Louisiana Purchase 1941

A Hollywood legal adviser opens the film by dictating to his secretary that the stage show property Louisiana Purchase cannot be filmed as is, unless it is clearly branded as fiction; a brief follow-up musical number emphasizes that disclaimer as part of the joke.

Louisiana State Representative Jim Taylor [Bob Hope] is informed by his partners in the Louisiana Purchase Company that Republican Senator Oliver P. Loganberry [Victor Moore] will arrive in Mardi Gras-era New Orleans to conduct hearings that could expose their misuse of federal funds. With Taylor slated to take the blame, his cronies plot to steer the investigation away from themselves. The plan: lure Loganberry into a honey trap and, if possible, derail the inquiry before it begins. To pull this off, they turn to a visiting European woman, Marina Von Minden [Vera Zorina], who is desperate to raise money to secure a visa for her mother to leave Europe.

Marina initially agrees to participate, posing for incriminating photos while the Senator appears vulnerable after a night of drinking. Yet she experiences a change of heart and decides to reveal the truth, explaining that the photos can be explained by a different motive: that Loganberry had proposed to her. As this unfolds, Taylor finds himself drawn to Marina, complicating the political maneuvering. Rather than letting the charges stick, he launches a three-day filibuster in the Legislature, insisting that he has the express permission of James Stewart to stand his ground.

The tale weaves together political farce, romance, and backstage maneuvering, with Marina’s conscience guiding the outcome and Taylor’s romantic shift reshaping the stakes of the hearings. Along the way, supporting figures like Madame Yvonne Bordelaise [Irène Bordoni] contribute to the scheme’s tangled web, adding depth to the satire of power, celebrity, and the theater world. The film keeps its tone light and brisk while preserving the core clash between ambition, truth, and love.