Just perfect...

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

In this one, Bob Hope is Beaucaire, the French barber to the king. Beaucaire is in love with the maid Mimi, played by Joan Caulfield. Mimi has bigger ambitions, and gives him the brush off. Part of the joke here is that Hope disparages the king, the queen, and the royalty in general quite openly, when in real life, he would quickly be punished for it. Fun scene near the beginning where Beaucaire helps to hide Madam Pompadour, while pretending to give the Duke a shave. I was never a fan of period pieces, and if this weren't a Hope project, I probably would have turned it off. Mimi is sent off to Spain, and the real Duke, and Beaucaire dressed as the Duke end up there a well. Some fun recognizable faces in here... Cecil Kellaway, Reginald Owen, and Constance Collier for supporting cast. The musical numbers were completely un-necessary, and should have been eliminated. It's a grand adventure, with more meat on the bones that most of Hope's quick little comedies. The sword fight at the end goes on way too long. This one is okay. Not Hope's best. Directed by George Marshall. They had worked together on numerous films.

Bob Hope traipses up the palace gallery to be presented to the king—he is posing as a duke. Using a lorgnette, he can't see where he's going, and he gradually veers off to one side and stumbles into a lady kneeling on the floor and tumbles over her, knocking down about three other people….It's a ridiculously funny sequence.Hope is Beaucaire, a court barber in costume-era France. He gets mixed up in court politics and intrigue; poses as the Duc le Chandre, renowned lover and duelist; and chases after his girlfriend Mimi—who may or may not reciprocate his romantic feelings but certainly has adventures of her own. The entire cast is lively and beautiful in this very funny picture. Joan Caulfield as Mimi is bright, charming and silly; Marjorie Reynolds as a Spanish princess is lovely. Patric Knowles is dashing enough as the notorious duke—he is the perfect choice (King Louis thinks) to be shipped off to marry said Spanish princess, not only for political reasons but because all the "young bloods" in Paris will be happy to be rid of him. Cecil Kellaway is the harried count whose difficult duty it is to transport the reluctant duke to the arranged wedding site. Reginald Owen is hilariously un-regal as King Louis, and owns every scene he is in. Other highlights include a goofy palace swordfight between Hope and villain Joseph Schildkraut that involves a harp, a bass fiddle, and a harpsichord. Funny and fast-paced….A couple of decent songs and the usual assortment of Hope one-liners add up to a very enjoyable picture.

Bob Hope had a great talent for making mediocre lines sound funny. Here the lines he delivers are actually as hilarious as his delivery.He actually does some quite decent acting in this one. The character of the barber Beaucaire is more romantic and less cynical than the comedian Hope.Hope has surrounded himself with some of the most talented people in Hollywood. Cinematographer Lionel Lindon was nominated three times for an Oscar and won once with "Around the World in 80 Days." Film Editor Arthur P. Schmidt was nominated twice (for "Sayonara" and "Sunset Blvd.") Composer Robert Dolan was nominated 8 times between 1942 and 1947. Sadly, he never won. He should have been nominated for this movie, but he was already nominated for "Blue Skys" in 1946. Art Director, Hans Dreier, was nominated 20 times and won 4 Oscars. He should have been nominated for this movie, but he already had two other nominations in 1946. Set Decorator, Sam Comer was nominated 22 times and also won 4 Oscars. Male Costume Designer Giles Steele got 4 nominations and won twice. Mary Kay Dobson. who did the exquisite gowns in this film, was never nominated, but she should have won an Oscar for the fantastic four foot wide hooped skirts the women wear.Hope was never nominated for an Oscar, but this is the one movie where I think his performance merited consideration.Joan Caulfield, in only her second film, is dazzling. As Mimi, Beaucaire's love interest, she is hilarious and has excellent chemistry with Hope. The same year, she played the love interest of both Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby in "Blue Skys". Everybody else in the cast is just delightful.The funniest scene is when Beaucaire meets the King of Spain. Beaucaire is pretending to be an aristocrat. He is told to act "distainful" When they meet, Beaucaire and the King just glare at each other through lorngettes (opera glasses).Second funniest is when Beaucaire gets exposed as a barber and slapped. The king tells him to slap the fellow back. "Everybody is entitled to his opinion," answers Hope meekly, "Why if I had a sword..." A lackey offers his sword to Hope, who quickly pushes him away, saying, "Mind your own business." If you're in the mood for a wonderful and sweet old romantic comedy, put across by some of the most talented people in the golden age of Hollywood, don't miss it.

Some current film fans with a perfunctory knowledge of cinema stars of the past will be shocked to learn that Rudolph Valentino and Bob Hope played the same title role in two different versions of Booth Tarkington's Monsieur Beaucaire. Of course you can believe there's a vast difference in the version.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.