Critic’s Choice *** (1963, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Maxwell, Rip Torn, Jessie Royce Landis, Jim Backus, Marie Windsor, John Dehner) – Classic Movie Review 9191

Director Don Weis’s 1963 comedy Critic’s Choice perhaps would not be every critic’s choice, but still it should not be overlooked by fans of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, who make a good team and raise a lot of laughs.

Critic’s Choice  is a toned down version of Ira Levin’s play about a ‘butcher of Broadway’, New York theatre critic Parker Ballantine (Bob Hope), who agonises over whether to review his wife Angela (Lucille Ball)’s first show, and then gives it the thumbs down, threatening their marriage.

You can see this Broadway satire would work better on stage, but most of the wit is still there, and the fine team of character actors prove their worth.

Also in the cast are Marilyn Maxwell, Rip Torn, Jessie Royce Landis, Jim Backus, Marie Windsor, John Dehner, Ricky Kalman, Dorothy Green, Evan McCord, Richard Deacon, Joan Shawlee and Jerome Cowan.

Critic’s Choice is directed by Don Weis, runs 100 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Jack Sher, based on Ira Levin’s play, is shot by Charles Lang, is produced by Frank P Rosenberg, and is scored by George Duning and Arthur Morton.

It is the last of four films Bob Hope and Lucille Ball made together, including Sorrowful Jones (1949), Fancy Pants (1950) and The Facts of Life (1960). Lucille Ball’s last TV appearance was with Bob Hope in 1989 on the 62nd Academy Awards, announcing the nominations and winner of Best Picture.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9191

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