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Paris Holiday

  • 19581958
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
475
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Anita Ekberg, Bob Hope, Fernandel, and Martha Hyer in Paris Holiday (1958)
  • Action
  • Comedy
  • Romance
American actor, Bob Hunter, travels to Paris to purchase the rights to a highly sought after script, and meets his French counterpart Fernydel along the way, but a sinister organization seem... Read allAmerican actor, Bob Hunter, travels to Paris to purchase the rights to a highly sought after script, and meets his French counterpart Fernydel along the way, but a sinister organization seems to be targeting Hunter for a mysterious reason.American actor, Bob Hunter, travels to Paris to purchase the rights to a highly sought after script, and meets his French counterpart Fernydel along the way, but a sinister organization seems to be targeting Hunter for a mysterious reason.
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
475
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Gerd Oswald
  • Writers
    • Bob Hope(story)
    • Edmund Beloin
    • Dean Riesner
  • Stars
    • Bob Hope
    • Fernandel
    • Anita Ekberg
Top credits
  • Director
    • Gerd Oswald
  • Writers
    • Bob Hope(story)
    • Edmund Beloin
    • Dean Riesner
  • Stars
    • Bob Hope
    • Fernandel
    • Anita Ekberg
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 12User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos6

    Anita Ekberg, Bob Hope, Fernandel, and Martha Hyer in Paris Holiday (1958)
    Anita Ekberg, Bob Hope, Fernandel, and Martha Hyer in Paris Holiday (1958)
    Anita Ekberg, Bob Hope, and Fernandel in Paris Holiday (1958)
    Bob Hope and Fernandel in Paris Holiday (1958)
    Anita Ekberg and Bob Hope in Paris Holiday (1958)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bob Hope
    Bob Hope
    • Robert Leslie Hunteras Robert Leslie Hunter
    Fernandel
    Fernandel
    • Fernydelas Fernydel
    Anita Ekberg
    Anita Ekberg
    • Zaraas Zara
    Martha Hyer
    Martha Hyer
    • Ann McCallas Ann McCall
    Preston Sturges
    Preston Sturges
    • Serge Vitryas Serge Vitry
    André Morell
    André Morell
    • American Ambassadoras American Ambassador
    Alan Gifford
    Alan Gifford
    • American Consulas American Consul
    Maurice Teynac
    • Doctor Bernaisas Doctor Bernais
    Yves Brainville
    • Inspector Dupontas Inspector Dupont
    Jean Murat
    Jean Murat
    • Judgeas Judge
    Charles Bouillaud
    • Porteras Porter
    • (uncredited)
    Jean Daurand
      Gil Delamare
      Gil Delamare
        Marcel Pérès
        Marcel Pérès
        • Institute guardas Institute guard
        • (uncredited)
        Roger Tréville
        Roger Tréville
        • Patientas Patient
        • (uncredited)
        Irène Tunc
        Irène Tunc
        • Shipboard Lovelyas Shipboard Lovely
        • (uncredited)
        Hans Verner
        Hans Verner
        • Gangsteras Gangster
        • (uncredited)
        Paul Violette
        • Institute guardas Institute guard
        • (uncredited)
        • Director
          • Gerd Oswald
        • Writers
          • Bob Hope(story)
          • Edmund Beloin
          • Dean Riesner
        • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
        • All cast & crew

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        Storyline

        Edit
        American comedian Bob Hunter, on a luxury liner to France with French counterpart Fernandel, takes an interest in blonde diplomat Ann McCall while pursued by an even shapelier blonde, the mysterious Zara, who seems to be after something in Bob's possession. But he's only going to France to obtain rights to a new play...so what are Zara and her sinister boss after? The pursuit, amorous and larcenous, continues in Paris and escalates into a full-fledged comedy thriller. —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
        • transatlantic voyage
        • comedian
        • counterfeiting
        • female spy
        • place name in title
        • 31 more
        • Plot summary
        • Add synopsis
        • Taglines
          • The Comedy Team Of The Century
        • Genres
          • Action
          • Comedy
          • Romance
        • Certificate
          • Approved
        • Parents guide
          • Add content advisory

        Did you know

        Edit
        • Trivia
          One of the few films that alternates first billing during the credits. Each of the four principal stars takes his/her turn at the top while the other three appear beneath them. The prolonged sequence begins and ends with Bob Hope's name first.
        • Goofs
          Bob Hope was credited as a writer in the titles as Robert Hope. His real name was not Robert - it was Leslie Townes Hope.
        • Quotes

          [Looking around Paris]

          Robert Leslie Hunter: I ought to buy a lot here. This could catch on.

        • Crazy credits
          The film's title, producer and director credits come at the four minute mark, after cast, credits and opening scenes have already been shown.
        • Connections
          Featured in American Masters: Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer (1990)
        • Soundtracks
          PARIS HOLIDAY
          Music by Jimmy Van Heusen

          Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

          Sung behind credits by chorus

        User reviews12

        Review
        Top review
        5/10
        Slight comedy provides glimpse of French funnyman
        It should have been funnier.

        It had the right cast: Bob Hope in the sort of part he could believably play, that of clever, self-aware, ham entertainer "Bob Hunter"; Grace-Kelly-esque Martha Hyer as his classy, hard-to-get love interest "Ann McCall"; shapely Anita Ekberg as "Zara," a mysterious spy whose strange interest in Bob complicates (among other things) the hapless comedian's attempts at romancing Ann; and funny-faced Frenchman Fernandel as "Fernydel," Hunter's Gallic counterpart/rival/friend in the story's adventures.

        And the plot had potential. There was mystery (why does a spy ring seem determined to keep Bob Hunter from acquiring a script from a famous French playwright?), romance (as endearingly un-suave Hunter slowly wins his sophisticated lady), and comic relief (in the exchange of one-upmanship between friendly rivals Fernydel and Hunter). Throw in the classic cruise-ship setting which begins the film, plus several car (and other vehicle) chases through Paris and its environs at the film's climax, and you have a diverting hour and a half of film, right?

        Well, more or less. The film's comic potential is never *quite* realized, in large part because the scenes with real screwball potential simply move too slowly. Case in point: a courtroom scene in which non-Anglophone Fernydel is called to testify to Bob Hunter's sanity. The trial is conducted in English, and as the Frenchman "defends" his American friend by proudly trotting out all the "hep cat" slang the latter has taught him ("crazy," "out of this world," "the living end"), he only makes things worse. But the sort of snappy pace that gives that crucial edge to linguistic-confusion routines (think "Who's on first?") is utterly absent. And in another scene, in which the baddies chase Hope, Hyer, and Fernandel through an amusement park, it's just too dark to properly make out their antics.

        Still, the film served its purpose for me: I bought it to see the celebrated Fernandel in his only American movie role of which I am aware. Without English, the Frenchman could not have played many parts accessible to a mainstream American audience, and in this movie his role is perfectly designed to get around that difficulty. He essentially plays a broad caricature of himself, with the usual stereotype of the Frenchman-as-eternal-romantic thrown in for good measure.

        Oh, and there's a funny "in joke" for those who know a little bit about Fernandel. The role for which he is best remembered in Europe is that of "Don Camillo," the fiesty priest in a series of well-loved films based on Giovanni Guareschi's stories. And when, in "Paris Holiday," his character dons a cassock in an attempt to sneak into a place where Hope's being held prisoner, it's as if Don Camillo is making a brief cameo here.
        helpful•12
        3
        • philosophymom
        • Dec 5, 1998

        Details

        Edit
        • Release date
          • May 9, 1958 (United States)
        • Countries of origin
          • Switzerland
          • United States
        • Languages
          • French
          • English
        • Also known as
          • Falsches Geld und echte Kurven
        • Filming locations
          • Paris, France
        • Production company
          • Tolda Productions
        • See more company credits at IMDbPro

        Box office

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        • Gross worldwide
          • $2,100,109
        See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

        Technical specs

        Edit
        • Runtime
          1 hour 43 minutes
        • Aspect ratio
          • 2.35 : 1

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        Anita Ekberg, Bob Hope, Fernandel, and Martha Hyer in Paris Holiday (1958)
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