Lemon Drop Kid

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Damon Runyon's Broadway fable The Lemon Drop Kid was filmed twice by Paramount Pictures, but only the 1934 version with Lee Tracy paid more than lip service to the original Runyon story. The second version, filmed in 1951, was completely retooled to accommodate the talents of Bob Hope. Known far and wide as the Lemon Drop Kid because of his fondness for that particular round, yellow confection, Hope is a bookie who finds himself deeply in debt to Florida gangster Fred Clark. Magnanimously, Clark permits Hope to head to New York to raise the money--but he'd better have the dough ready by Christmas, or else. Ever on the lookout for Number One, Hope decides to exploit the Christmas spirit in order to get the money together. With the help of unsuspecting nightclub-singer Marilyn Maxwell, Hope sets up a charity fund to raise money for an "Old Doll's Home"--that is, a home for down-and-out little old ladies. He claims to be doing this on behalf of big-hearted Jane Darwell, but he has every intention of double-crossing Darwell and all the other elderly women by skipping town with the charity funds and leaving them at the mercy of the authorities. By the time Hope has seen the error of his ways and tries to do right by the old dolls, Maxwell's boss Lloyd Nolan has decided to muscle into the racket by using the ladies' home as a front for a gambling casino. To set things right, Hope finds it necessary to disguise himself as a fussy old spinster at one point. The best line in the film goes to William Frawley, playing one of many Broadway toughs who are being pressed into service as street-corner Santas. "Will you bring me a doll for Christmas?" asks a little girl. "Naw, my doll's workin' Christmas Eve" is Frawley's salty reply. The Lemon Drop Kid is the film in which Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell introduced the enduring Yuletide ballad "Silver Bells", written (reportedly in a real hurry) by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Features:
  • • Interactive menus
    • Scene access
    • Bob Hope biography/filmography
    • Audio: Dolby Digital Mono

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Sidney Lanfield

• Producer:

  Robert L. Welch

• Screenwriter:

  Edmund L. Hartmann, Robert O'Brien, Frank Tashlin

• Screen Story:

  Edmund Beloin

• Cinematographer:

  Daniel L. Fapp

• Composer (Music Score):

  Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, Victor Young

• Editor:

  Archie Marshek

• Art Director:

  Franz Bachelin, Hal Pereira

• Costume Designer:

  Edith Head

• Short Story Author:

  Damon Runyon

REVIEW:

• Although often understandably classified as a "holiday movie," The Lemon Drop Kid is actually an enjoyable little flick for any time of the year. Mixing with Bob Hope with Damon Runyan is a tricky combination, but it works well here. Certainly, in some ways Hope is a good fit for Runyan, as he's both appealing and underhanded, with a layer of selfishness, cowardice and egotism on top of the goodness beneath. But Hope's rapid-fire joke style is not a natural fit with the characteristic Runyan dialogue style. The two aren't totally reconciled in Kid, but the friction they sometimes create actually works to the film's advantage, painting Hope as something of an outsider -- a take that's not inaccurate when discussing the character's inner life. It also helps that the writers have supplied Hope with some good gags this time, and he delivers them in very fine form. Having lovely Marilyn Maxwell and dependable comics Fred Clark and William Frawley along is also a bonus, as are Lloyd Nolan and Jane Darwell. And then there's the immortal "Silver Bells," a timeless paean to big city Christmases, which certainly adds to the fun -- especially in Frawley's amusing take on it. While not one of Hope's absolutely best pictures, Kid is still very good entertainment. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi