"The Lemon Drop Kid" is from a story by Damon Runyon--and it's heritage is obvious based on the sorts of names for the characters, such as Stan the Surgeon, Moose Moran, Nellie Thursday and Straight Flush Tony. The title character is played by Bob Hope and he's a real schmuck. He makes his living, such as it is, by selling fake tips on horses at the racetrack. However, when he convinces a big-time mobster's girl to bet on a horse instead of the one she intended to bet on, the mobster (Fred Clark) is NOT happy. He insists that The Kid must pay him back by Christmas....or else. The problem is that The Lemon Drop Kid has no money and no friends--so he heads to New York to try to convince someone to loan him the money. But, he is a schmuck after all and none of his 'friends' in the city are willing to give him a dime. What's he to do....just wait to have his legs broken....if he's LUCKY?! Nah, he comes up with a scheme involving the creation of an old folks home and Santa. Confusing? See the film to find out why he does this and what's next.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable Hope vehicle. He's in top form and the movie is entertaining despite a few small glitches. For example, look for Bob Hope's lips as he 'sings' "Silver Bells" and tries to get money from some very little kids. You can clearly see that his lips AREN'T moving yet he's somehow singing! Oops. Despite this silly mistake, I must say that this is a lovely part of the film--a real highlight. Clever and worth your time.

The Lemon Drop Kid is the second of two films Bob Hope did from stories based on Damon Runyon's colorful collection of characters, the first being Sorrowful Jones. Sidney Melbourne known to one and all as The Lemon Drop Kid for his inordinate fondness for lemon flavored candy is a fellow who lives by his wits as a race track tout.

Sometimes our hero is too clever by a half and when he gives the wrong tip to gambler Fred Clark's girl friend, Andrea King, Clark says that Hope owes him ten thousand dollars, the amount the horse would have paid him.

Things move fast and furious as Hope evolves a scheme to raise the money by starting a home for little old ladies named for Jane Darwell. Hope gets everyone in his set involved including his long suffering girl friend, Marilyn Maxwell.

Maxwell, who was reputedly involved romantically with Hope during the shooting of this film, plays a part almost identical to Runyon's better known Adelaide from Guys and Dolls.

Of course this film is famous for introducing that modern Christmas classic Silver Bells by Bob and Marilyn. And in an act that some might consider charity, that other well known Paramount star, Bing Crosby made a hit record of it with his radio girl singer of the moment Carole Richards.

In his musical autobiography record Bing said that he thought the secret of Silver Bells popularity is that it is an urban based song with its images of department stores, kid's rushing, and above all the bustle the sound of bells from street corner Santas. The song fits in real nice in the film with Hope's scheme involving his fellow street people in Santa Claus suits collecting for that little old ladies home.

Silver Bells got nominated for Best song, but lost to that other Paramount film song In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening introduced by Bing Crosby.

Still the popularity of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans classic modern holiday ballad will insure people will be watching The Lemon Drop Kid for years to come.

The silver bells are clinking down on Fifth Avenue here in New York City as I write this review, and what movie is more appropriate to write about than the one that famous Christmas song came from? I find this to be Bob Hope's best non-Road movie; funny, touching, and filled with the joy of the season. This is not a remake of the 1934 Lee Tracy movie, although it does surround a character addicted to lemon drops who happens to hang out at a race track. That was a sentimental tale about a ne'er-do-well father who does all he can to get his kid back. This movie is a lot lighter and instead of a father missing his child, it is about a con man who learns something about giving when he decides to help out a group of old ladies. Of course, he has his own selfish motives, but when gangsters threaten to take over what he has come to see as the right thing to do, Hope takes action and reforms himself, winning the heroine (the lovely Marilyn Maxwell) in the process.

The leading old lady is a street newspaper seller played by the Academy Award Winning Jane Darwell who is absolutely lovely here and will steal your heart, much like she did as the birdseed seller in London years later in "Mary Poppins". William Frawley is Hope's crusty sidekick, whose gravely voiced singing introduces a more cynical "Silver Bells" ("Chunk it in, Chunk it in, or Santy will give you a mickey"). Fifth Avenue and the surrounding snowy streets become a Christmas wonderland, a vision that has made New York one of the most romantic Christmas getaways for years. Maxwell and Hope also sing the delightful "It Only Costs a Dime to Dream" to the old ladies in the redecorated gambling home (where the ladies sleep on moving crap tables). Hope even ends up in drag, looking like Ray Bolger in "Where's Charley?", and has a delightful exchange with another old lady (the wonderful Ida Moore) about his hour glass figure. Fred Clark, that delightful sourpuss, is great as the gangster and Lloyd Nolan is also amusing as another racketeer who tries to get his hands on all the old dolls so he can take over Hope's racket.

Future "Ed Wood" veteran Tor Johnson ("Night of the Ghouls", "Plan Nine From Outer Space") is instantly recognizable as the Swedish wrestler whom Hope involves in his scheme while other typical Damon Runyeon style characters are played by such familiar faces as Harry Bellaver and Jay C. Flippen. The lovely Andrea King is all Southern charm as Clark's mistress whom Hope mistakenly passes on a fake tip to at the race track to his imminent regret. Veteran diminutive character actor Francis Pierlot has an amusing cameo as Darwell's recently prison released husband who has an act for cracking safes.

This is a must for the holiday season that will charm everybody and make you feel good about the true spirit of the holidays.