The Paleface (1948)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Edmund L. Hartmann (original screenplay) and
Frank Tashlin (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 December 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

She can shoot a gun almost as fast as BOB can run !

Plot:

Calamity Jane is despatched to find out who's smuggling rifles to the Indians, and winds up married to a hapless correspondence school dentist as part of her cover.

Plot Keywords:

Dentist | Calamity Jane | Wagon Train | Secret Agent | Undercover

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Bob Hope	...	'Painless' Peter Potter
Jane Russell	...	Calamity Jane
Robert Armstrong	...	Terris
Iris Adrian	...	Pepper
Bobby Watson	...	Toby Preston (as Robert Watson)
Jackie Searl	...	Jasper Martin (as Jack Searl)
Joseph Vitale	...	Indian Scout
Charles Trowbridge	...	Gov. Johnson
Clem Bevans	...	Hank Billings
Jeff York	...	Big Joe
Stanley Andrews	...	Commissioner Emerson
Wade Crosby	...	Jeb
Chief Yowlachie	...	Chief Yellow Feather
Iron Eyes Cody	...	Chief Iron Eyes
John Maxwell	...	Village gossip

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Canada:G (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Annette Warren, who sang for Ava Gardner in Show Boat (1951) and Lucille Ball in Fancy Pants (1950) was also the singing voice for Iris Adrian in The Paleface (1948).

Quotes:

Potter: That's Indian country out there!
Calamity Jane: You're not afraid of a few Indians, are you?
Potter: It's not the Indians I'm afraid of. It's their attitudes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Buttons and Bows

Bob Hope and Jane Russel in a great western comedy

This is quite a funny western, it is so much fun you don't want it to end. Frank Tashlin who later became a director of great comedies shared the credits for the screenplay. As a matter of fact he directed the excellent sequence of this film, "Son of Paleface". Bob Hope acts like a dumb guy, but sometimes he comes out with something that reminds you he is the famous Bob Hope who is not taking the film seriously and that works very well, making it even funnier. As for Jane Russel as Calamity Jane, the combination of being sexy and apparently a bad girl also works well. The best scene is the showdown when they give so much advice to Hope, that he gets mixed up. The song "Buttons and Bows later became a classic.