This was the effective end to Bob Hope ’s film career (his later films are all but unwatchable) and even with the routine megging from Don Weis & a script that feels bowdlerized from it's B'way source, it holds up better than you expect it to. Bob’s a remarried father & theater reviewer whose wife, Lucille Ball, decides to write a play. Will he help her write it or wait to review it? The conventions of commercial ‘60s B’way comedy were stale even then, but Ball & Hope certainly know how to play within the form. The bright proscenium look of the filming (Charles Lang’s lensing hasn’t a wisp of shading) and the ‘hit-your-marks’ supporting cast (Rip Torn, Richard Deacon, Jerome Cowan) emphasize the stage origins which actually helps in this case. Lucy is particularly fine, but she sure wears a helluva lot of makeup in bed.
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