Louisiana Purchase-1941

I like the basic layout of this ad but I question the choice of photos and the use of red as the sole color. It was 1941 and Bob Hope was not yet the superstar he was soon to become due to his WWII efforts to entertain the troops. At this time, he was mainly known as a fast-talking radio comic who had been in a handful of entertaining motion pictures like THE CAT AND THE CANARY, GHOST BREAKERS and the first two ROAD movies. So what is our central image here? A hapless looking Hope dressed as a king and yet looking like a fool...literally. And then the choice to have him in that same outfit directly underneath that. The red may have been chosen to highlight the lipstick in the two side images but by highlighting Bob’s lips in the main image, it adds to the overall clown look. The Technicolor is hyped but the ad itself would have looked better in black and white rather than with just the red. Lots of pretty girls in those other images, signifying the advertised “100 Louisiana Belles,” but they’re kind of generic even by the standards of the day and just give the whole ad an overly busy look. Finally, by having nearly ALL the wording including the cast and the title at an angle, the reader has to make an effort (mild though it would have been) to read what SHOULD be just bouncing off the page at him!

The film’s pedigree is great but any time you advertise yourself with taglines like, “the greatest musical comedy ever filmed!” you’re just asking for it. Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin but not a big hit among the songs listed here. Based on the musical comedy by Morrie Ryskind who provided the Marx Brothers with some of their best set pieces...only he didn’t do the actual screenplay here. And speaking of which, what’s this picture about anyway? Nota  clue in the entire ad!

As far as the cast, Hope was at an early peak in this period. Whiny Victor Moore was pretty much a ringer, an always welcome character comic. But Vera Zorina? She was a ballet dancer who was, in fact, married to the great George Ballanchine at the time. Sad to say she did NOT have the drawing power of Dorothy Lamour or Jane Russell or the harem of leading ladies Hope came to be known for soon enough.  

Based on this ad, would I have gone to see the picture in 1941? No.