'Son of Paleface is the sequel to the monstrously successful 1948 Bob Hope/ Jane Russel comedy/western 'Paleface'. Hope plays the son of his character from the first film, just out of Harvard he travels to California to collect his inheritance, only the chest his dad left him proves empty and there are angry creditors, bandits and Indians out to get him. Hope is aided by the sexy Jane Russell, playing a saloon singer who is secretly a redeemable bandit, and Roy Rogers who is a singing cowboy and secret government agent.
The film was directed and co-written by Frank Tashlin, who had earlier in his career written and directed for Warner Brothers animation department, which makes sense as this is basically a live action Looney Toon. Hope drinks some strong liquor and has a delayed reaction including smoke coming out of his ears and his head spinning around. He travels in an early automatable across the desert with a couple of vultures perched on the back of the car, when they cross through a 'mirage' of snow they come out the other side as penguins.
This was really a treat, quite different from and better then the original film. The cartoony comic sensibilities here really work for Hope, and I also apricated that the plot was not just a retread of the original film.***
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