Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Mild
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- irreverent
- breezy
- lazy sunday
- classic movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film brisk, commercially effective, and entertaining through Bob Hope’s slapstick and Jane Russell’s comic partnership, despite its thin and familiar plot.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Painless Peter Potter is an inept, frightened dentist whom Calamity Jane falsely presents as the sharpshooting hero who saves the wagon train.
The film turns gunrunning, Indian attacks, wagon-train danger, frontier romance, and heroic legend into broad comic situations.
Calamity Jane handles the gunplay and danger while Potter blunders through the undercover mission and receives the credit.
Jane and the secret agent pose as man and wife, and Jane later recruits Potter as her replacement husband to continue the operation.
Films like The Paleface, and why
Blazing Saddles
classic western parody built around broad slapstick, an inept comic hero, and rapid-fire verbal gags
Cat Ballou
comic western pairing a charismatic woman gunfighter with an unlikely male partner amid frontier adventure
The Road to Rio
Bob Hope vehicle sharing screwball banter, cowardly-hero comedy, and brisk studio-era entertainment
The Three Amigos
lighthearted frontier farce centered on mistaken identities, romance, and comic physical peril
Movie Details
- Director
- Norman Z. McLeod
- Release Date
- 1948-12-17
- Runtime
- 91 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (82)
Cast
- Bob Hope
- Jane Russell
- Robert Armstrong
- Iris Adrian
- Bobby Watson
- Jackie Searl
- Joseph Vitale
- Charles Trowbridge
- Clem Bevans
- Jeff York
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Paleface about?
- A cowardly frontier dentist becomes an accidental legend when a sharpshooting Calamity Jane turns his blunders into heroic exploits.
- What is The Paleface like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Paleface as brisk, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as simple.
- Is The Paleface violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Paleface as mild.
- What did critics think of The Paleface?
- Critics broadly found the film brisk, commercially effective, and entertaining through Bob Hope’s slapstick and Jane Russell’s comic partnership, despite its thin and familiar plot.
- Which films are like The Paleface?
- Films with a similar feel include Blazing Saddles, Cat Ballou, The Road to Rio, and The Three Amigos.
- How long is The Paleface?
- The Paleface runs 91 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Paleface?
- In United States, The Paleface is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
