While onboard a ship traveling to America, Sylvester the Great (Bob Hope), the worst actor in the world, meets Princess Margaret (Virginia Mayo), who is masquerading as a commoner to avoid an unwanted marriage. When the ship is attacked by the pirate The Hook (Victor McLaglen), Sylvester disguises himself as a woman to survive. With the help of Featherhead (Walter Brennan), an insane pirate, he escapes with the princess only to be captured by corrupt Governor La Roche (Walter Slezak). Now he must escape from them both.
In the ’40s and early ’50s, Bob Hope starred in a series of genre spoofs, playing essentially the same character. It didn’t matter if it was a spy film, a western, or a French costume drama, he played a very modern (for the ’40s), fast-talking coward. The tone was always the same; only the scenery changed (studio logic: if one is a success, why change the formula?). But this was in that faraway time when Hope was funny. It’s easy to forget that such a time existed, considering his movies and specials in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, which often unintentionally parodied his earlier work.
The Princess and the Pirate was Hope’s most lavish flick, costing three times the norm for a comedy, and filmed in Technicolor. Constructed as a traditional pirate movie, the sword fights are passable, and the sets and ship battles would have been suitable for a swashbuckling epic. If they’d rewritten the lead for Stewart Granger or Tyrone Power, and made a few other adjustments, it could have ended up as a colorful action picture.
Of course it isn’t an action picture, but a Hope vehicle, and that says just about everything. He’s in top form here, rattling off one-liners without taking a breath and mugging for the camera. If you like his shtick, you’ll have lots to enjoy here. If not, all the adventure, captured in vivid blues and reds, won’t change your mind.
He’s supported by a better than average cast. The hulking McLaglen and portly Slezak are excellent villains, playing it straight, but with a twinkle. I’m sure Slezak must have portrayed something other than a sleazy official in his career, but he does it so well I can’t think of him as anything else. Mayo is pretty enough, which is all she needs. She isn’t given much to do except stand beside Hope and occasionally squeeze in a line between his jokes.
The Princess and the Pirate is a good time, but doesn’t stand out from other Hope outings such as Monsieur Beaucaire, My Favorite Brunette, and The Paleface. They are pretty much all the same, and the jokes get old after seeing one or two. The exception is the 1951 Christmas classic, The Lemon Drop Kid, where the script takes precedence over the adlibs.