You won't be disappointed!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Catching up with two or three Bob Hope movies recently on TV, this, the 3rd in a month, didn't really excite me, even as a prospect before I started watching it. Let me make it clear, for me, Bob Hope was the most charismatic comedy actor ever, but the subject matter of 'The Iron Petticoat' just sounded dull. Katharine Hepburn plays a Russian pilot who has an ex lover (Robert Helpmann) who she meets up with in West Germany at an American air base. It's a bit unclear why she flies there but anyway, after landing she is persuaded by Capt Chuck Lockwood (Bob Hope) to pursue Western values and the pair eventually fall in love after a series of mishaps. That's about it as a story but Hepburn is just irritating as the Russian pilot. I'm normally something of a fan of Kate but in this movie she has such a terrible, harsh, mock Russian accent it just grated on me, rather destroying any chemistry between the two stars and is the worst performance I've seen her give. Hope on the other hand saves the movie with his non stop quips which always keeps me glued to his presence. Apparently Hope's production company was involved which allowed him to alter Ben Hechts' original script as he wasn't satisfied with it and Hecht and Hope fell out over it. The Cold War is a rather unfunny premise for a comedy which is why it didn't really appeal to me but if you love just watching Bob Hope, then it's worth a watch. Supporting actors don't really add anything as they are rather dull and giving their worst performances and the list included great character actors like James Robertson Justice, Sid James and Richard Wattis who normally bring a boost to their pictures, but alas, not here. Apparently the picture has only recently become available on TV as Hope prevented it in his lifetime so you may find it interesting as a curiosity. Only five stars and they're for Hope and his gags and timing.

I give up, was this supposed to be a comedy? You would think with Bob Hope and Katherine Hepburn in a film that it would be worth seeing but this is simply a travesty. Actually, I don't think I've ever run into a film in which all the posts for it in the reviews section on IMDb uniformly call it a bad picture. The movie merits a 5.6 rating from all (710) viewers as I write this, but just for the heck of it I did a quick average of the 'stars' given by the folks writing comments on it, and I come up with a 3.25. My rating isn't going to sway that either way.I can't even imagine what the film makers might have been thinking, before, during, and after this picture was made. Hepburn's Russian was fingernails on chalkboard to my ear, and try as they might, the chemistry that was supposed to exist between the stars just didn't work for me. The gags fell flat and even Hope's one liners lacked punch. At least he managed to invoke Crosby when the Judo Sleepwalker (????) Sutsiyama (Tutte Lemkow) called him 'Dog Nose', but even that wasn't funny.Quite honestly, and I make an effort at this, but I can't think of any redeeming feature of the film that might even remotely recommend it. But even as incomprehensible a romantic match that Hope and Hepburn seemed, Major Chuck Lockwood's fiancé Lady Connie (Noelle Middleton) might have even been worse. Considering how bizarre the whole concept of the story was, you'd think she could have cracked a smile now and then. You know, I'm beginning to think it might have been true when Captain Kovelenko (Hepburn) said at one point - "This would not have happened if Stalin were alive".

The Iron Petticoat (1956) BOMB (out of 4) Every once in a while I'll watch a film with a bad reputation and find it not nearly as bad as you'd have believed. When I heard that the Bob Hope Estate pretty much removed this film from circulation I figured it was just a movie not up to his standards but that's nowhere near the truth. I don't often say this but I think everyone would have been better served had this turkey remained in a vault and not seen by the public. The story centers around a Russian refugee (Katharine Hepburn) who learns her country and gets involved with an American (Bob Hope) ordered to watch after her. This is a minor re-working of NINOTCHKA but who knows what the original story was since there were so many production problems including Hope bringing along his own writers to change everything up. I rarely use a BOMB rating for any older movie but man was this thing here horrible. It was really very painful to watch because it's just so unfunny, so bad and it's just hard to believe that two legends would be involved in something this bad. As soon as we see and hear Hepburn with that Russian accent you're brain pretty much shuts off. Hepburn was one of our greatest actresses but I think it's safe to say this here is one of her worst performances. Hope is equally bad and his one-liners, written by his own writing team, are horrendous. The lack of chemistry between the two stars is incredibly bad as well. THE IRON PETTICOAT is about as bad as any movie can get and sadly for the viewer it never reaches a level of camp or a "so bad it's good" level. When I said this film was painful to get through that's the absolute truth and no one should sit through this unless they want to see how bad it actually is.

Saw this movie for the first and I hope the last time today. It was presented on TCM movie channel for the first time in 40 years, so we were told. It was hidden in England all these years. And no wonder. This has got to be the worst film ever Kate. Her accent of a Russian was terrible. Bob,s performance was his normal stupidity. And using classic English actors as Russians does not help the film. The story line has been used many times in films. Some with success. It just does not work in this one. Maybe they made the film just for the money. It,s missing the artistic talent that is available with these stars. This is truly a "bomb".