Paree, Paree (1934) Poster

(1934)

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6/10
The Reader's Digest Version Of Fifty Million Frenchmen
bkoganbing25 April 2009
I would not say that Bob Hope was a major star on Broadway, that eluded him until he got into films, but he was a prominent Broadway performer during the Thirties before he went to Hollywood for The Big Broadcast of 1938. This short was made in New York probably between his run in Roberta and Say When.

What Paree, Paree is is a condensed version of the Cole Porter Broadway show Fifty Million Frenchmen. The soundtrack includes You Do Something To Me, Find me a Primitive Man, You've Got That Thing, and the title song all from the stage production of Fifty Million Frenchmen.

This short while it lacks a lot of production values is a marvelous opportunity to see something of a photographed Broadway show of the time. In that it's like The Marx Brothers Cocoanuts or Animal Crackers.

Bob Hope was not in the original Broadway cast of Fifty Million Frenchmen, but Cole Porter would provide him with a great duet with Ethel Merman in Hope's last Broadway appearance a few years later in Red, Hot, and Blue. He introduced It's Delovely with her from that show which did lead to his Hollywood contract.

Now that would be great if someone preserved them on film singing It's Delovely.
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7/10
A delight mini movie, a musical short based on three of Cole Porter's Broadway smash songs.
Larry41OnEbay-221 December 2000
A delight mini movie, a musical short based on three of Cole Porter's Broadway smash songs. Bob Hope's first credited film is a delight! He plays an American playboy millionaire on vacation in Paris. The film opens with him sitting at a table of an out door café telling his friends about this beauty that takes his breath away. Suddenly he spots her a few yards away. he is so over come his friends tease him and suggest "just show her your bank book." But Hope claims he can win her in less than 30 days with "no" money! They bet polo ponies over the issue and take all his cash and ID's. Hope follows her and when they are alone gushes out a proposal she does not believe he is sincere until he sings to her, "You Do Something to Me" by Cole Porter. But she must leave and he tries to earn money as a tour guide so he can pursue her. But when she sees him showing another girl around town, disillusioned she wants to drop him. He continues to chase her and catches up to her and her family at a race track where he bets his meager earnings on the last race hoping to win enough to impress her. Through a series of events and large synchronized dance numbers he loses the winning ticket and she decides to marry him rich or poor. So he wins the girl, the race and the bet and sings two more songs!
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7/10
An early and entertaining Bob Hope short
SimonJack24 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This was only the third short that Bob Hope made in the start of his film career in 1934. It's interesting that he has second billing here. Of this entire small cast, he is the only one who went on to stardom or even any kind of film career at all. Only Charles Collins of this cast had more than half a dozen shorts, and his 14 appearances were mostly shorts or uncredited roles.

Other reviewers give the background on this short. It has some songs from Cole Porter's 1929 Broadway musical, "Fifty Million Frenchmen." Hope sings the hit song, "You Do Something to Me." One other thing that struck me about this entertaining film is the choreography with a dance troupe listed as The Climas. No other information about this group is readily available, but they do some dance and choreography numbers that remind one of the lush Busby Berkeley films of the past.

This is a mini version of the Broadway play, and Hope's Peter Forbes wins a bet with his wealthy friend, Baxter (Charles Collins) that he can woo LuLu to the altar within a month. The hitch is that he must do so without his bankroll, so he turns his wallet and cash over to Baxter. Baxter bets his motor boat against Peter's best polo pony. Peter wastes no time and asks Lulu point blank if she will marry him. Having broken the ice so quickly, and convincing her that he's not a "maniac," he soon wins her heart and hand and the bet.

The quality of this short isn't very good. It has an interesting and diverse plot. A fight scene in the Café de la Moir has a close-up of the bartender. If that isn't Claudette Colbert in a cameo, it's a woman who could pass for her double or twin sister. This is a fun little musical comedy extra that came on a DVD of "Silk Stockings." See the Quotes section in the IMDb Web page on the film for some funny lines.
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7/10
"Are you sure you're not a maniac?"
classicsoncall6 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
In one of his earliest film efforts, Bob Hope displays the charm and comic timing that would one day make him a major star. I'm not familiar with his opposite in the picture, Dorothy Stone, and she only has a handful of credits here on IMDb. For it's meager length, the story is an energetic one, as Hope's character Peter prepares to win a bet from his buddies that he can win Lulu's (Stone) hand in marriage without revealing how rich he actually is. I thought his prospects might have been better if he hadn't introduced himself by asking her to marry him right off the bat, but it allowed the story line to have some fun with the idea. A handful of songs and some dance sequences make this an entertaining little film short, with Peter winning his bet in the end, even if it looks like he goofed by tearing up a winning race ticket.
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5/10
While you'd expect this to be a comedy, it's much more a musical!
planktonrules8 December 2016
"Paree, Paree" is among Bob Hope's earliest films. I can only assume his newness to the medium would explain why it really isn't a comedy--it's really a musical. Sure, he makes a few quips here and there but they aren't all that funny and seem like more of an afterthought.

Peter (Hope) is in Paris and he's smitten with a lady...though he's only seen her and doesn't even know who she is. However, he bets his friends that within 30 days he'll marry her...even though he's broke. What follows is far less romance and more just a whole bunch of musical numbers...one after the other. In other words, plot is pretty much secondary. And, considering it's a short film, it really could have used less singing and more plot. Watchable and pleasant enough but nothing more. It does, however, allow you to hear the nice Cole Porter song, "You Do Something to Me".
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8/10
What a charming little movie.
p m-c30 September 2005
Netflix should mention this short feature on the info for Silk Stockings. Superior in every way to that over-produced fluff. This had much better Cole Porter songs and lots more energy. Silk Stockings turned out to be a big disappointment. Fred was getting too old for this sort of thing, though the dances and Cyd are lovely. I will be on the watch for the Garbo--Melvyn Douglas version of Ninotchka. Was Peter Lorre ill during the making of Silk Stockings--he seems to be very passive in the more active numbers and with less lines? Very glad that I ran across Paree--Paree by pure accident. Made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable. Bob Hope, as a simple "song and dance man' is pure joy.
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Nice Comedy
Michael_Elliott13 May 2009
Paree, Paree (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Bob Hope plays a millionaire American touring Paris and falling in love with a woman (Dorothy Stone) who doesn't know he's rich. The man bets his friends that he can make her fall in love with him without telling her how much money he's worth. This musical-short is actually a remake of 50 MILLION FRENCHMEN, the 1931 Cole Porter film. I was pleasantly surprised at how charming this film was because of its two leads who turn in nice work and we've also got some very good musical numbers. We get five different musical numbers and they are all quite good and the dance sequences are handled very well by director Mack who was an old pro at this type of short. Stone really steals the film with her charm, which makes it easy to see why someone would fall for her. I think Hope's comic timing was still a little weak but he too is quite charming in the film.
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Short But Wins the Race
tedg28 January 2005
You can find this on the DVD of "Silk Stockings" to which it is much superior. Apparently, this is a quickie film of part of a successful show. The songs are inventive and have much more energy than Porter's later work. The musical numbers are pretty standard fare for the time, which means pretty good.

Two things worked for me: the story was complete enough to support the songs but simple enough to grasp in a few moments. When the thing was over, I wanted more which is how it should be.

The other thing: in such projects, at least one number has to grab me, really grab me for the thing to work. In this one, there's a scene where Bob spends time with the girl he has bet he can marry. He "sweeps her off her feet." The song is forgettable, but the languid energy of her dance really was impressive: no fancy choreography, in fact it looks as if she just made it up that morning. But it came across as natural, almost real.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
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Cute early (and primitive) Bob Hope short
aramis-112-8048808 January 2024
An American in Paris (a popular spot for Americans before Der Fuerur invited himself in) tries to woo his lady-love in 20 minutes or fewer.

Bob Hope, of course, isn't "Bob Hope" as we know and love him but he clearly has "movie star" potential. So did lots of photogenic actors whose careers went phut. You might guess he had a future in movies but he doesn't have "entertainment powerhouse" written all over him. It's amazing to think of people a century ago unaware they were seeing a figure who would be so dominant.

This is really like an extended music video advertising some Cole Porter's songs.

Leonard Maltin once made the shocking, but probably true, statement, that Astaire introduced more sung "standards" in the movies than anyone. Well, here's Bob Hope doing a creditable job of introducing "You Do Something to Me." Hope would never knock Crosby off the charts but he wasn't a bad warbler.

Whatever happened to Dorothy Stone?
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