''The Great Lover'' is a 1949

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

Rhonda Fleming Rhonda Fleming (born Marilyn Louis; August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020) was an American film and television actress and singer. She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most glamoro ...

, and

Roland Young Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

. In the film, a scout leader takes his troop on an ocean cruise, pursues a beautiful duchess and is stalked by a murderer. It is also known as ''Easy Does It'' and ''My Favourite Redhead''.

Plot

The film begins in a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

hotel where two American men drink

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

to celebrate their gambling wins. As the young man boasts, the old man strangles him from behind. The killer is identified almost instantly because of the signature napkin knot found around the victims throat - the signature of notorious card-playing killer C.J. Dabney. The police know his next victim will fit the pattern: a young American man. Despite the identification, the American detective Higgins pleads to the French police not to try to apprehend the perpetrator, because he wants to catch Dabney red-handed if possible. Just like Higgins guesses, Dabney soon finds a new victim, a newspaperman from Ohio, Freddie Hunter. Freddie is in Paris escorting eight young boy scouts - the Boy Foresters, but he plans to stay longer in France by deliberately missing the boat ride home to the U.S. He is looking for romance. As Freddie is leaving the ship, he literally bumps into the beautiful young Duchess Alexandria, and isn't as keen on leaving anymore. He find a bunk with the boys, who are led by the tallest boy, Stanley. The duchess travels with her father, the Grand Duke Maximilian, and their secret hope is to start a new life in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, since the family is bankrupt. Dabney, who is also on the ship, offers to introduce the clueless Freddie to the duchess. When Freddie meets Alexandria, he pretends to be a very wealthy man, and instantly falls head over heels for her. She has a few more drinks of champagne than intended and reciprocates his feelings. Freddie engages in a card game with the Grand Duke. As the scout bugler plays " Taps", Freddie has to run from the adult company to reach his bunk in time for lights out. In the morning he is woken by

Reveille "Reveille" ( , ), called in French "Le Réveil" is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise. The name comes from (or ), th ...

. Unaware that Dabney is a cardsharp, Freddie maintains his pose as a millionaire and enters into a running card game with him and Maximilian. Dabney continually deals Freddie a winning hand then deftly changes one card to create a losing hand after Freddie has bet. Freddie cannot smoke, since he has been caught smoking before by the troop-leader. The boy scouts catch him with smoking on the ship, and threaten to reveal this and get Freddie in trouble. They tell him to confess to Alexandria that he is poor. Freddie finds out that Alexandria doesn't have a penny to her name, and she laughs when she confesses she was going to ask him to lend her $1000. When he unexpectedly wins the card game, he discovers that Dabney has orchestrated the win and confronts him with this. Dabney is about to garotte Freddie when Higgins, who is also on the ship, interrupts, without revealing his identity as a detective. Later, Dabney murders Higgins and removes all evidence against himself, but not before the latter has warned Freddie to steer clear of Dabney. Dabney brings the ship authorities to Higgin's cabin and pretends to discover the murder and frame Freddie. When Alexandria learns from Dabney that Freddie is a fraud, she makes a fool out of him in front of all the boy scouts. Freddie escapes the murder room and hides in a lifeboat. The boy scouts have a ceremony and the bugler plays the

Last post The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infantry and Australian infantry regiments, or a D or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery (Royal Horse Artillery and Ro ...

as they think Freddie has jumped overboard. Little Tommy finds Freddie hiding in the ship's dog kennels and goes to get Alexandria. She believes Freddie when he tells the truth about Dabney, and goes in search of the evidence - a diary that Higgins wrote. Dabney catches her in Higgin's cabin and tries to kill her. Meanwhile Freddie is lowered on the anchor rope and almost eaten by a shark. When he gets back onboard he intervenes and rescues her from Dabney, becoming her hero of the day. They kiss in front of the boys.

Cast

as Freddie Hunter *

as Duchess Alexandria *

as C.J. Dabney *

Roland Culver Roland Joseph Culver, (31 August 1900 – 1 March 1984) was an English stage, film, and television actor. Life and career After Highgate School, he joined the Royal Air Force and served as a pilot from 1918 to 1919. After considering other c ...

as Grand Duke Maximillian * Richard Lyon as Stanley Wilson * Gary Gray as Tommy O'Connor * Jerry Hunter as Herbie * Jackie Jackson as Joe * Wright Esser as Steve * Orley Lindgren as Bill * Curtis Loys Jackson, Jr. as Humphrey *

George Reeves George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958). His death at age 45 from a g ...

as Williams *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

as Higgens *

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

as Himself (uncredited)

Radio adaptation

''The Great Lover'' was presented on ''

Screen Directors Playhouse ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcas ...

'' March 22, 1951. Hope and Fleming starred in the adaptation.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Lover, The 1949 films American black-and-white films Films directed by Alexander Hall 1949 comedy films American comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films