classicsoncall I consider myself a Bob Hope fan but this film doesn't begin to explain the reason why. The comedian I remember enjoying was the one who made the Road movies with partner in crime Bing Crosby as well as the Master of Ceremonies who entertained American troops in far flung places around the world. This movie only goes to prove that there was once a time when films like this were considered entertainment, and maybe even funny. What a difference half a century makes.You can't blame it all on the cast either. There was some genuine talent here with Hope and comedienne Phyllis Diller, but Diller seemed dubiously cast as housekeeper to the Meades (Bob Hope and Marjorie Lord), and even though she had some funny banter with Hope's character, most of the rest was just tedious. Now Elke Sommer - back in the day one would say that she put the words 'va va' and 'voom' together but you couldn't tell she was an actress here. But that's not what she was here for anyway. The film makers managed to find ways to keep her in various stages of undress throughout the picture, but not in a salacious way. In fact she seemed rather wholesome, if that's the right word, most of the time.Now I'm sure this film had no influence on a movie favorite of a decade later, but didn't anyone else find it odd that a family dinner table scene at the Meade's featured the Divine Didi (Sommer) doing an Obi-Wan-Kenobi take-off? That one just blew me away and if I could have rewound the scene I would have, but I was watching the picture on cable. Funny how those little things get my attention.Anyway, Hope and Diller fans might get a kick out of this one. I just checked the stats on Marjorie Lord and I'm now rooting for her to make it to a hundred years old as I write this. Before that, I was wondering what she would have to say about that enormous beehive hair-do she had to sport throughout the picture. The thing was big enough to make room for daddy.

jackbuckley278 I just watched this film after taping it among several others from TCM's recent Bob Hope movie marathon. I saw it originally in a downtown theater here as a kid with my parents and sisters in the summer of 1966. I didn't see it again until about 20 years later, upon renting a copy of it from a local video store. My viewing of it the other night made it almost another 20 years since I'd last seen it. I'm a huge Bob Hope fan, so in my eyes he can do no wrong. Although it has its critics, one must realize the context of the times in which "Number" was made. Sex farces were all the rage in the 60's, especially smack-dab in the middle of the decade, when this film was released. Bob appeared regularly throughout each TV season on his NBC specials, and they always got huge ratings, especially his annual Christmas shows from Vietnam. The release of a new Bob Hope movie was a cause for celebration, especially in the long, hot summers of those days. Yes, "Number" essentially is an elongated TV sketch, but it presented a mildly risqué plot in which Bob had to deal with a world-famous sex kitten who suddenly disrupts his life as a married-with-2-children, middle-class realtor, who's experiencing a sales slump. He decides to use runaway movie star Didi as a promotional point for selling an undesirable lakefront cabin he can't sell. His plan backfires, though, but not before he fends off each crisis with his usual breezy one-liners and humorous repartee. Bob's character certainly appreciates Didi's seductive charms, but he's not lecherous. Although he has to control himself at times, the male viewer can really sympathize and identify with his plight. Just when we think he's going to give in and become unfaithful to his marriage vows, his comical responses pull him back from the brink, the viewers laughing at his self-imposed reprieves. I think female viewers enjoy watching these kinds of situations, too. In short, I still like the film. Bob had both discovered and made Phyllis Diller's career, frequently having her on his TV specials in those years. To today's audiences, she may be unrecognizable or of no special consequence in this movie, but to audiences of 1966, she was a household name, her pairing with Bob in "Number" being a big draw. I think the movie was meant primarily as a breezy summer sex comedy, not to be taken seriously. Many of the lines are quite funny, although a few are obvious and uninspired. Still, though, it remains amusing throughout, but it's more in the vein of Bob's TV presence--a huge star who just wanted to stay in touch with the modern film audiences of the mid-1960's, and be seen in the type of sex farce that Americans of that generation enjoyed. One must also realize that Bob had been promoting Elke Sommer on his TV specials at this time, too, so this movie had a lot of built-in publicity and interest surrounding it. True, it's a forgettable film, and hardly one of Bob's classics, but it showcases him as a modern suburban husband and father, and a very witty and likable one at that, thus keeping him in step with how most Americans viewed themselves at the time, or would like to. P.S.: One of my favorite lines in the movie comes during the car chase near the end, where Bob's escaping in a police car while being followed by about 4 other police cars. He looks in his rearview mirror and says, "I've got more fuzz on my tail than a French poodle!" Great stuff!

LCShackley Basically, this is a half-hour sitcom stretched out to feature length. The main players are fine, and are comfortable in their parts. But the gags are tired and obvious. For instance, in an overlong chase scene, Phyllis Diller (on motorcycle) not only does the old "knock the fire hydrant, causing geyser" gag, but also the "rides through a ditch as several workers jump out in panic" gag. There's satire on current movies (James Bond, girls in bubble baths) and a couple of laughs (mostly from Bob), but it's primarily a tepid French farce, with Hope trying to hide a sexy movie queen from his wife.Fans of Bob Hope (like myself) might be willing to put up with it, but if you're new to his films, please do yourself a favor and start with the 1940s road pictures with Bing Crosby.

highwaytourist This is, without question, the worst Bob Hope movie ever. What's even worse is that Bob Hope himself is every bit as bad as the material. To sum it up, Bob Hope plays Tom Meade, a struggling realtor trying to sell a run down house in the woods. His luck seems to change when a major Hollywood actress (Elke Sommer) wants the house to hide out in after a fight with her boyfriend (Cesare Danova, who is rightly embarrassed) whose name in the film is Pepe Pepponi. Along for the ride is Phyllis Diller, who plays his maid, and Marjorie Lord, who comes off somewhat better than the rest of the cast as June Cleaver type wife. The film is filled with wooden acting, dull situations, and truly dumb jokes. As for the car chase at the end, Michael Medved said it best when he said it would bore a high school driving class. Some of this is so bad, it's downright amateurish. It was shocking to see such poor delivery from so many established stars. This is only good for those who like bad movies and those who suffer from insomnia.