My Favorite Brunette

Bob Hope in one of his better comedies of the 1940s, a clever satire of noir mysteries (Raymond Chandler, in particular) which substitutes hard-boiled for soft-boiled without losing the essence of a good crime story. A baby-photographer in San Francisco is found in the neighboring offices of a vacationing private detective by a femme fatale, who unwittingly hires the would-be gumshoe to help find her missing uncle. Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose penned the dandy original screenplay, neatly skirting the spoofy/silly undercurrent which marred many of Hope's starring vehicles of the era. Dorothy Lamour (with the wonderful character name Carlotta Montay) is the supposedly schizophrenic and paranoid client; Peter Lorre is her evil valet; and nobody cracks walnuts like muscle-stooge Lon Chaney. Fresh and witty, with a surprising hint of sex appeal, a solid production, and two terrific star-cameos as a bonus. *** from ****

This was one of the three films that Bob Hope did for Paramount with the theme of favorites: blonde, spy and brunette. He was at one of the best moments of his career when this spoof about the detective movie genre went into production.

"My Favorite Brunette" was directed by Elliott Nugent with a style that made it fun and light to watch. The screen play by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose parodies those films that showed a charismatic private eye get into all kinds of dangerous situations. In this film, Ronnie Jackson, a photographer in San Francisco is suddenly, thrown into a web of intrigue when he steps into the office of his neighbor, the real P.I, Sam McCloud, who is fed up with the job and is leaving town.

Enter the femme fatale, something that is a must in this type of film, Carlotta Montay. She will get Ronnie into all kinds of difficult situations and even the gas chamber as he tries his best to deal with all the bad people that are chasing Carlotta.

Bob Hope was excellent in his take of Ronnie Jackson. Dorothy Lamour, in all her beauty, made the most of her Carlotta. Two cameos in the film were notorious because they are uncredited and unexpected: Alan Ladd, and Bing Crosby. Others in the film are Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr., Charles Dingle, Frank Puglia, Reginald Denny, among the supporting cast.

The film is still a lot of fun as it makes fun of other more dramatic movies thanks to the direction of Elliott Nugent.

Bob Hope is very funny in this enjoyable light comedy. The plot is deliberately crazy and implausible, but creative, and it sets up some funny situations. The rest of the cast is good too, and it all works very well as light entertainment.

Hope plays a photographer who longs to be a detective, and then gets his chance, only to find out that it's a lot more than he can handle. It's a fine role for Hope, and the script also gives him a lot of good material to work with. Dorothy Lamour is suitably mysterious as the woman who involves him in a complicated situation. Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. add atmosphere and humor as two of Hope's adversaries.

Anyone who likes Hope should enjoy seeing him in "My Favorite Brunette", and it is also recommended for anyone who likes light comedies of the era.

This movie offers an abundance of laughs with Hope as a baby photographer turned detective who is clearly out of his element. Dorothy Lamour is sexy and funny as Bobs love interest. Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. add the sinister part to the movie and are good straight men for Hopes antics. This type of comedy was popular in the 40's but few could pull it off as well as Hope could. He is, in my opinion, better without a partner such as Bing to bring in the laughs. It is a fun picture to watch.

Hi, Everyone, As this movie begins, count the stars in the Paramount logo. You will see there are 24. That means it is an old Paramount Picture. Paramount's new logo has only 22 stars. I am not sure when that was changed but certainly by the mid fifties.

Interestingly, this movie has a speaking part for an African American man and an Asian American woman in the first five minutes of the film. Neither gets screen credit. There is also a child actor who chews up the scenery, that scenery being Bob Hope's finger.

It is nice to see Bob Hope actually climbing a tree. Bob was in excellent physical shape in those days of the 1940s. If you want to watch him dancing watch The Seven Little Foys where he tap dances with Jimmy Cagney during the mid 1950s.

It is fun for those of us who remember dictaphones and wire recorders and disc recorders that made big 78 rpm records as we watch Bob trying to operate a recorder. Where were the digital MP3 recorders when you needed one in 1947? The cars are fun to look at. This is like a trip to a museum with an old friend.

One scene I ran back and forth a few times and I have not yet figured out how they did it. There is a scene where Bob is the target for a knife thrower. I think they really threw the knives and barely missed his head. It looks real to me.

Not Bob's best movie, but worth a look. I recommend Paleface, Fancy Pants, Son of Paleface, Seven Little Foys, Beau James and That Certain Feeling.

Tom Willett