This must have seemed promising at the time - Ralph Thomas coming off Doctor in the House, Ben Hecht writing the script specifically for Katherine Hepburn, a plot well used in Ninotchka and Comrade X, Hepburn as a Russian during the Cold War. Then Bob Hope was cast. Thomas, producer Betty Box and Hepburn have all gone on the record about Hope promising to play the role as written, then having it rewritten for himself, and generally being a pain.
Sometimes stars you don't think of as teams end up working really well together eg James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again. Sometimes they don't - Hope and Hepburn are a case in point. Hope wasn't wrong to want to change the film to suit him, but the changes are only piece-meal - there's still enough of the original in there, with his character as a Cary Grant smooth talking officer type. They would've been better off having Hope play his usual coward type.
Hepburn's performance is awful. Maybe Hope threw her off but I found it over the top and hammy and not at all funny. She's far worse than Hope. There's also a general feeling of lameness about the whole enterprise - no one seems sure of what they're going - and there's no chemistry between Hope and Hepburn. Noelle Middleton feels like a wasted opportunity as Hope's love interest.
There are one or two bright moments. I liked Hope trying to convince the Russians that Hepburn is not a traitor, Hope conning some Russian guards, and James Robertson Justice and Robert Helpmann are effective Russians.
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