vincentlynch-moonoi The good news is that this is the type of role that Bob Hope usually excelled in playing. It's not exactly his "coward" role, with which he could run away with a picture. But it's close -- in this case a British actor portraying a British servant, playing a British earl...this time a somewhat cowardly braggart. There's nothing wrong with Hope's performance here.And then there's Lucy, playing an American Western woman looking for a husband. As with Hope, it's a good performance.And, Bob and Lucy always were good together...and were here.So what's the problem? Well, many stories need a set up to get going. But the set up for this story lasts about 40 minutes, and that set up is only moderately entertaining. Once the Westerners mistake Hope's character for an earl, things pick up and the film gets relatively entertaining.It's also a rather lush production with high production values.The supporting cast here does okay...with the emphasis on "okay". Bruce Cabot wants to be Lucy's love interest, but of course Hope is in the way; Cabot was, in my view, a marginal supporting actor, although he often looked right for his parts. Jack Kirkwood plays Lucy's father; again, he does "okay". Lea Penman does fairly well as Lucy's overbearing mother. Clearly the studio wanted to save money here -- the supporting actors are largely unknown to the American audience.What I find interesting here is the wide division between reviews here. People either love this film or hate it. I'm more in the middle.BTW, this is somewhat of a musical. The songs sorta work, but it's pretty clear that Lucy is lip-syncing (to Annette Warren singing).Chase scenes can be funny...but 3 chase scenes in a row is a bit much.I'll give this film a weak "7"

kenjha A rich American woman hires a British butler and brings him to New Mexico unaware that he's an American actor. A disappointing remake of "Ruggles of Red Gap," given the potentially potent teaming of Hope and Ball. The first segment of the film that takes place in Britain is so lame that it doesn't even elicit a chuckle. Once the action moves to New Mexico, there are a few laughs but the comedy is still labored. The funniest bit has to do with dogs chasing Hope instead of the fox during a fox hunt. Hope and Ball seem to be trying but the script is a dud. Alexander, who imagined he was Teddy Roosevelt in "Arsenic and Old Lace," plays the president here.

bkoganbing Fancy Pants is a musical comedy remake of Ruggles of Red Gap in which Charles Laughton had one of his best roles in the 1935 version that was directed by Leo McCarey. To say that Bob Hope's interpretation of the English butler who went west is different from Laughton's is the difference from porterhouse steak to hog's livers to use one of old Ski nose's favorite expressions.Not that Fancy Pants is bad, in fact it's very funny and definitely the best of the four films that Bob Hope made with Lucille Ball. Ruggles of Red Gap was funny, but it was also whimsical and dramatic in spots and it was about a shy and proper English butler who adjusts to the new environment in America he finds himself and in the process makes some real friends.To begin with Hope isn't a butler, he's an actor and a clod of an actor who has the knack for spilling all kinds of liquid on fellow player Norma Varden. The whole company is hired by a guy who was posing as titled nobility to woo wealthy American Lucille Ball.Unlike a lot of Hope's leading ladies, Lucy gets her innings, especially playing this Calamity Jane type. She and mother Lea Penman are touring the continent and Penman decides Hope is just the guy to put a little refinement into their home and incidentally make them the envy of their small New Mexico town.One thing leads to another and Hope winds up having to pose as nobility himself when the townspeople are misinformed and President Theodore Roosevelt comes to town for a visit. That doesn't sit well with Bruce Cabot who has designs on Lucy.John Alexander who was 'Theodore Roosevelt' in Arsenic and Old Lace gets a chance to play him for real in Fancy Pants. His scenes with 'Earl' Hope are classic. I also liked Eric Blore who played the unintelligible 'Earl' in Hope's repertoire company.Though director George Marshall and stars Hope and Ball go for belly laughs rather than some wry chuckles, Fancy Pants holds up very well after almost 60 years. But if you are looking for Hope to try and out do Mr. Laughton, than don't bother with it.

Spuzzlightyear Fairly tame Bob Hope and Lucille Ball vehicle here which starts out strongly then sort of arfs to a conclusion. Bob Hope is an actor who makes a living doing gawdawful English plays. When a young English man is trying to woo a American girl (played by Lucille Ball) he tricks her and her mother to come to his house for tea and meet his family, but it's not really his family you see, he has hired the actors of the English play to be his relatives! (Watch for the old guy playing the Father, he gives one hilarious unintelligible Cockney rant). The girl and Mother aren't impressed by the suitor, but they ARE impressed by Hope's Butlering, so he joins them in their homestead in America. But Ball's problems aren't over! There's another suitor, so Ball makes Hope a Duke from England who is another suitor.. Soon, all heck breaks out with fights, horse races, and uh, Teddy Roosevelt mixed up in there. While this movie DOES have a lot of heart, and is sure fun to watch Hope and Ball in action, the film sort of loses it in the final act, which is a shame, because I found myself laughing quite a bit during this movie (Hope's "3 against a 1000" story is classic), it's stupid ending doesn't really help much either, what was that all about?