THE LEMON DROP KID

Details

• Release Year: 1951
• Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
• Plot: Bob Hope stars as Sidney Melbourne (AKA The Lemon Drop Kid, named so after his love of the simple candy), a con man who offers a friendly 'sure thing' horse tip to the girlfriend of mobster Moose Moran at the race track. When the horse loses and Moose's original pick wins, Moose gives Sidney until Christmas to pay back the money that he lost or his thug Sam the Surgeon will 'open' Sidney after Christmas. To pay back the money he owes Moose, Sidney enlists some pals to hit the street corners of New York dressed as Santa Clause accepting donations for a bogus elderly ladies home. The calamity starts when gangster Oxford Charlie (Lloyd Nolan) tries to move in on Sidney's scam. What follows is vintage Hope shenanigans, highlighted by a heart-warming rendition of the Christmas classic 'Silver Bells' sung by Hope and Marilyn Maxwell (who appeared with Hope in the 1953 film Off Limits). Also starring William Frawley (I Love Lucy) and Tor Johnson (Plan 9 from Outer Space).
• Cast: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell, Andrea King, Fred Clark, Jay C. Flippen, William Frawley, Harry Bellaver, Sid Melton, Ben Welden, Ida Moore, Francis Pierlot, Charles Cooley, Salvatore De Lorenzo, Harry Shannon, Bernard Szold, Tor Johnson, Tom Dugan, Sid Tomack, Harry Wilson, Eric Alden, Stanley Andrews, Richard Barron, Brooks Benedict, Billie Bird, Oliver Blake, Hazel Boyne, Helen Brown, John Brown, Benny Burt, Rosalee Calvert, Sue Carlton, Bill Cartledge, Anna Chandler, Ray Cooke, Lorraine Crawford, Roger Creed, Wade Crosby, Isabel Cushin, Jim Davies, Sayre Dearing, Mike Donovan, John Doucette, Jimmie Dundee, Ralph Dunn, Don Dunning, Sarah Edwards, Al Ferguson, Charles Ferguson, Pat Flaherty, Robert Foulk, Barbara Freking, Slim Gaut, Roy Gordon, Fred Graff, John Grant, Charmienne Harker, Jim Hayward, Hallene Hill, Henry Hope, Bee Humphries, John Indrisano, Tommy Ivo, Jerry James, Richard Karlan, Kenner G. Kemp, Lola Kendrick, Victor Kilian, Geraldine Knapp, Jack Kruschen, Nolan Leary, Ralph Littlefield, Kate MacKenna, Mike Mahoney, Vivian Mason, Allen Mathews, Joe McTurk, Harold Miller, John 'Skins' Miller, Mary Moder, Ralph Montgomery, Pat Moran, Patsy Moran, Jerry Mullins, Diana Mumby, Mary Murphy, Paul Newlan, Patsy O'Byrne, Bob O'Connor, Emory Parnell, Joey Ray, Joe Recht, Bruce Riley, John Roberts, Michael Ross, Gene Roth, Wally Russell, Almira Sessions, Jack Shea, Bill Sheehan, Douglas Spencer, Jack Stoney, Brick Sullivan, Harry Tyler, Bill Varga, Emmett Vogan, Ralph Volkie, Anthony Warde, Gil Warren, Jean Whitney, Patricia Wright, Guy Zanette, Fred Zendar, Sidney Lanfield, Frank Tashlin, Edmund Beloin, Irving Elinson, Edmund L. Hartmann, Robert O'Brien, Damon Runyon
• Director: Sidney Lanfield
• Runtime: 1:31
• Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Media Format: Movie