BOB HOPE - ROBERT WAGNER - NATALIE WOOD - BING CROSBY

Partly because the guests deliver their lines strongly without cracking up at what Bob throws at them, this show rocks. Bob cracks that being sponsored by an outboard motor company here affected him so much “I dreamt that I have to pull my tie to get my head started.“ He remarks that “The Oscar nominations are out. So am I.“ Bob says he begged Paramount to call his last picture “Bridge Over Beau James“ to qualify. His old foil is expecting a baby, so “Crosby’s getting an award for the best supporting role in an independent production.“ Bob gets past the censor before a very good sketch with Natalie Wood as a love-struck fan of Bob, a matinee idol popular throughout North America. She hides herself inside a TV and pretends to be a spokesman before Bob’s butler whisks her out. “That’s the first time a television set left the room during a commercial!“ Bob jests.