THE IRON PETTICOAT (1956) **1/2 Katharine Hepburn in a Bob Hope movie. She takes it over, of course, but seemingly for the purpose of ensuring that it maintains an admirable level of Bob Hope-ishness. All of which is a good idea, as it's fit for little else. But it is fit to be a Bob Hope movie, and so it is. The irony is that-given the great wealth of propaganda pumped out by all sides during the Cold War (and by some measure you have to admit that the Russians won: their propaganda was way more absurd than ours)-this is probably one of the most realistic portrayals of the Soviet Union pumped out at the time. There's no blood or severe repression onscreen, but you know that it's there off to the sides. More important, Hope & Co. have figured out most of the funny things that can be pointed out about the Soviet Union, so they point ‘em out. And we laugh. As well we should. Undeserved comparisons to Ninotchka are inevitable, but why is it that the interesting Soviet character was on both occasions a woman? Was it because we didn't want a dashing Soviet male comin' after our women? So much for deep thoughts, it's a relaxing and undemanding spy flick.
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