The Princess and the Pirate

1944
Approved
1h 34m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Bob Hope and Virginia Mayo in The Princess and the Pirate (1944)

A cowardly actor and a runaway princess are voyaging on a ship that is captured by a notorious pirate who recently buried his treasure on a secretly mapped island.A cowardly actor and a runaway princess are voyaging on a ship that is captured by a notorious pirate who recently buried his treasure on a secretly mapped island.A cowardly actor and a runaway princess are voyaging on a ship that is captured by a notorious pirate who recently buried his treasure on a secretly mapped island.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

2.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 nominations total

Trivia
Samuel Goldwyn paid Paramount $133,500 to borrow Bob Hope for twelve weeks. During that time, Hope made this film and They Got Me Covered (1943). As part of the deal, Paramount also got the services of Goldwyn contractee Gary Cooper for the lead in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943).

Goofs
When The Hook's ship is attacking The Mary Ann, it is flying the Skull & Crossbones. Soon after that it is seen being raised.

Quotes
Princess Margaret: I hear there are pirates in these waters.
Sylvester: Yeah? Well, let them stay in the water, they're dangerous on ships!

Crazy credits
Opening credits prologue: Many, many years ago there sailed the Seven Seas the most bloodthirsty buccaneer in history. Ruthless and daring he was, and, though his soul was black with foul deeds, he feared no creature, living or dead.

Because he had an iron claw for a right hand, this terror of the ocean lanes was known as . . .

THE HOOK

Connections
Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997)

Soundtracks
Kiss Me in the Moonlight
by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson
Performed by Virginia Mayo (dubbed by Louanne Hogan) (uncredited)

User reviews41

Review

Featured review

8/10

Top-notch Hope comedy, one of his best

Bob Hope and Virginia Mayo star in this hilarious comedy about a tenth-rate actor who gets mixed up with beautiful women, corrupt politicians, pirates and treasure maps. Hope really looks like he's enjoying himself, and when you get a load of Virginia Mayo, you'll see why. She has never looked more ravishing--the gorgeous Technicolor photography actually works better for her than it did for Maureen O'Hara, who was known as "The Queen of Technicolor"--and shows an unexpected flair for comedy. Victor McLaglen seems to be having a blast as the evil pirate The Hook, Walter Slezak plays the crooked governor in another one of his fine oily villain performances, and Walter Brennan is a scream as a crazed pirate who takes a shine to Hope. Some hilarious comic routines--especially one where Hope pretends to be The Hook--and several surprisingly good action scenes, which you don't often see in comedies, make this one of Hope's best pictures without Bing Crosby (well, for the most part). Don't miss it.