Well, fancy that! Screen legends Bob Hope (The Paleface) and Lucille Ball (Sorrowful Jones) join forces in a Technicolor remake of Ruggles of Red Gap and let loose a stampede of laughs. Wisecracking Bob is a teddibly, teddibly British valet brought to the Old West to teach Old World charms to a certain redheaded tomboy. Of course, Bob’s not really a valet. He’s an out-of-work actor who’s stumbled across the role of his life. It’s tea at 4:00 p.m. and don’t fan your soup with your hat, but will proper etiquette protect Bob from Lucy’s jilted beau? Directed by Hollywood great George Marshall (The Ghost Breakers, Murder, He Says), Fancy Pants is the rootin’-shootin’ musical farce that’s driving the West wild! Co-starring western great, Bruce Cabot (Big Jake).
For thoughts on Fancy Pants, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
[youtube https://youtu.be/lhmNYo6Vx6c?t=3076]
Video Quality
Kino Classics presents Fancy Pants with a striking Blu-Ray presentation from 4K scans of the 35mm YCM Technicolor elements conducted by Paramount. Outside of at least one jarring instance of massive print damage, along with some less egregious nicks and lines, there is no doubt that there has been significant cleanup with overall clarity and detail remaining strong. The presentation is pleasant throughout with image stability and delineation being handled well. This transfer retains the natural film grain of the presentation with only minor moments where it could resolve a bit more gracefully. The picture has a few odd moments of softness, but the Technicolor hues are well saturated with only a small sense that they are not at their most radiant. Skin tones are decent and consistent with subtle facial features noticeable. Black levels hold up fairly well with little in the way of crush. Kino Classics has done a nice job with this presentation.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a capable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that represents the film well. This track shows no blatant signs of age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. The playful score maintains a grand sense of fidelity as it buoys the narrative. Nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other important information in a way that would deter from the experience. Dialogue and background noises are represented in perfect harmony with all competing elements. All of the sound effects and music come off exactly as they need to in order to represent the source. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. Kino Classics has held up pretty well with this audio track.
Special Features
- Trailers: The two-minute trailer for Fancy Pants is provided here. There are also trailers provided for Never Say Die, The Cat and The Canary, Road To Singapore, The Ghost Breakers, Road To Zanzibar, Caught In The Draft, Nothing But The Truth, My Favorite Blonde, Road To Morocco, Road To Utopia, Where There’s Life, The Paleface, Sorrowful Jones, Alias Jesse James and a KLSC Bob Hope Promo.
Final Thoughts
Fancy Pants is something of a mixed bag at the end of the day. Lucille Ball is a dynamic presence who elevates every scene she is in, but with Bob Hope as her scene partner she has to give up a lot of screen time to suit his character. Hope is not terrible by any means, as he is able to squeeze out a fair number of laughs in some outlandish situations, but he cannot rise to the level established by Ball. The plot is positively batty with so much deception, sarcasm and physicality that you barely have time to catch a breath. If you are a Bob Hope fan, you will probably be more receptive to this film than most. Kino Classics has released a new Blu-Ray featuring a solid A/V presentation but next to nothing in the way of special features. If you have a fondness for the stars, this may be worth a shot, but there are much better examples that represent this genre.
Fancy Pants is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
