The race of two ocean liners from America to Europe is the sole plot line for this unfunny combination of lavish production numbers and extremely dated comedy. For a film filled with so much talent, it is lacking in continued interest. W.C. Fields basically repeats many of his old characterizations in a dual role, while Bob Hope seems to be missing a real character to explore, just a man with three ex-wives in search of his next gag. All you get about him is that he owes alimony to each of these wives and still has feelings for one of them (Shirley Ross). Dorothy Lamour is wasted in a boring romance with Leif Erickson, while Martha Raye is the only remotely funny cast member among so many comics. She is especially funny in a musical number where she's twisted round and round with various acrobatics by the crew members of her father's (one of Fields's roles) ship. It is funny enough to have the man with the big nose be the pop of the woman with the big mouth.
In one of his dual roles, Fields gets to peddle a bike that somehow flies and even steers the ship with his legs, making it go between two icebergs in a scene filmed only 25 years after the Titanic disaster. This is of course best known for the Oscar Winning "Thanks For the Memory", a moving duet between Hope and Ross that is actually a serious and rather bittersweet look back at their marriage.
The radio sequences range from historical (Tito Guizar) to extremely stupid (Patricia Wilder as an untalented Southern girl who doesn't come anywhere close to the screen's regular hick comic, Judy Canova) to an outlandishly lavish production number ("The Waltz Lives On") that is very well choreographed but rather pretentious. Rufe Davis's attempt for deadpan comedy is only nose-crinkling, while Lionel Pape as Raye's older love interest doesn't really seem interested in women. As for Fields, there seems to be no reason to play two characters as they are totally indistinguishable. Hope would shine better in a few films with Paulette Goddard before going his way on the road with some crooner named Bing.
In one of his dual roles, Fields gets to peddle a bike that somehow flies and even steers the ship with his legs, making it go between two icebergs in a scene filmed only 25 years after the Titanic disaster. This is of course best known for the Oscar Winning "Thanks For the Memory", a moving duet between Hope and Ross that is actually a serious and rather bittersweet look back at their marriage.
The radio sequences range from historical (Tito Guizar) to extremely stupid (Patricia Wilder as an untalented Southern girl who doesn't come anywhere close to the screen's regular hick comic, Judy Canova) to an outlandishly lavish production number ("The Waltz Lives On") that is very well choreographed but rather pretentious. Rufe Davis's attempt for deadpan comedy is only nose-crinkling, while Lionel Pape as Raye's older love interest doesn't really seem interested in women. As for Fields, there seems to be no reason to play two characters as they are totally indistinguishable. Hope would shine better in a few films with Paulette Goddard before going his way on the road with some crooner named Bing.