A Global Affair (1964) User Reviews

Bob Hope's Baby

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 31 May 2013]

Wise-cracking bachelor Bob Hope (as Frank Larrimore) reluctantly takes guardianship of a baby abandoned at the United Nations (UN) building in New York City. Beautiful Michele Mercier (as Lisette), from Belgium, can't take the baby because she works. Apartment manager John McGiver (as Mister Snifter) doesn't allow babies, but he loves dogs, so Mr. Hope decides to pretend the baby is a dog. Playboy pal Robert Sterling (as Randy Sterling) tells Hope the baby can be used as an opportunity to bait pretty young sex partners. They are encouraged to wear low-cut dresses because the baby drools...

Since the baby's parents can't be found, UN authorities have a contest to find a country that'll adopt the little girl...

In order to secure custody for their respective countries, a series of sexy young women are eager to jump into bed with older man Hope. The interludes depicting Hope's presumably promiscuous character as an ambassador of good will are strange, but fatherhood grows on him. Assisting the famous comedian are a cute baby, beautiful young women, an excellent supporting cast and good cameos. Helping to make "A Global Affair" fun are newscaster Hugh Downs, nurse Reta Shaw, walker Adlai Stevenson, sexy Yvonne De Carlo, head-turned taxi driver Billy Halop and policeman Mickey Shaughnessy.

***** A Global Affair (1/30/64) Jack Arnold ~ Bob Hope, Michele Mercier, Robert Sterling, Liselotte Pulver

A citizen of the world

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 2 October 2015]

It's unfortunate that a most intriguing idea about who does an abandoned infant left at the United Nations belong to was turned into a subpar Bob Hope comedy. Very few of Hope's films in the 60s compare with what he was doing for Paramount in the 40s and 50s.

In A Global Affair Bob plays a UN employee and is given charge of the infant and to make a decision which country gets the child. Hope's about the last person to be given this assignment as he's a confirmed bachelor with a reputation as a wolf. So a lot of countries hoping to score a propaganda coup send some of their best diplomats to make a pitch for their nation. And it just so happens that all of them are beautiful women appealing to Bob's baser instincts.

It all gets rather silly after a while. Even the baby starts to look bored with it all.

There was a good message there delivered by Hope in the end about nationalism being something that is acquired. Perhaps had a more serious approach been taken with the film it might have resonated. But you want serious in a Bob Hope comedy?

Bob Hope And A Baby

[sambase-38773 · 6/10 · 18 August 2023]

I'm a fan of Bob Hope, but I'm not a fan of baby movies. But since I am indeed a fan of Bob Hope and this movie only has 8 reviews at the time I am writing this, I've decided to watch it and then write a review. Okay, I am now going to watch the movie and I'll see you in the next paragraph.

Well, I watched it. It was kind of cute. A baby is abandoned and every country in the world wants to adopt it, including Russia who threatens nuclear war if they don't get the baby. Oh those wacky Russians.

Bob Hope is the one in charge of the baby. He gets to decide who gets it. In the meantime he has to take care of it. When the countries learn that he is a bachelor that loves women they each send a beautiful woman to persuade him to pick their country. The scene with the Russian woman is pretty good. It gets a little preachy at times, but over all they had good chemistry together I thought.

There are some beautiful women in this movie which always helps to make a movie more watchable. Think Elvis movies. In fact, this could have been an Elvis movie. Just unplug Bob Hope and plug in Elvis Presley and add a few lame songs. Bingo. You've got an Elvis movie.

There are a few cute scenes and a few cute lines. One of the cute lines: "Yesterday I was a bachelor and today I have a complete family....whatever happened to the honeymoon?" That's a cute line. But most of the lines are not as good as that one. The humor is just okay, nothing special.

Bob Hope was a man of the world at this point hobnobbing with presidents and making movies was undoubtedly boring to him, which is understandable. Once in a while he shows a little more energy, but not too often. He does look wonderful for his age though. He was 60 years old here and looked no older than 50. Too bad we can't all look that good at age 50. Superstars get all the breaks. And all the women, too. Bob would live another 40 years.

To sum up, it's okay for what it is. If you like Bob Hope by all means go ahead and watch it. The final lesson of the movie is one of hope for the world. Hope for a world of peace, understanding, and love.

"A Global Affair" to remember.

[lemon993 · 29 May 2004]

Vastly underrated comedy delivered by Bob Hope and friends. The movie is a snapshot of N.Y.C., circa 1964, that puts on display a lifestyle--unlimited cocktails, swingin' chicks and cool, smoky music--which no longer breathes. This film has more smoking, drinking, and carefree carousing ever photographed on celluloid for a family film. The ridiculous plot concerns a child abandoned at the U.N., who somehow becomes the international focal point for peace. Hope is given custody of the silent tyke by default(Why no one calls the authorities is anyone's guess?) At the time, Bob Hope was sixty years old! My girl friend was surprised he was THAT old--she thought he looked around forty. There is an interesting battle between humans and pets in this movie. Hope's landlord hates children but loves animals. There is an extended scene at a snooty dog show where Hope looses the kid and gets dragged by a huge pooch. However, the strangest moment has to be when Hope needs to smuggle the "world's baby" into his bachelor pad and past his troublesome landlord. His solution: put him in a dog-carrier and pass him off as man's best friend. Now, where was Child Welfare? There is some nice on location photography and one far-out cameo by Adlai Stevenson, a year before he died. Also, Billy Halop appears briefly as yet another cab driver{see "Mister Buddwing"}; he was a fixture at the time always playing working class types. View this film at a tiki bar with a drink and Dean Martin on the juke box. If that is at all possible.

Sputters and dies

[howardeisman · 2/10 · 8 August 2010]

This movie is an exercise in wasted talent. Bob Hope, who was so funny in the 40s and early 50s, sleepwalks through this film. He once used to toss off wisecracks and one-liners with body posture, facial expression, and voice intonation all adding to the impact. In this film, he seems encased in cement and bored. Another misfire: Lilo Pulver, the gorgeous, hilarious, sexy secretary (to James Cagney) in "One, Two, Three." is wasted. She was given a drab wig and mousy dress and mainly used to give Hope an opportunity to tell her that the USA is superior to the USSR. The rest of the cast shows no sparkle; the gags are old and performed with no verve. To bring this down to rock bottom, there are saccharine drenched parts.

This should be shown in screen writing classes to demonstrate how a comedy can be made to be insufferable.

Good Film

[ThomasColquith · 7/10 · 19 August 2023]

"A Global Affair" is one of the better Bob Hope films that I've seen. I like the messaging here which was optimistic and pro-family. He tries to show the positive side of things while also making some quips and gibes about our respective nations. He looked great for his age and he or whoever cast this film included a bevy of beautiful women as well who played along great. The cinematography is a little dingy but I still enjoyed the film. I rated it a 7/10. I'm glad I caught this obscure film on television. Give it a watch if you come across it sometime. And I liked that it didn't overstay it's welcome at only 84 minutes.

Half-baked Talkfest For Half-Pints

[jake j · 3/10 · 4 July 2002]

As the countries of the earth gathered at the New York World's Fair in 1964, Bob Hope and Producer Ed Small (who would produce a series of films in the 60's that became increasingly cataclysmic disasters with each subsequent release) felt this topical comedy on the United Nations and an abandoned child "adopted" by Hope would be a natural for laughs. Nope. Hope's effortless sauntering around a set in lieu of acting became standard by this time, and here his search for a mate among the international nubile hostesses at the U.N. is particularly dated and borderline offensive. As was undoubtedly said at the time- Hope sets the sites on his laugh targets low... and misses. Even a mild diversion as "Bachelor In Paradise" just three years hence would prove a high-water mark of the latter half of Hope's film career. They may have "hoped" to succeed "Globally" but stank locally.

Bob Hope goes on dates ...

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 16 December 2008]

One of the four projects in which Jack Arnold directed Bob Hope, "A Gobal Affair" has Larrimore (Hope) taking an abandoned baby home for the weekend, apparently one of his responsibilities at the UN building. Hope had just done Road to Hong Kong, the last ROAD film, in 1962. Of course, Larrimore's neighbor Mr. Snifter is suspicious, and keeps threatening to throw him out of his apartment. Viewers will recognize the neighbor ( John McGiver ) from "Breakfast at Tiffanys", and "Mame". All sorts of silly things happen to Larrimore and the baby, and they attempt to explain why they don't just turn the baby over to the police. There is a not-so-graceful edit while Larrimore is addressing the UN, and it sounds like a line was added later. Co stars Yvonne DeCarlo and Nehemia Persoff. Even appearances by Hugh Downs and Adlai Stevenson. Throw in some silly dates with women from Russia, Spain, and Japan who are out to prove a point, and you've got this movie. Starts out light, gets heavy in the middle, and must all be ironed out by the end. Where were we ...? oh that's right, it's all being done to figure out where the baby should grow up. Some quickie lines for Hope, but not his best work.

A Flat-Earth Globe

[jackbuckley · 2/10 · 22 July 2018]

I'm a huge Bob Hope fan but this film's rather disappointing, rather dull, and not terribly funny. There are some amusing moments and recognizably-typical Hope lines but the premise is limited and proceeds slowly in spots, especially in the prolonged scene between Hope and Lilo Pulver, a Soviet sociologist featuring now-dated, propagandistic comments from both parties, and is tediously talky in nature. Mr. Hope himself looks trim and moves and speaks appealingly but aside from some of his lines, almost anybody else could've played the role. For a Hope comedy, it's not funny enough. Perhaps if some other actor was playing the part of Lattimore, it wouldn't've seemed so obvious, as not as much would've been expected, or been as desirably-dependent on a star's well-known personality. Hope, as always, is likeable and smooth but the plot and script don't give him much to work with. The movie, as mentioned, is dated. Almost noone watching today would recognize the silent cameo of Adlai Stevenson, a household name in his day. And, until recently, not many viewers would understand the U.S./Russia rivalry, as presented here with regard to the baby. In fact, the entire vehicle has a Cold War, pro-West propaganda feel to it--almost as if the U.N. cultural unit asked Hollywood to make such a feature, using the most patriotic American comedian then in existence, Bob Hope. In fairness, the star was trying new things by this point in his film career. He was getting older, and couldn't remain popular with audiences in the same way as he did during the studio system's heyday. By the time of "A Global Affair", Hope was playing a more mature type of suburban, middle-class American, usually a father or a businessman, or both, rather than a knockabout, wisecracking clown-type, great as he was in those earlier roles, often with songs and musical interludes. By 1964, all this was passe', and the comedian's movie roles began reflecting the changing, mid-20th century society of the country. In short, "Affair", though offering a potentially cute premise, doesn't really deliver much with it. The film screams for some big comedy moments, or, at least, a huge, hilarious ending but it was not to be. Although the storyline's clearly padded, more inventive, humorous situations might've saved it. Surprisingly, the movie picks up a little steam in the last quarter-hour, becoming livelier and a little funnier but, in truth, the film seems like an extended sketch from one of Bob's TV specials, where it might've come off better on a smaller, more intimate, screen.

international babes chasing Bob Hope

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 31 August 2023]

Frank Larrimore (Bob Hope) works at the UN and talks on the radio. A mother hears his speech and leaves her baby at the UN for him. While UN security searches for the mother, he's the one forced to take care of the baby.

This one allows Bob Hope to have a parade of international babes chasing him. The UN premise is a bit of ridiculous fun. It is missing the one scene where Bob Hope is being chased down the street by the crowd of beautiful international babes like The Beatles. I was not expecting a whole lot and I got that nothing more. One thing concerns me. The mom did not come back. That seems to be the better ending.

An Under Rated Movie That DOESN'T Take Itself Seriously!

[fairy-lady · 8/10 · 25 April 2008]

Hope is wonderful in this movie. Yes I agree the plot is unrealistic but that is the beauty of this film. It is played for laughs and does not take itself seriously in any way. The movie is entertaining and fun. This movie shows Bob Hope gagging it up and having fun with a script that could have been better but still manages to make us laugh and entertains us. It is wonderful to see what NYC was like in 1964 when I was 7 years old! I do agree that one major flaw was the fact that no one would allow a baby to be handled in such a matter without contacting the authorities. The movie is predictable and that is part of its charm.