Word: nincompoop
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Alias Jesse James (Hope Enterprises; United Artists), for moviegoers who have almost given up Hope, is a pleasant surprise: a Bob Hope farce that is actually funny, and sometimes downright hilarious. Comic Hope is cast as "the world's worst insurance agent," a 19th century nincompoop who caps his career by writing a $100,000 insurance policy for a man who avers that he is "well known in railroad and banking circles." Only later does Hope realize that he has insured the life of the nation's No. 1 public enemy: Jesse James (Wendell Corey...
...commendable as Cassandra, although she needed more variety of voice. William Harris, as Cressida's father, suffered most from overacting and a reliance on stick gestures. The Prince Regent, Hector, was strongly reminiscent of Marshall Tito, but needed a more imperial air. Paris was overplayed as an asinine nincompoop by Gardiner Tillson. Among the minor characters were three very good Palace soldiers of which Sol Schwade was outstanding...
...sustain as Lovey's pretense of blindness; at times, the writing is as stiffly convoluted as a plastic funeral wreath. It is, nevertheless, a sprightly blend of social satire and comedy -and an engaging record of a Tomboy Sawyer's struggle to find her bearings in the nincompoop latitudes...
...Spider) Crompton, a British expert, strikes a sprightly middle course. In a new book, Ways of the Ant (Houghton Mifflin; $3.50), he declares that ants, banded together in communities, have evolved emotions, "discipline and intelligence of a high order," even though the individual ant may be a nincompoop compared to a go-it-alone housefly. Some of Author Crompton's evidence...
...Hartmans, of course, are capable of surmounting even poor material. Grace, as a garrulous feather-brained nincompoop, is always amusing. Paul Hartman says very little, but he does carry off honors for being the most energetic mugger, as well as the most hilariously ungraceful entertainer on Broadway. When the two get together to parody the modern dance ("Symbol of Fire") the result is most definitely worth seeing...