TCM To Premiere Bob Hope’s The Iron Petticoat In September

Throughout its existence, TCM has made a priority of not only showing the absolute best films from throughout the history of film, but have also brought the public some of the most difficult to hunt down motion pictures that one could imagine.   Be it Kubrick’s Fear And Desire or the Preminger film Skidoo, the network has made cinephiles around the world as happy as clams.

And now it’s Bob Hope’s turn to shine.   The network will be showing the impossible to find The Iron Petticoat, starring the pair of Hope and Katherine Hepburn. Directed by Hope and Ralph Thomas, the film follows a jet pilot from Russia who suddenly sees the joys of good old capitalism thanks to Hope’s character.

With rights issues causing a rift between the three rights holders Hope, Ben Hecht and Harry Saltzman (along with Romulus Films), the film was so damned by those involved with the film prior to its release that critics and audiences panned the project, leaving it to simply come and disappear. The film will hit screens in September, with TCM also looking to bring the film to DVD and/or Blu-ray, as they are attempting to get the home video rights for the flick as well (it is available on DVD outside the US, however).

Personally, as I’ve never seen the film, I can’t wait to check it out.   I’m a huge fan of the cast and crew involved here, and think that this has all the makings of something really special.   Hopefully the bad reviews were caused by bad blood between those involved, as something with this great a cast can’t be all that bad, right?

Source NY Post