Son of Paleface

• Directed by Frank Tashlin
• June 14, 1952 (US)

Painless Potter’s son returns home to claim his father’s gold which has since gone missing.

Son of Paleface is a rare sequel that exceeds the original. It’s just overall much funnier than its predecessor. The movie often throws reality out the window and goes straight for being silly. Director Frank Tashlin began his career working on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts before moving into feature films which explains why the jokes are sillier and much more in line with a cartoon. Many are sight gags with twists one would expect in animation and not a bit of live action.

I say that with the caveat that you need to know a little something to get many of the jokes in the dialogue. Many of the better jokes will go over the heads of younger viewers because this movie is over 70 years old. And that’s a little unfortunate as the movie overall is very good.

Probably my favorite joke of the movie is the appearance of Cecil B. DeMille as himself. I knew the man was going to be in it in a cameo, but it still came as a pleasant surprise and was rather funny. DeMille is more than a bit legendary and to see him doing something that is not serious and dramatic but rather just fun is a treat. But how many today instantly recognize DeMille? The name may click but the face…

Watching this though I am left with a feeling that Son of Paleface was a movie unrelated to The Paleface that was re-purposed as a sequel for some reason. Back in the day doing such a thing was much easier than it is now. This came out when streaming or owning your own personal copy of a movie was unimaginable. Nobody could conceive of such a thing. Now you can watch a film and any sequels it may have had back-to-back.

In this movie Potter Senior is framed as a con artist and a cheat. Previously, he was just a guy who got conned himself. He was well-meaning and maybe cowardly, but not dishonest. And he had by the end of the film no illusions about himself being a great Indian fighter unlike apparently here. In the town the movie starts in he has a statue to his fighting skill but nobody likes him.

The story kicks off when Peter “Junior” Potter (Bob Hope) goes out West from Harvard to collect his father’s inheritance leaving behind an obviously gold digging fiancé. Things are complicated when it appears that his father has no money to leave him and the town is about to hang Peter as they are all desperate to collect debts from the Potter estate. Again, I don’t know how you get from the relatively well-meaning and decent character in the first film to a guy that’s hated by everybody in this film. 

Jane Russell returns for the fun, but not as Junior’s mother. Rather she is a whole new character who’s a lot like Calamity Jane in the last film. Jane Russell was a sex symbol back in the day, and this movie certainly showcases that in a few numbers and the accompanying costuming. I see her performance here as much better than the last film. She comes off as an appropriate level of tough and maybe even cynical for the material and her performance overall is a little less stilted. 

Hope for his part is in fine form as a coward and cheat who is more than a bit of an idiot. In execution this is a good merger of his routines, as well as a narrative form. He sets up the joke and there’s a payoff.

Roy Rogers plays federal agent Roy Barton who is bent on capturing an outlaw named “The Torch.” He brings the right level of charm and lightheartedness to it all. This isn’t serious and dramatic so his part in the movie really does not require it. But getting too goofy would bring it all down and Rogers along with everyone else doesn’t get too goofy. 

This movie benefits from tossing aside reality, and simply seeking to have fun. From the appearances of DeMille to the joke with the ice-skating rink in the desert to the buzzards to even the closing moments, it’s all silly and just very entertaining. The movie is witty, well directed and perfect. It stands alone as a sequel. 

Son of Paleface is a sequel that exceeds the original mostly by being very thinly related to its predecessor. It’s much funnier and more entertaining than the original. I highly recommend this one for fans of Bob Hope and of comedy.