# Bob Hope quote, real or made up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [April 11, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916 "2025-04-11T17:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/1 "2025-04-11T17:08:34Z")
In “The Ghost Breakers” (1940), did Bob Hope really compare Democrats to zombies, or is that a dub that’s making the rounds? > **[The Ghost Breakers (1940) - Bob Hope as Larry Lawrence - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032520/characters/nm0001362)** > > The Ghost Breakers (1940) - Bob Hope as Larry Lawrence [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IO9np1Sftt4/hqdefault.jpg "Bob Hope says Democrats are “Zombies” || The Ghost Breakers (1940)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9np1Sftt4) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/2 "2025-04-11T17:11:01Z")
Many people did not like FDR and his New Deal policies, too socialistic. It would not be too far fetched that a line in a movie would refer to FDR’s democratic followers as zombies. The dislike between the two parties is not recent. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/3 "2025-04-11T17:11:39Z")
Bob Hope was a Republican and considered a Conservative, though he did alienate many right leaning friends in the 80s when he spoke out for Gays and to get a cure for Aids. So, that joke could easily be his own. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/4 "2025-04-11T17:12:50Z")
Snopes says it is a real movie quote: [Greatest Movie Line Ever | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/let-it-zombie/) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/5 "2025-04-11T17:16:10Z")
Keep in mind, Will Rogers was a Democrat and said this over 100 years ago: “I’m not a member of any organized political party…. I’m a Democrat.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/6 "2025-04-11T17:36:43Z")
Pretty mild political joke. Hope also made jokes about Hoover too. I think he had no problem making fun of both sides of the aisle. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/7 "2025-04-11T18:32:26Z")
I like this one: > [https://youtu.be/Xs8EbNSsOL4](https://youtu.be/Xs8EbNSsOL4) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/8 "2025-04-11T18:48:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I like this one: In context of the conversation, that could be interpreted to mean that Democrats would be expected to do more and better than regular people. Of course, that’s not what he _does_ mean. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/9 "2025-04-11T19:38:53Z")
The joke refers to the fact that many large cities at the time were controlled by [political machines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_machine) which were often aligned with the Democratic Party. Cities run by political machines were notoriously corrupt and one thing they were frequently accused of was [having party hacks impersonate dead people to cast votes.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud_in_the_United_States#Voter_impersonation) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/10 "2025-04-11T21:15:46Z")
Bob Hope also had this exchange from The Ghost Breakers in 1938. Which proves that he had no problem reusing material. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TmNnVrd3O38/hqdefault.jpg "Bob Hope: "She Was A Republican" (1942)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmNnVrd3O38) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hope-quote-real-or-made-up/1016916/11 "2025-04-11T21:59:30Z")
Bear in mind that Bob Hope never came up with any of his own jokes. He had a crack team of underpaid writers and a terrific memory.