For me this is one of the rare occasions where a sequel trumps the first and previous instalment, comedy as we all know his very varied and we all see different things that make us laugh, and until now I have only given the highest rating I can to a handful of comedies, but this film is just flawless comedic entertainment to me, a laugh riot indeed.
Here Bob Hope plays the son of Painless Peter Potter from the first film, and the plot involves him going West to claim his Fathers inheritance. Naturally he gets involved in a number of shenanigans that sees him being hounded by the whole town for his Fathers debts. He gets embroiled in the midst of a wanted gang of robbers, and of course he has the sizzling Jane Russell making his heart go giddy up. On and on it goes as the film delivers for laughs every cliché from the Western genre, lynch mobs, Indians on the attack, ghost town, hidden gold, sexy gals, heroes and villains, it's all in there for a laugh a minute satirical piece of work. Added bonus here is we get Roy Rogers and the irrepressible Trigger joining in the fun, in fact Trigger steals a scene of Hope and himself in bed,! yes it's that sort of film. The gags are faster than the rifles on show and the film only pauses for breath for us to sample some quite wonderful tunes; California Rose, Wing-Ding Tonight, What A Dirty Shame, Four Legged Friend, Am I In Love and a brilliant reworking of Buttons & Bows from the first film, it's as good a 95 minutes entertainment I could wish to have from a film, 10/10 for me always.
Bobe Hope, RIP legend.