Yes, it is true. Long before Lucille Ball delighted television audiences as the wacky red-headed housewife to a Cuban bandleader, she made a number of movies, including four in which she starred with comedian Bob Hope. One of them, the duo’s second film together, was the 1950 Fancy Pants, a musical western that was adapted from a 1935 stage musical, Ruggles of Red Gap.
Fancy Pants, directed by George Marshall, offers light-hearted entertainment with a blend of comedy and musical elements. The plot centers around the dual tropes of mistaken identity and fish-out-of-water. In the film, an American woman, Effie Floud, played by Lea Penman, and her tomboy daughter, Agatha, played by Lucille Ball, visit England. A British actor, in an attempt to impress them, brings in a comedy troupe to pose as his wealthy, aristocratic family and servants. At the event, Effie talks the faux butler, Humphrey, who is really a struggling American actor named Arthur and is played by Bob Hope, to come to work for her back in the United States, in their home, Red Gap, on the western frontier. Effie secretly hopes that Humphrey can help turn Agatha, a boisterous and rambunctious girl, into a proper lady.
Effie causes another layer of mistaken identity when she sends a telegram back to Red Gap and refers to Humphrey as a “gentleman’s gentleman.” The townspeople, a collection of stereotypical western folks, take this to mean Humphrey is a top-level aristocrat. In fact, they assume he is a suitor for Agatha. When he arrives in the western town of Red Gap, Arthur, as Humphrey, must act like the perfect British butler to the Floud family while also pretending to be a sophisticated British aristocrat to the townspeople. It all comes to a head when President Theodore Roosevelt visits Red Gap and Arthur/Humphrey tries to present himself as a politically and economically savvy member of Britain’s upper elite.
By the time Arthur/Humphrey is forced to come clean about his true identity, Agatha has fallen in love with him.
Fancy Pants showcases the comedic talents of Bob Hope, known for his quick wit and slapstick humor. It features humorous dialogue exchanges, physical comedy, and sight gags that are typical of Bob Hope’s style. The film’s musical numbers were intended to highlight the singing and dancing skills of the cast, however there was one problem – Lucille Ball’s singing voice. Although her singing ability is much better than what she demonstrated on her later television series, I Love Lucy, the producers of Fancy Pants wanted someone with a stronger singing voice. All of Lucille Ball’s vocals for Fancy Pants were dubbed. Singer Annette Warren served as the uncredited singing voice for the character of Agatha.
Two of the most notable musical numbers from Fancy Pants included the theme song, “(Hey) Fancy Pants!”, and “Home Cookin’” which were both written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and performed by Bob Hope and Annette Warren.
When Fancy Pants was released, it was a box office success, however it received mixed reviews from critics. They noted that the performances of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball were humorous and entertaining, but that the plot was thin and predictable. Still, for moviegoers looking for nothing more than light entertainment and a few laughs, Fancy Pants fits the bill … and offers a rare look at Lucille Ball, America’s favorite redhead, in a movie western.