She certainly seems to be enjoying herself to be fair.
Mr Hope,taking a page from R.Hudson's superior "Man's Favourite sport", is an "expert" waiting to be found out.
He pretends what we Brits back in the day called "An old Africa hand" on the strength of a memoir written by his uncle,and is tasked to recover a NASA satellite that has gone off piste and landed in the African jungle.
The Russians are also looking for it,this time a foretaste of a R.Hudson film 20 - odd years later.
But the Russians are genuine experts.
So much for plot.
Like most of Mr Hope's films,"Call me Bwana" is merely a vehicle for his gagging routines.
That will either encourage you or turn you off.
It has a lot of 1963 mildly political jokes (remember "The First Family" record Album?) that may mistify anyone coming across it today.
Miss Eckberg doesn't have much trouble stealing the film,Mr Hope looks a little bit tired of it all.
The Africans pretty much outsmart everybody which was novel for its time.
I saw this at the "Odeon" Kemp Town before it became a more niche venue.
Nowhere near so bad is it's made out to be without challenging "Some like it hot" in the 60's comedy stakes.
17 Reviews
Miss E. went from "La Dolce vita" to this.Presumably she had a sense of humour.
ianlouisiana7 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Hope Was Way Behind the Times
bkoganbing17 December 2006
Someone forgot to tell old ski nose that non-authentic African locations just weren't going to cut it any more. Not after King Solomon's Mines and The African Queen right up to Howard Hawks's acclaimed Hatari. What was good for the Road to Zanizibar wasn't going to cut it any more with a Sixties audience.
Call Me Bwana other than establishing background shots got no closer to Africa than London where the film was made. The plot such as it is has Hope as a Robert Ruark type author who has used his uncle's African diary as material for some successful books. This in fact was the same plot device that was used in the very funny Man's Favorite Sport where Rock Hudson was a fishing expert.
But all Rock was asked to do was enter and win a fishing tournament. In Call Me Bwana, the Kennedy administration wants to have the CIA hire Bob Hope to lead an expedition to recover a lost satellite before the Russians get it. The Russians in turn are sending Gina Lollabrigida in a ridiculous blond wig to help their man in Africa, Lionel Jeffries.
I do realize this is a comedy, but are we to believe that the Central Intelligence Agency didn't do some background check on Hope and found his credentials weren't all that good? Lord, they were non-existent. Helping Hope in his quest is CIA agent Edie Adams who I'm sure was personally hired at the agency by Allen Dulles.
Hiring Edie, I'm sure was either an act of charity or it's possible that Lionel Jeffries's part was originally meant for her late husband Ernie Kovacs. If the latter was the case it's a good thing Ernie checked out when he did.
There's a whole sequence when in the jungle Hope finds a golf course with Arnold Palmer playing on it. It's about 10 minutes and what might have been funny in a surreal road picture lays a Vermont volleyball of an egg in Call Me Bwana. The golf allows Hope however to get his obligatory Crosby jokes in the script.
The real problem is that by 1963 the American public had increased its knowledge of Africa. Sub Sahara Africa was in the news then, the Congo was in civil war, apartheid was being challenged in the Union of South Africa, there were wars against the Portugese in Angola and Mozambigue, and both Northern and Southern Rhodesia were in turmoil. Bob Hope was way behind the times in trying to sell Call Me Bwana.
Anita Ekberg was a most beautiful and fetching Russian spy. But she's Russian in the tradition of Janet Leigh in Jet Pilot rather than Greta Garbo in Ninotchka. Of course the charm of Bob Hope forces her to defect as per the American script has. I often wonder though did the Russians make films where charming spies get Americans to defect to them?
Call Me Bwana was doomed from the start in its release. What was funny in 1943 couldn't be sold in 1963.
Call Me Bwana other than establishing background shots got no closer to Africa than London where the film was made. The plot such as it is has Hope as a Robert Ruark type author who has used his uncle's African diary as material for some successful books. This in fact was the same plot device that was used in the very funny Man's Favorite Sport where Rock Hudson was a fishing expert.
But all Rock was asked to do was enter and win a fishing tournament. In Call Me Bwana, the Kennedy administration wants to have the CIA hire Bob Hope to lead an expedition to recover a lost satellite before the Russians get it. The Russians in turn are sending Gina Lollabrigida in a ridiculous blond wig to help their man in Africa, Lionel Jeffries.
I do realize this is a comedy, but are we to believe that the Central Intelligence Agency didn't do some background check on Hope and found his credentials weren't all that good? Lord, they were non-existent. Helping Hope in his quest is CIA agent Edie Adams who I'm sure was personally hired at the agency by Allen Dulles.
Hiring Edie, I'm sure was either an act of charity or it's possible that Lionel Jeffries's part was originally meant for her late husband Ernie Kovacs. If the latter was the case it's a good thing Ernie checked out when he did.
There's a whole sequence when in the jungle Hope finds a golf course with Arnold Palmer playing on it. It's about 10 minutes and what might have been funny in a surreal road picture lays a Vermont volleyball of an egg in Call Me Bwana. The golf allows Hope however to get his obligatory Crosby jokes in the script.
The real problem is that by 1963 the American public had increased its knowledge of Africa. Sub Sahara Africa was in the news then, the Congo was in civil war, apartheid was being challenged in the Union of South Africa, there were wars against the Portugese in Angola and Mozambigue, and both Northern and Southern Rhodesia were in turmoil. Bob Hope was way behind the times in trying to sell Call Me Bwana.
Anita Ekberg was a most beautiful and fetching Russian spy. But she's Russian in the tradition of Janet Leigh in Jet Pilot rather than Greta Garbo in Ninotchka. Of course the charm of Bob Hope forces her to defect as per the American script has. I often wonder though did the Russians make films where charming spies get Americans to defect to them?
Call Me Bwana was doomed from the start in its release. What was funny in 1943 couldn't be sold in 1963.
Not terrible.
planktonrules29 April 2017
"Call Me Bwana" is not a terrible film...and considering the sort of terrible movies Bob Hope was making in the 1960s and early 70s, this is saying a lot! Movies like "Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number", "How to Commit Marriage" and "The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell" simply were NOT funny and it seemed as if Hope was simply going through the motions...so I had extremely low expectations for "Call Me Bwana". In many ways, the film was exactly what I expected....it wasn't funny. But, on the other, it did have nice production values and the story wasn't horrible!
The story begins with a moon probe going off course on its return to Earth. Somehow, it ended up landing in the middle of no where in Africa and the US government go to Matt (Hope) to ask this famous adventurer to retrieve it. However, Matt is full of hot air and has made up his tales of adventure and is a complete phony. At the same time, the Soviets have sent out a sexy spy (Anita Ekberg) and her assistant (Lionel Jeffries). And, since Matt is an idiot, he invites these two to accompany him. Can Matt find the probe...and can he prevent these two from getting to it first?
This one has 'time-passer' written all over it. There are a few parts that are even ALMOST funny...and Hope fans might enjoy it. All others, just watch his earlier films...your brain will thank you for it.
The story begins with a moon probe going off course on its return to Earth. Somehow, it ended up landing in the middle of no where in Africa and the US government go to Matt (Hope) to ask this famous adventurer to retrieve it. However, Matt is full of hot air and has made up his tales of adventure and is a complete phony. At the same time, the Soviets have sent out a sexy spy (Anita Ekberg) and her assistant (Lionel Jeffries). And, since Matt is an idiot, he invites these two to accompany him. Can Matt find the probe...and can he prevent these two from getting to it first?
This one has 'time-passer' written all over it. There are a few parts that are even ALMOST funny...and Hope fans might enjoy it. All others, just watch his earlier films...your brain will thank you for it.
Hope is Hope.
Psalm5226 August 2006
Look this movie is a comedy that has a value today more as a remembrance of the type of fluff Hollywood produced in the early '60s. This film is watchable, but it isn't a classic. It has some funny gags, but not the best plot. It's something about a lost satellite in Africa, and once the leads get there it moves along briskly. It's very reminiscent of the 'Road to ...' movies, although this one doesn't have Crosby. It offers Ekberg who worked w/ Abbott & Costello AND with Lewis and Martin. The woman knows comedy and plays off Hope well. There are A lot of worse films to watch, and this does offer a good remembrance of the time once known as Camelot w/ its jokes about the Kennedy family.
Call It Bwful
slokes3 August 2004
For years Bob Hope was one of cinema's most engaging presences, as classic comedies like "My Favorite Brunette/Blonde" and "The Princess And The Pirate" make clear even today. The lack of similar scripts in the 1960s didn't stop Bob from working, however, and the results were films like "Call Me Bwana" that diminished his legacy in a small but annoying way.
As the politically incorrect title suggests, this is a safari-themed picture, with Bob playing Matthew Merriweather, a writer who palms off his uncle's memoirs of African adventure as his own while loafing around his Manhattan bachelor pad in a leopard-print bathrobe. Only everyone thinks he's on the level, which is a problem when a capsule crashes down in Africa and both the U.S. and the Soviets figure Merriweather's the only man to find it.
The story is flimsy on many levels, but that's really not what's wrong here. Hope's not making "Out Of Africa," and the fact that the Frank Buck era of the Great White Explorer in Africa kind of ended by World War II is a minor nuisance, as is the fact its unlikely NASA couldn't find its own capsule with all the high-tech stuff they had even back then. No, you're supposed to enjoy this film as a vehicle for jokes. Only someone forgot the jokes.
Hope just moseys through the film, his timing solid but firing blanks. "I'm here on a mission for the President of the United States," he tells a hostile-looking group of tribesmen. "You know, President Kennedy?" No reaction. "Bobby Kennedy? Teddy Kennedy? Jackie Kennedy? Caroline? Boy, these guys must be Republicans!"
The attitude toward native Africans in this movie is not that bad. Hope's the buffoon, and for most of the film the black people around him are not targets as much as witnesses to his embarrassment. About the worst excess, other than the title, is when Hope makes a couple of porters carry his luggage on their heads, instead of toting them the normal way, because its more like what he's seen in "National Geographic."
What's more off is the threadbare plot and a cast of supporting players who don't want to be there. Anita Ekberg and Edie Adams play rival spies in a sort of dull-eyed way. If it wasn't for Hope's joking about it so much you wouldn't know they were supposed to be sexy, but of course he does joke, and joke, and joke, about it. Lionel Jeffries is awkward in bad makeup and adds nothing as a nasty Soviet spy pretending to be a pious missionary who'd rather kill Merriweather than find the capsule. The best supporting performance is probably that of golfing legend Arnold Palmer, just for the way he enters the picture, a supremely silly but classic moment revisited in the Dan Ackroyd/Chevy Chase film "Spies Like Us." Unfortunately, the producers then have Palmer and Hope do ten minutes of random club-swinging in the middle of the picture, Hope making in-jokes about Bing while trying to cheat his way into looking respectable against Arnie. It's one thing to tack on a quick cameo; but the padding here really shows.
Except there's nothing to pad. The whole movie is padded. Things happen, Hope makes a wisecrack, the scene changes, and everything we saw up to then is forgotten. At least a film set in Africa should be beautiful, but this is shot in such a cheap, offhanded manner it's almost distracting; its clear where the movie ends and the stock footage begins. The ending is particularly slipshod, which I couldn't spoil if I tried given I really have no idea what happened.
Any Bob Hope comedy has the potential to be great, so when one fails to deliver as persistently as "Call Me Bwana," it really leaves one flat.
As the politically incorrect title suggests, this is a safari-themed picture, with Bob playing Matthew Merriweather, a writer who palms off his uncle's memoirs of African adventure as his own while loafing around his Manhattan bachelor pad in a leopard-print bathrobe. Only everyone thinks he's on the level, which is a problem when a capsule crashes down in Africa and both the U.S. and the Soviets figure Merriweather's the only man to find it.
The story is flimsy on many levels, but that's really not what's wrong here. Hope's not making "Out Of Africa," and the fact that the Frank Buck era of the Great White Explorer in Africa kind of ended by World War II is a minor nuisance, as is the fact its unlikely NASA couldn't find its own capsule with all the high-tech stuff they had even back then. No, you're supposed to enjoy this film as a vehicle for jokes. Only someone forgot the jokes.
Hope just moseys through the film, his timing solid but firing blanks. "I'm here on a mission for the President of the United States," he tells a hostile-looking group of tribesmen. "You know, President Kennedy?" No reaction. "Bobby Kennedy? Teddy Kennedy? Jackie Kennedy? Caroline? Boy, these guys must be Republicans!"
The attitude toward native Africans in this movie is not that bad. Hope's the buffoon, and for most of the film the black people around him are not targets as much as witnesses to his embarrassment. About the worst excess, other than the title, is when Hope makes a couple of porters carry his luggage on their heads, instead of toting them the normal way, because its more like what he's seen in "National Geographic."
What's more off is the threadbare plot and a cast of supporting players who don't want to be there. Anita Ekberg and Edie Adams play rival spies in a sort of dull-eyed way. If it wasn't for Hope's joking about it so much you wouldn't know they were supposed to be sexy, but of course he does joke, and joke, and joke, about it. Lionel Jeffries is awkward in bad makeup and adds nothing as a nasty Soviet spy pretending to be a pious missionary who'd rather kill Merriweather than find the capsule. The best supporting performance is probably that of golfing legend Arnold Palmer, just for the way he enters the picture, a supremely silly but classic moment revisited in the Dan Ackroyd/Chevy Chase film "Spies Like Us." Unfortunately, the producers then have Palmer and Hope do ten minutes of random club-swinging in the middle of the picture, Hope making in-jokes about Bing while trying to cheat his way into looking respectable against Arnie. It's one thing to tack on a quick cameo; but the padding here really shows.
Except there's nothing to pad. The whole movie is padded. Things happen, Hope makes a wisecrack, the scene changes, and everything we saw up to then is forgotten. At least a film set in Africa should be beautiful, but this is shot in such a cheap, offhanded manner it's almost distracting; its clear where the movie ends and the stock footage begins. The ending is particularly slipshod, which I couldn't spoil if I tried given I really have no idea what happened.
Any Bob Hope comedy has the potential to be great, so when one fails to deliver as persistently as "Call Me Bwana," it really leaves one flat.
Call Me Bwana is a somewhat amusing Bob Hope comedy
tavm15 December 2011
Just watched this latter-day Bob Hope comedy on Hulu. In this one, he comes to Africa for the first time having previously passed his late uncle's adventures from the latter's diary as his own best selling books. I'll stop there and just say that I found many of Hope's lines and scenes alternately funny and lame in many places. His leading lady is Swedish sexpot Anita Ekberg though he probably would have been better off if he'd been more paired with other player Edie Adams as she's more of a comedienne as evident in their initial meeting on a plane. Lionel Jeffries also provide some amusements as the villain but perhaps the highlight is when Hope has golfing star Arnold Palmer stop by as they play a game with some clubs left by some guy named Crosby. In summary, Call Me Bwana isn't very good but it's not too bad either.
Call Me Guano...Stale Plot, Stale Jokes, Stale Tale...
cshep9 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
With Bob Hopes' film popularity winding down,"Call Me Bwana" adds more nails to the coffin. With TV the more dominant medium, and his film career winding down quickly , Hope can no longer count on a tired theme of one-liners to carry a film.
Changing demographics help doom this would-be comedy to a tawdry lesson in triviality. No longer was Hope generating the box office numbers with the "Greatest Generation" staying away from the films to the comfort of the suburbs and TV. The graying generation could now watch what they used to go out and pay for. A tired script and stale jokes, a wasted Lionel Jeffries, who had a great comedic timing, is thrown away in a completely forgettable role.
While Anita Ekberg and Edie Adams are little more than eye candy, Hope should have concentrated on his TV performances, and left "Call Me Bwana" to the Smothers Brothers or the 3 Stooges.
High brow it ain't. A sorry ending to a terrific film career.
Better off doing the wash or fixing dinner. 3 Stars out of 10, and that is stretching it.
Changing demographics help doom this would-be comedy to a tawdry lesson in triviality. No longer was Hope generating the box office numbers with the "Greatest Generation" staying away from the films to the comfort of the suburbs and TV. The graying generation could now watch what they used to go out and pay for. A tired script and stale jokes, a wasted Lionel Jeffries, who had a great comedic timing, is thrown away in a completely forgettable role.
While Anita Ekberg and Edie Adams are little more than eye candy, Hope should have concentrated on his TV performances, and left "Call Me Bwana" to the Smothers Brothers or the 3 Stooges.
High brow it ain't. A sorry ending to a terrific film career.
Better off doing the wash or fixing dinner. 3 Stars out of 10, and that is stretching it.
One of the best of Hope's later movies!
JohnHowardReid4 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I'm surprised this one received such negative reviews. Despite an outlandish climax and a few gauche touches here and there, I thought it was Bob Hope's funniest film since "Son of Paleface" (1952).
I particularly enjoyed the amusing tilts at some Very Top People.
The support cast is great too. Lionel Jeffries is on hand to hand out some delightful extra mayhem, while Orlando Martins has a royal time as the tongue-in-cheek Chief of the Ekele Tribe.
I'll readily admit that Anita Ekberg is a bit of a disappointment, but I guess she can't be persuaded to take all (or most of) her gear off all the time. A pity!
I particularly enjoyed the amusing tilts at some Very Top People.
The support cast is great too. Lionel Jeffries is on hand to hand out some delightful extra mayhem, while Orlando Martins has a royal time as the tongue-in-cheek Chief of the Ekele Tribe.
I'll readily admit that Anita Ekberg is a bit of a disappointment, but I guess she can't be persuaded to take all (or most of) her gear off all the time. A pity!
Bad
JasparLamarCrabb18 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Wow...it's bad. A witless comedy that has Bob Hope, as a phony great white hunter, roped into finding a downed US space capsule in Africa. He's joined by smart spy Edie Adams and smart Russian spy Anita Ekberg. Hope has chemistry with neither lady. He bounces unfunny one-liner after unfunny one-liner off them (Ekberg appears to not be getting any of it) to no avail. A dismal comedy even among the very dismal comedies Hope made in the 1960s. Directed, unimaginatively, by Gordon Douglas and featuring a lot of rear screen projection and, for some inexplicable reason, a golf game between Hope and the young Arnold Palmer! The jerky editing, fast motion and goofy sound effects are for naught. Unfunny in-jokes (directed at Bing Crosby, JFK, Sinatra, etc) abound in this awful movie.
A Film To Relax and Have Fun
randwolfray28 January 2011
If you read the other reviews here, you'll be told about how bad this movie is. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm not going to argue with the other reviewers. I just want to say that I had fun watching this film, and that's really all the justification I need. (I use movies as a springboard to the imagination anyway). I thought Hope was funny enough, and I liked the supporting players, all memorable to me. The plot was silly, but it wasn't boring. Everyone comes off as a buffoon, the Americans, the Russians, the CIA, the KGB. Even the Africans were funny, but not in a demeaning way. I've seen this three or four times over the years, and I've always looked forward to seeing it again.
I doubt, though, that people born after the 1960s would think much of it. It succeeds for what was intended, but it's very much a movie of its time. I was six when it came out, and I still remember what was going on in that era. I "get" the jokes in the film that were aimed at then-current events and people. On the other hand, just as I can enjoy and appreciate comedies made decades before even my generation, people whose experience is only of today might broaden their horizons and get a kick out this when they simply want to personally relax and have a little fun.
I doubt, though, that people born after the 1960s would think much of it. It succeeds for what was intended, but it's very much a movie of its time. I was six when it came out, and I still remember what was going on in that era. I "get" the jokes in the film that were aimed at then-current events and people. On the other hand, just as I can enjoy and appreciate comedies made decades before even my generation, people whose experience is only of today might broaden their horizons and get a kick out this when they simply want to personally relax and have a little fun.
"People wonder why I answer when Africa calls".
classicsoncall15 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The ever self-effacing Bob Hope gets to rub noses with a baby elephant in this film, and it's a toss up who's the winner. The movie itself, probably depending on your mood and the time of day, is either another fun romp or just a plain dud. In a story line that's strung together with little rhyme or reason, Hope's character Matt Merriwether finds himself on an important government mission to retrieve a space capsule carrying moon samples deep in the heart of Africa. Or wherever the Ekele country of Makuta is.
The film plods along rather non-sensically until all of a sudden Hope finds himself on a golf course with Arnold Palmer! They trade a few swings and one liners until it's time to move on, leaving one to wonder what might have just happened. What could have been a 'Road' movie is given some poignancy when Hope remarks about the questionable golf clubs he finds himself using - "Fellow by the name of Crosby left those here".
"Call Me Bwana" will never be accused of being a great movie, or even one of Bob Hope's better films. But if you enjoy his brand of comedy you have your share of witty zingers and name dropping references to folks like Crosby and Sinatra along the way. Having Anita Ekberg and Edie Adams on hand make it just a bit easier to handle, even while the moon probe Merriwether's after seems to change size, shape and color throughout the picture.
The film plods along rather non-sensically until all of a sudden Hope finds himself on a golf course with Arnold Palmer! They trade a few swings and one liners until it's time to move on, leaving one to wonder what might have just happened. What could have been a 'Road' movie is given some poignancy when Hope remarks about the questionable golf clubs he finds himself using - "Fellow by the name of Crosby left those here".
"Call Me Bwana" will never be accused of being a great movie, or even one of Bob Hope's better films. But if you enjoy his brand of comedy you have your share of witty zingers and name dropping references to folks like Crosby and Sinatra along the way. Having Anita Ekberg and Edie Adams on hand make it just a bit easier to handle, even while the moon probe Merriwether's after seems to change size, shape and color throughout the picture.
A Funny Movie
januszlvii24 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Is Call Me Bwana Hope's best? Of course not. My Favorite Blonde and My Favorite Spy were classics, and it was dated the JFK and Khrushchev rocking chair scene and the Hope saying "They ( Africans) must be Republicans" after asking if they heard of Kennedy's, and I have no idea what Edie Adams ( Fred) was doing in the movie ( including driving away and abandoning her mission ( not what you expect from an agent)). But Anita Ekberg.( Luba) is actually a very good love interest.for Matt ( Hope), and like Hedy Lamarr ( Lily) in My Favorite Spy not someone you identify with comedy. The funniest scene is where Matt thinks Luba is cleaning his back and it is a lioness licking it. Spoilers ahead: Does Matt complete the mission the Government sent him on ( locating a lost space capsule in Africa ( despite being a fraud (pretending to be an African expert) and end up with Luba? Of course he does. By how he does and why Luba changes sides from Russia to Hope is why you watch. 8/10 stars.
Similar to his "Road" movies, but NO singing
ksf-210 August 2010
Lots of one-liners by Bob Hope, in this film produced by Albert Broccoli, who did all the early James Bond movies. Acc to IMDb, this was the second film produced by Eon productions. The credits don't list who does the voices for John Kennedy or Kruschev at the opening, but clearly its a reflection of the politics of the day. The basic premise is that one of our space ships has gone astray, and landed in Africa. To save face, the U.S. must be the first to find it, so they hire African expert Matthew Merriwether (Bob Hope). Co-stars Anita Ekberg, Edie Adams, and Lionel Jeffries round out the cast. Viewers will recognize Jeffries, who played the grandfather in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This film is very similar to Hope's "Road" movies with Bing, but moves slower. The good thing is... NO SONGS! and a five minute bit with a 30-something Arnold Palmer. Palmer had just won the 1961 And 1962 British Open. I can see why Broccoli wanted to do this project... lots of spies, intrigue, and exotic "foreign" locations, just like a James Bond flick. A fun way to kill some time. Not as bad as some others have thought....it's a lightweight Bob Hope comedy, after all.
Out of Africa
wes-connors31 May 2013
A US space probe returns from the moon and lands in Africa. The Americans call upon successful author Bob Hope (as Matthew "Matt" Merriwether) to retrieve the capsule, due to his books detailing the continent. He reluctantly answers his country's request, but Mr. Hope is a fraud; he's never been to Africa. The Russians are also interested in retrieving the probe. They send bosomy anthropologist Anita Ekberg (as Luba) to Africa, because she is "well equipped" to seduce Hope. Hope's traveling partner is attractive Edie Adams (as Frederica "Fred" Larsen) while Ms. Ekberg is accompanied by doctor "father" Lionel Jeffries (as Ezra Mungo).
This could have been a fine Bob Hope movie, with more effort. It was produced by the team behind the "James Bond" series; however, it appears to be more cheaply made. The scenes taking place in Africa are obviously edited in; certainly, Hope and the cast did not go on location. This can work in comedy. However, this time it just looks cheap. The soundtrack is good, but becomes annoyingly repetitive. As a film, "Call me Bwana" appears to have been fully conceived during post-production...
Hope was, by the 1960s, photographed with a shadow covering his head. This was the same shadow that was found over Joan Crawford's neck. In most films, Hope can be seen moving slightly out of the shadow's range. In this film, he is often way out of range - and can be seen with his colored, thinning hair. Even in the more harsh light, Hope's hair looks relatively nice, especially when compared to the full, obvious wigs his contemporaries were now wearing...
Hope's comic persona and delivery make scenes like his arrival in Africa amusing. His topical humor does not age well, but students of history will recognize good fun poked at chair-rocking John F. Kennedy and shoe-pounding Nikita Khrushchev. A surreal encounter with golfing pal Arnold Palmer works as an "inside joke" - with some amusing bits for the uninitiated.
**** Call Me Bwana (6/5/63) Gordon Douglas ~ Bob Hope, Anita Ekberg, Edie Adams, Lionel Jeffries
This could have been a fine Bob Hope movie, with more effort. It was produced by the team behind the "James Bond" series; however, it appears to be more cheaply made. The scenes taking place in Africa are obviously edited in; certainly, Hope and the cast did not go on location. This can work in comedy. However, this time it just looks cheap. The soundtrack is good, but becomes annoyingly repetitive. As a film, "Call me Bwana" appears to have been fully conceived during post-production...
Hope was, by the 1960s, photographed with a shadow covering his head. This was the same shadow that was found over Joan Crawford's neck. In most films, Hope can be seen moving slightly out of the shadow's range. In this film, he is often way out of range - and can be seen with his colored, thinning hair. Even in the more harsh light, Hope's hair looks relatively nice, especially when compared to the full, obvious wigs his contemporaries were now wearing...
Hope's comic persona and delivery make scenes like his arrival in Africa amusing. His topical humor does not age well, but students of history will recognize good fun poked at chair-rocking John F. Kennedy and shoe-pounding Nikita Khrushchev. A surreal encounter with golfing pal Arnold Palmer works as an "inside joke" - with some amusing bits for the uninitiated.
**** Call Me Bwana (6/5/63) Gordon Douglas ~ Bob Hope, Anita Ekberg, Edie Adams, Lionel Jeffries
Very Funny--spoilers
stormhappy10626 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
One of Bob Hope's best--When he must become a member of the Tribe, it'll remind you a little bit of JOE VS THE VOLCANO--The chief was hilarious here, and Anita Ekberg, with the killer body and too much makeup, is a joy to watch also--Although its obvious that this was not actually filmed in Africa, it still has some stock footage of some African scenery.
Unlike Bob's EIGHT ON THE LAM(a disaster), this film is fun and funny--A bit slow in parts, but if you're a Bob Hope fan, you'll like it.
Another funny film of his is BOY DID I GET A WRONG NUMBER(1966) with Phyllis Diller, and THE PRIVATE NAVY OF SARGENT O'FARRELL
Unlike Bob's EIGHT ON THE LAM(a disaster), this film is fun and funny--A bit slow in parts, but if you're a Bob Hope fan, you'll like it.
Another funny film of his is BOY DID I GET A WRONG NUMBER(1966) with Phyllis Diller, and THE PRIVATE NAVY OF SARGENT O'FARRELL
Tired, cheap, disappointing
vincentlynch-moonoi31 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
To me, "Call Me Bwana" was the beginning of the serious slide in Bob Hope's film career, with the nadir being "Boy Did I Get A Wrong Number". Seeing these films, it's easy to forget that back in the 1940s and 1950s, Bob Hope put out some pretty decent films that were genuinely funny. Of course, we all think of the Road pictures with Bing, but there were plenty of other Hope treats over the years. So what happened? I think 2 things. First, Bob's best type of role was when he played a bit of a sap who rarely got the girl. It just worked. But as we moved into the 1960s, Hope seemed to get the idea -- perhaps part of a middle age itch -- that in films he ought to be more of an adult lover (in this film with Anita Eckberg). Well, I'm not saying it didn't work, but it didn't work well. The second issue was that Bob stopped acting and began delivering much of his dialog as he did one-liners.
Beyond those problems, this film looks like a "throw-away". Let's produce a cheap film and rely simply on the names Bob Hope and Anita Eckberg. Let's not film a film about Africa in Africa, let's just do it with cheap sets on a film stage in England. If 20th Century Fox could make a film about Africa in 1939 that actually looked like it took place in Africa ("Stanley And Livingstone" with Spencer Tracy), couldn't United Artists do a little better with a film in the more modern era two and a half decades later? You can't say it was because Spencer Tracy was a bigger star, because in the world of comedy, few were bigger than Bob Hope. Yes, there was some stock footage that looked like Africa, but any of the scenes with the main actors were clearly on cheap sets. Audiences expect more.
Hope was 60 years old when this picture was made. Maybe it was time to settle down and concentrate on television. Because, quite frankly, this film just isn't very funny.
You've actually got a fairly decent cast here. Who was bigger than Hope? Eckerg was hot (!) in more ways than one. Edie Adams was quite talented (although probably more suited to television). And throw in an extended cameo by Arnold Palmer (maybe the most interesting part of the picture), and you've got possibilities...that were, unfortunately squandered. The "chase" scene is just plain dumb and looks so fake it's pathetic.
All I can tell you is this. Every year or so I pull down the DVDs of the old Road pictures and savor them once again. I was pleased to be able to see this film 55 years after it was made, but only because was on cable, and I'll buy a DVD of it to pull off the shelf. Just not worth any investment of cash...unless you're a die hard Bob Hope fan. But, at least it's better than "Boy Did I Get A Wrong Number"!
Beyond those problems, this film looks like a "throw-away". Let's produce a cheap film and rely simply on the names Bob Hope and Anita Eckberg. Let's not film a film about Africa in Africa, let's just do it with cheap sets on a film stage in England. If 20th Century Fox could make a film about Africa in 1939 that actually looked like it took place in Africa ("Stanley And Livingstone" with Spencer Tracy), couldn't United Artists do a little better with a film in the more modern era two and a half decades later? You can't say it was because Spencer Tracy was a bigger star, because in the world of comedy, few were bigger than Bob Hope. Yes, there was some stock footage that looked like Africa, but any of the scenes with the main actors were clearly on cheap sets. Audiences expect more.
Hope was 60 years old when this picture was made. Maybe it was time to settle down and concentrate on television. Because, quite frankly, this film just isn't very funny.
You've actually got a fairly decent cast here. Who was bigger than Hope? Eckerg was hot (!) in more ways than one. Edie Adams was quite talented (although probably more suited to television). And throw in an extended cameo by Arnold Palmer (maybe the most interesting part of the picture), and you've got possibilities...that were, unfortunately squandered. The "chase" scene is just plain dumb and looks so fake it's pathetic.
All I can tell you is this. Every year or so I pull down the DVDs of the old Road pictures and savor them once again. I was pleased to be able to see this film 55 years after it was made, but only because was on cable, and I'll buy a DVD of it to pull off the shelf. Just not worth any investment of cash...unless you're a die hard Bob Hope fan. But, at least it's better than "Boy Did I Get A Wrong Number"!
First came Allan Quatermain (King Solomon's Mines) now Bwana
Bernie444417 October 2023
A U. S. Capsule has returned from the moon and inadvertently landed in Africa. Naturally, the president only wants the most knowledgeable and brave explorer to retrieve it before others claim salvage rights, Matthew Merriweather (Bob Hope).
The other leader banging a shoe on the table also wants the capsule and sends a noted anthropologist (Anita Ekberg) to use Merriweather to obtain the prize.
In reality, Matthew has never been to Africa. His book is a rehash of his uncle's adventures.
You get the idea. Beautiful women, rough elephants, wild natives, and Arnold Palmer.
Gordon Douglas also directed "Them!" (1954) so he is no stranger to wild creatures. And from the rich background of the driving scenes, you would never guess that it was filmed in Pinewood Studios.
The other leader banging a shoe on the table also wants the capsule and sends a noted anthropologist (Anita Ekberg) to use Merriweather to obtain the prize.
In reality, Matthew has never been to Africa. His book is a rehash of his uncle's adventures.
You get the idea. Beautiful women, rough elephants, wild natives, and Arnold Palmer.
Gordon Douglas also directed "Them!" (1954) so he is no stranger to wild creatures. And from the rich background of the driving scenes, you would never guess that it was filmed in Pinewood Studios.
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