Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
classicsoncall
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.
stormhappy106
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
ksf-2
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.
bkoganbing
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.
