A bumbling barber in the court of King Louis XV becomes engaged in political intrigue when he masquerades as a dashing nobleman engaged to the princess of Spain.A bumbling barber in the court of King Louis XV becomes engaged in political intrigue when he masquerades as a dashing nobleman engaged to the princess of Spain.A bumbling barber in the court of King Louis XV becomes engaged in political intrigue when he masquerades as a dashing nobleman engaged to the princess of Spain.
- Swordsman
- (uncredited)
- Women Who Gets Dress Ripped Off
- (uncredited)
- Court Jester
- (uncredited)
- Wife
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its initial television broadcast took place in Seattle Saturday 29 November 1958 on KIRO (Channel 7); it first aired in Boston Wednesday 4 February 1959 on WBZ (Channel 4) and in Minneapolis Sunday 8 February 1959 on WTCN (Channel 11), and as it slowly spread across the USA, it was not long before it became a popular local favorite. In Milwaukee it first aired Sunday 12 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), in Denver 18 May 1959 on KBTV (Channel 9), in St. Louis 23 May 1959 on KMOX (Channel 4), in Chicago 10 October 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2), in Phoenix 28 November on KVAR (Channel 12), in Philadelphia 5 December 1959 on WCAU (Channel 10), in San Francisco 27 December 1959 on KPIX (Channel 5), in Pittsburgh 14 January 1960 on KDKA (Channel 2), in Des Moines 27 January 1960 on WHO (Channel 13), in Wichita 29 January 1960 on KTVH (Channel 12), and in Toledo 15 February 1960 on WTOL (Channel 11). It was released on DVD 8 October 2002 in tandem with Where There's Life (1947) as part of Universal's Bob Hope: The Tribute Collection, and again as a single 30 October 2015 as part of the Universal Vault Series.
- GoofsReferences are made to the guillotine as a means of execution. The guillotine was not invented until the reign of King Louis XVI.
- Quotes
Mimi: Oh, you're so right. One look is enough.
Monsieur Beaucaire: That regal forehead runs in the family.
Mimi: The Hapsburg chin!
Monsieur Beaucaire: Got that from my mother.
Mimi: The Bourbon nose!
Monsieur Beaucaire: Got that from my father, drank like a fish!
Mimi: Those dark, flashing eyes - that soft lustrous hair!
Monsieur Beaucaire: You should see it after a rinse!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Bob Hope at 100 (2003)
The Valentino version is a straight dramatic part about a Parisian barber in the court of Louis XV pretending to be a nobleman. Rudy was at his most romantic in the role and it was one of his biggest hits in the Twenties.
Bob Hope's Monsieur Beaucaire finds Bob as a barber at Versailles in the court of Louis XV and worried about the romantic intentions of his sweetheart, scullery maid Joan Caulfield. Cole Porter wrote it best that Caulfield is true to Hope in her fashion, but she's an ambitious girl who knows what it takes to get ahead in the court. She aspires to be Madame Pompadour who is played here by Hillary Brooke.
Due to a set of circumstances way too complex to write about, Hope and Caulfield both get themselves banished, mainly because of Hope's fantasies and both get themselves involved in the politics between France and Spain where a royal marriage is being arranged to the dismay of both participants, Marjorie Reynolds for the Spanish and Patric Knowles for the French.
Playing the puppet-master in all the intrigue is Joseph Schildkraut who shows a real flair for comedy. His final duel with Hope ranks right up there with one Hope engaged in with Basil Rathbone in Cassanova's Big Night.
Rounding out a wonderful cast of supporting players are Howard Freeman as the King of Spain and Reginald Owen and Constance Collier as the King and Queen of France. You don't doubt why Louis has Madame Pompadour around when you take one look at the Queen.
By the way Joseph Schildkraut comes to one of the most satisfying ends a villain ever got in film. You'll have to see Monsieur Beaucaire and laugh all the way through to see what happens.
- bkoganbing
- Sep 27, 2007
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1