Editing Bob Hope (section)

=== 1938–1949: Hollywood contract and stardom ===
[[File:Bob Hope in The Ghost Breakers trailer.JPG|thumb|left|Bob Hope in ''[[The Ghost Breakers]]'' trailer (1940)]]

Hope moved to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] when [[Paramount Pictures]] signed him for the 1938 film ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1938]]'', also starring [[W. C. Fields]]. The song "[[Thanks for the Memory]]", which later became his trademark, was introduced in the film as a duet with [[Shirley Ross]], accompanied by [[Shep Fields]] and his orchestra.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=110, 113}} The sentimental, fluid nature of the music allowed Hope's writers—he depended heavily upon joke writers throughout his career{{sfn|Lahr|1998}}—to later create variations of the song to fit specific circumstances, such as bidding farewell to troops while on tour or mentioning the names of towns in which he was performing.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=133}}

[[File:Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in Road to Bali.jpg|thumb|Hope, [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Dorothy Lamour]] in ''[[Road to Bali]]'' (1952)]]

As a film star, Hope was best known for such comedies as ''[[My Favorite Brunette]]'' and the highly successful "[[Road to …|Road]]" movies in which he starred with [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Dorothy Lamour]]. The series consists of seven films made between 1940 and 1962: ''[[Road to Singapore]]'' (1940), ''[[Road to Zanzibar]]'' (1941), ''[[Road to Morocco]]'' (1942), ''[[Road to Utopia]]'' (1946), ''[[Road to Rio]]'' (1947), ''[[Road to Bali]]'' (1952), and ''[[The Road to Hong Kong]]'' (1962). At the outset, Paramount executives were amazed at how relaxed and compatible Hope and Crosby were as a team. What the executives didn't know was that Hope and Crosby had already worked together (on the vaudeville stage in 1932), and that working so easily in the "Road" pictures was just an extension of their old stage act.

Hope had seen Lamour performing as a nightclub singer in New York,{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=112}} and invited her to work on his [[United Service Organizations]] (USO) tours of military facilities. Lamour sometimes arrived for filming prepared with her lines, only to be baffled by completely rewritten scripts or ad-libbed dialogue between Hope and Crosby.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=128}} Hope and Lamour were lifelong friends, and she remains the actress most associated with his film career although he made movies with dozens of [[leading lady|leading ladies]], including [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Paulette Goddard]], [[Hedy Lamarr]], [[Lucille Ball]], [[Rosemary Clooney]], [[Jane Russell]], and [[Elke Sommer]].{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=174–180}}
[[File:Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in Road to Bali.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Hope and [[Bing Crosby]] sing and dance during the number "Chicago Style" in ''[[Road to Bali]]'' (1952)]]
Hope and Crosby teamed not only for the "Road" pictures, but for many stage, radio, and television appearances and many brief movie appearances together over the decades{{Sfn|Quirk|1998|p=127}} until Crosby died in 1977. Although the two invested together in oil leases and other business ventures, worked together frequently, and lived near each other, they rarely saw each other socially.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=127, 137}} After the release of ''Road to Singapore'' (1940), Hope's screen career took off, and he had a long and successful run. After an 11-year hiatus from the "Road" genre, he and Crosby reteamed for ''The Road to Hong Kong'' (1962), starring the 28-year-old [[Joan Collins]] in place of Lamour, whom Crosby thought was too old for the part.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=265}} They had planned one more movie together in 1977, ''The Road to the Fountain of Youth'', but filming was postponed when Crosby was injured in a fall, and the production was canceled when he suddenly died of heart failure that October.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=287}}

Hope starred in 54 theatrical features between 1938 and 1972,{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=41}} as well as cameos and short films. Most of his later movies failed to match the success of his 1940s efforts. He was disappointed with his appearance in ''[[Cancel My Reservation]]'' (1972), his last starring film; critics and filmgoers panned the movie.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=285–286}} Though his career as a film star effectively ended in 1972, he did make a few cameo film appearances into the 1980s.
[[File:Colonnahope.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jerry Colonna (entertainer)|Jerry Colonna]] and Hope, as caricatured by [[Sam Berman]] for NBC's 1947 promotional book]]

Hope's [[Bob Hope television appearances|career in broadcasting]] began on radio in 1934. His first regular series for [[NBC Radio]] was the ''Woodbury Soap Hour'' in 1937, on a 26-week contract. Serving as the master of ceremonies for these ''Rippling Rhythm Revue'' radio broadcasts, Hope collaborated with the big band leader [[Shep Fields]] during this period of transition from vaudeville to radio.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC |title=On the Air: the Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |section=The Bob Hope Show |author-last=Dunning |author-first=John |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=New York |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-977078-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22The+Bob+Hope+Show+105%22+%22Music+Shep+Fields%22&pg=PA105 105-109]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ffiDAAAQBAJ |title=Bob Hope: A Tribute |author-last=Strait |author-first=Raymond |publisher=Crossroad Press |date=2016 |chapter=Chapter 11. Bob Hope, Shep Fields and The Rippling Rhythm Revue |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ffiDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT74}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/british-born-american-comedian-bob-hope-master-of-news-photo/79750132|title=British-born American comedian Bob Hope , master of ceremonies on NBC...|website=Getty Images|date=February 14, 2008 }}</ref> A year later, ''[[The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope]]'' began, and Hope signed a ten-year contract with the show's sponsor, [[Lever Brothers]]. He hired eight writers and paid them out of his salary of $2,500 a week. The original staff included [[Mel Shavelson]], [[Norman Panama]], [[Jack Rose (screenwriter)|Jack Rose]], [[Sherwood Schwartz]], and Schwartz's brother [[Al Schwartz (writer)|Al]]. The writing staff eventually grew to fifteen.{{sfn|Nachman|1998|p=144}} The show became the top radio program in the country. Regulars on the series included [[Jerry Colonna (entertainer)|Jerry Colonna]] and [[Barbara Jo Allen]] as spinster Vera Vague. Hope continued his lucrative career in radio into the 1950s, when radio's popularity began being overshadowed by the upstart television medium.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=30–32}}{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=92–103}}