Tonight's Movie: Never Say Die (1939) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Over the last couple of years I've caught up with seeing a significant number of Bob Hope films thanks to Kino Lorber.

The Kino Lorber Studio Classics line has been releasing Hope's films on Blu-ray at a steady pace, including the recently reviewed THANKS FOR THE MEMORY (1938) and tonight's film, NEVER SAY DIE (1939).

This is a pretty good Hope film thanks to a strong cast and an amusing script cowritten by Preston Sturges along with Don Hartman and Frank Butler. It was based on a 1912 play by William Post and William Collier.

Hope plays John Kidley, a hypochondriac on a European sojourn who is mistakenly told he has just weeks to live.

Kidley wants to get out of a marriage pushed by gold-digging Mrs. Marko (Gale Sondergaard), a crack shot who threatens to shoot John if he jilts her. He nonetheless does just that and marries fellow American Mickey Hawkins (Martha Raye), whose wealthy father is forcing her to marry a penniless prince (Alan Mowbray) in exchange for a title.

Mrs. Marko and the prince are very unhappy at being done out of financially advantageous marriages, and Mickey's boyfriend from back home, Henry (Andy Devine), is also dismayed when he arrives in Europe and discovers his sweetheart is now Mrs. Kidley.

Kidley, however, increasingly finds that he'd really like to live...happily ever after with Mickey.

This is an amusing, well-paced 82-minute film which has some clever bits of humor and good performances. Although I never cared much for the older Raye, she's quite cute here as the sincere Mickey. She was only 22 when the movie was filmed.

I'm going to have to check out the Bing Crosby film WAIKIKI WEDDING (1937) soon, which features not only Raye but Shirley Ross, who I enjoyed very much in THANKS FOR THE MEMORY.

Sondergaard's performance as the gun-toting Mrs. Marko is one of the best things about the film, and she has a delightful final scene. I also especially enjoyed Ernest Cossart as Kidley's devoted butler, Jeepers, who believes his employer is healthy and tries to help steer him toward a happier life.

The cast also includes Monty Woolley, Sig Ruman, Hobart Cavanaugh, Paul Harvey, and Hans Conreid.

The movie was directed by Elliott Nugent and filmed in black and white by Leo Tover.

A dueling scene at the end of the movie was particularly fun as it was filmed at Iverson Movie Ranch, which I've visited on multiple occasions. There are some great photos of the exact location at the Iverson Movie Ranch website.

Kino Lorber's good-looking Blu-ray is from a new HD master, a 2K scan of the 35mm fine grain. Sound quality is excellent.

Disc extras consist of the trailer; a trailer gallery for 15 additional Hope films, plus a Kino Lorber promo ad; and a commentary track by Paul Anthony Nelson and Lee Zachariah.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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