Fancy Pants (1950)

Although Fancy Pants is not as good as its source, Ruggles of Red Gap, it's still an entertaining, sometimes silly way to pass an hour and a half. Pants does present a good case study of how Hollywood did (and still does) deal with obstacles. The basic premise of Ruggles offers the potential for some classic Bob Hope gags. But since Ruggles is built around an English butler, and since Hope's well-established persona would prevent an audience from accepting him as a legitimate Englishman, what is one to do? The answer is to make Hope an actor (a lousy one, of course) who is only pretending to be an Englishman. In the right hands, this could make for a very interesting exploration of reality and deception that still has a great deal of humor. That doesn't happen here, with the creators instead opting for a standard issue "throw in the gags and crazy situations" approach, which makes Pants a fairly scattershot affair. Fortunately, Hope and Lucille Ball are around and in delicious form, so they manage to make up for the screenplay's shortcomings, including a curiously weak climax, and George Marshall directs with maximum speed to help paper over defects. And there are quite a few moments that work like gangbusters. Pants doesn't hold together, but it's a good old fun time that allows viewers to bask in the glow of a great pair of comedic talents. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide