, is Richard Wattis as a woman's clothing store manager.It just doesn't work. The sequence in the nightclub is the best highlight in the film, due to the accidental failure of each plot that Justice tries to spirit Hepburn away, but it's not one of the great moments of comedy (Madison is the best in the sequence, though Gauge's really dense senator has some fun talking with Nicholas Phipps about why the British drive on the left side of the road).Really the lack of chemistry between the stars does the film in. ugh Hepburn tries to develop some but Hope can't relate to her. I think it's because she is too cerebral an actress. He was at home with someone like Lamour or Hedy Lamarr or Joan Fontaine, who was regular not sparkling. I don't think he ever realized what a misfire the casting opposite Kate was until it was too late.The irony is I can't see this story working well with many actors. It has been suggested that Tony Curtis (who did a film at this time, THE PERFECT FURLOUGH, set in Paris - as a military man), and maybe Nathalie Wood might have worked well. But it's hard to say. It does not look well compared with other similar plots. Hepburn's purchase of western feminine dinner clothes reminds one of a similar trick in NINOTCHKA where Garbo bought that symbolic Paris hat. Similarly, Hepburn's attempts to teach Hope how to accept Communism does resemble how Garbo tries to indoctrinate Melvin Douglas. But Douglas actually does show an interest in communist theory (to the fright of his butler). Hope really could not care less (although when he gets drugged he starts mumbling about Bakunin and the "Iron Law of Wages"). The Gable - Hedy Lamarr film COMRADE X also was clever, particularly in the spoof of the Stalin - Trotsky rivalry between Oscar Homolka and Vladimir Sobeloff. Let's face it, those two films were far better than this. SILK STOCKINGS is a musical version of NINOTCHKA, but it's Cole Porter's music, with Astaire and Cyd Charisse's dancing, and there are some good swipes at Hollywood and American's lackadaisical view of other country's cultures. It too is far more worthy of watching than this film.Now that I have seen it, I will give the film only a "4" for the scene in the nightclub. But please, don't bother with this film if you really like Hope's best work, or like Hepburn's better comic parts as in DESK SET or ADAM'S RIB (with a more chemically correct film partner in both: oh Spencer, where were you?).