Eddie Foy Saves the Day and His Son!

Before appearing in a bright red union suit in the movie, Alias Jesse James, Bob Hope (as Eddie Foy) wore one under his clown costume in a memorable scene with the oldest Foy boy. The action occured earlier in the film, The Seven Little Foys. This had occurred before he had decided to taking his children on the road with him.

His son had accompanyied him to the theatre that night and was enjoying a vaudevillian act from high up in the rafters...

 ...when an intense fire broke out. Panic ruled the day as Foy realizes his son was in danger of being burned alive. He jumped into action to save the tyke and others.  

 

As the fire spread, Foy knew it was up to him to save the boy, his boy!

He sprang into action, climbing up and into the dense, choking smoke. 

 

Crawling along the walkway, he reached his son and dropped into waiting arms to hustle the boy away to safety. 

 

 

As the fire spread and just before his pants caught fire, Foy located the ladder and was able to climb down to safety.... 

 

 

He ran from back stage to the theatre seating to make sure everyone had not panicked but had been safely evacuated. The partially dressed hero clown saved the day... 

...making the newspapers the next mornging.

My appreciation to Hope Enterprises and Paramount Pictures for making this film and for its availability to modern audiences on streaming services who provide many other entertaining Bob Hope Movies, documentaries, and television shows.