This time capsule collection of footage from Bob Hope's 1967 USO tours features performances by Raquel Welch, Barbara McNair, Les Brown and his Band of Renown and a bevy of beautiful starlets. It's interesting to note that these shows are what the 1991 Bette Midler film, For The Boys were based on. Watching Hope's monologues gives you a window into the unpopular pro-war point of view of the time and seeing the boys is both heart warming and heart breaking at the same time.
This film is apparently in public domain, but is still available on DVD and can be seen in full on YouTube. The entire production is above, uploaded by thefilmarchive.
Obscurity factor: 8 (available on YouTube and DVD, well remembered in theory but not practice)
I worked on a much later Hope Christmas special - filmed in San Antonio. He was barely lucid at the time - the family milked that for as long as they could. I also did a bit of scouting on "For the Boys" - the end result is a bit disappointing. And Martha Raye WAS correct - they were inspired by her involvement with Hope during the wars...
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. This particular special brings to mind the tragic later scene in the film.
ReplyDeleteI remember the issue that Martha Raye had with Bette Midler regarding "For the Boys." What I could not understand is why Bette did not give Martha credit. What would it have hurt? It would also have been the right thing to do. Does anyone have any insight into that?
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