Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!

Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
Theatrical release poster.
Directed byGeorge Marshall
Screenplay byGeorge Kennett
Albert E. Lewin
Burt Styler
Story byGeorge Beck
Produced byEdward Small
StarringBob Hope
Elke Sommer
Phyllis Diller
Cesare Danova
Marjorie Lord
CinematographyLionel Lindon
Edited byGrant Whytock
Music byWilliam "By" Dunham
Richard LaSalle
Production
company
Edward Small Productions
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • June 8, 1966 (1966-06-08)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
Box office$4.3 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1]

Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! is a 1966 American DeLuxe Color comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Bob Hope, Elke Sommer and Phyllis Diller. It was written by George Kennett, Albert E. Lewin and Burt Styler from a story by George Beck.

This film was the first of three film collaborations for Hope and Diller, and was followed by Eight on the Lam (1967) and The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968).[2]

Plot

French actress Didi has become more famous for bubble bath commercials than her acting. She runs away for a while to Oregon, where she encounters middle-aged married realtor Tom Meade who agrees to assist her, and becomes enmeshed in various complications when he and his wacky housekeeper try to hide her from his wife and the public.

Everyone is convinced Meade and Didi are having an affair. He is suspected of murdering her when neighbors see him carrying her half-dressed body - she had taken too many sleeping pills and Meade was putting her to bed. A police chase ends with cars plowing into a soap factory, with all concerned emerging from a cloud of suds and Didi's career Svengali finally agreeing that she needs a vacation from bubble baths.

Cast

Production

The film was Bob Hope's second with Edward Small.[3] Filming started in October 1965.[4] It marked Phyllis Diller's film debut as a lead – she signed for five more pictures with Hope.[5]

Reception

With Bob Hope's film career on the downswing by the '60s, Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! was critically panned and compared to a "90-minute TV sitcom".[6]

The critic for The New York Times drew parallels with Up in Mabel's Room which Edward Small had made twenty years previously.[7] Reviews were poor.[8] However it performed well at the box office. Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! was listed in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, January 4, 1967 p 8
  2. ↑ "Feature Film/TV Episode/Video/TV Movie/TV Special/TV Mini-Series/Documentary/Video Game/Short Film, with Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller (Sorted by Year Ascending)". IMDb.
  3. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (August 2, 1965). "Star of 'Luv' Called Genius". Los Angeles Times. p. d17.
  4. ↑ Martin, Betty (August 11, 1965). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Train Wreck Derails Film". Los Angeles Times. p. d12.
  5. ↑ Clifford, Terry. (May 1, 1966). "'Wrong Number' Starts Diller in Films". Chicago Tribune. p. g15.
  6. ↑ JEFFREY COUCHMAN (May 6, 1979). "Bob Hope: More Than A Gagster?: Bob Hope: More Than A Gagster?". New York Times. p. 85.
  7. ↑ "Bob Hope and 'A Wrong Number'". New York Times. June 9, 1966. p. 52.
  8. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (June 15, 1966). "lke Sommer, Gags Bubble in Hope's 'Wrong Number'". Los Angeles Times. p. d14.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.