Thanks for the Memory

It's a natural mistake assume that Bob Hope's familiar theme Thanks for the Memory comes from an early film with this title, but it isn't the case.

The Academy Award theme song came from Bob Hope's feature film debut in The Big Broadcast of 1938. Hope and Shirley Ross sung the number as a duet and proved so popular that Paramount rushed to put them in a film together and they used the song title to take advantage of its popularity. By now Hope was on radio and Thanks for the Memory became his theme that lasted the rest of his century long life.

Hope and Ross are a young married couple who are having their problems. He's a novelist who can't seem to come up with a finish for his latest work. She's a former fashion model and a former fiancé of Hope's publisher Otto Kruger who still has a yen for her.

Kruger certainly has ulterior motives when he suggests Ross go back to work and Hope stay at home do the housework and finish the novel. But it does seem like the only practical solution. Of course this is where the comedy starts.

Hope's not bad in this, but the role was far better suited for someone like Cary Grant. He and Ross get to sing another duet, Two Sleepy People, which was also a big hit. About this time Bob Hope and Shirley Ross recorded Thanks for the Memory and Two Sleepy People for Decca as a 78 rpm which sold over a million copies in Depression America.

Thanks for the Memory also gives one an opportunity to see Eddie Anderson do a variation on his Rochester character as the building janitor. Anderson had the gravelly comic voice which he used to great effect on Jack Benny's show. He was certainly never servile to Benny on the radio, in fact usually gave him a zing every show. He has a Rochester like moment with Hope as he insists that Hope pay him $10.25 for doing his laundry which Hope doesn't have. For a black man to stand up like that in 1938 is a rarity unto itself.

The title song is heard at the end where Hope and Ross reprise their duet from The Big Broadcast of 1938. And the song was sent well on its way to becoming an American classic.

After decades of knowing of Bob Hope and Shirley Ross' follow-up to their The Big Broadcast of 1938-in which they introed their duet of "Thanks for the Memory" which won the Oscar for Best Song-I finally watched this movie with the same title of that song on the DailyMotion site just now. Since it's Black History Month, this was next in my chronological viewing list of African-American film performances as this had another supporting turn by Eddie Anderson having just previously seen him in Gold Diggers of Paris. His role here is actually a bit larger than that previous movie as he has about five scenes total, one by himself, one with a couple of the other supporting players, two with Hope, one with Ross. Another notable appearance is that of Patricia Wilder who had performed with Hope before at the Palace Theatre in New York earlier in the decade as well as The Big Broadcast of 1938. Future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper is also in this one playing a role and frequent screen comic drunk Jack Norton does his stuff as well. Since this was made before Bob Hope became a superstar, his usual characterization of being a cowardly hero hadn't been developed yet. In fact, he seems to be playing more of a character of a novel writer who doesn't like the idea of his wife working especially if it means she'd make more than him making his role a bit dramatic when things threaten to get rough, as it does for a while, which is reflected when they reprise this movie's title song. Be that as it may, he and Ms. Ross are quite the charming couple especially when they warble a new song called "Two Sleepy People". Since I also like to cite people associated with my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-when involved in other films, here, it's the fact that this very movie was adapted from a play by Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett who would later help write IAWL with that movie's director, Frank Capra. In summary, Thanks for the Memory was quite a charmingly funny movie, even when the drama threatens to take over.

"Thanks for the Memory" is a most unusual Bob Hope film because it really is not especially funny and he doesn't play his usual wisecracking self. Because of this, I found I actually liked it....mostly because it was so different.

It's also an unusual film because the title was created to cash in on the success of Bob Hope's now signature song, "Thanks for the Memories"....and you hear an unusual rendition near the end of the movie.

The story finds Steve (hope) and Anne (Shirley Ross) as a very poor young couple. And, he works so hard he has little time to pursue his love....writing. So, a friend suggests that Steve stays home to write and keep house and Anne return to work...especially since her work as a model pays more. But like so many 1930s men, Steve cannot handle not being the breadwinner and his male ego is shattered. Soon, he and Anne are butting heads and their marriage is on rocky ground.

The most startling thing about this movie is that it's really NOT a comedy. Hope doesn't fill the film with his familiar quips (a plus) and the film is much more plot-driven than most of his films. The result, surprisingly, is a very nice film. Not Hopes' best but one of his better films...and one I almost scored an 8. Well worth seeing.

The song Thanks for the Memory is just about the only good thing in this Bob Hope vehicle that doesn't cut the mustard from the comedy standpoint. It was fairly obvious, even to the most casual observer, that Hope needed a foil to get the best performance out of his particular talents. That foil would eventually become Bing Crosby. Hope could carry a film by himself, but he was never really believable as a romantic lead. Dorothy Lamour would change that persona as well. Instead of watching this film, take in a Road movie first.

Bob Hope and Shirley Ross play newlyweds trying get ahead. Hope has written part of a novel. It's good…but can he do better? Prospective publisher Otto Kruger—who happens to be an old flame of Ross's—tells him that if he's serious about the book, then he should quit his day job and treat writing as a business. Shirley convinces Bob to give it a try…and returns to her old modeling job to earn a living till he gets established. Bob has difficulty concentrating, home alone while his wife is out supporting him.

Their apartment is also a sort of social center for an entertaining gang of friends. Clever couple Charles Butterworth and Hedda Hopper drop in at all hours and help themselves to the apartment. Roscoe Karns is another buddy who frequently shows up, sometimes accompanied by his new wife (Laura Hope Crews), whose only real charm is her money.

Eddie Anderson is excellent as the building superintendent who spends most of the picture trying to collect payment for the laundry he delivers. His funniest line is when he steps into Hope's kitchen and observes Hope attempting to prepare a meal. "Do you cook?" he asks doubtfully in that unique Rochester voice.

There are other funny scenes….Hope cracks an egg, can't figure out what to do with the shell, and so crams it into the pages of the cookbook he's holding.

The supporting cast really provide most of the best moments. Slinky neighbor girl Patricia Wilder—complete with breathy southern drawl—traipses in at one point when everyone is gathered in the main apartment. She has a bat in her living room: "I'm in trouble and I wonder if one of you boys can help me out," she pouts. At which Hopper turns to Ross with arch look: "She's in trouble and she wants a boy."

It's not great dialog—but delivered by these pros it's quite entertaining. The plot is hardly surprising but it holds together okay.

The song "Two Sleepy People" is easily the film's high point—Hope and Ross just look and sound so good together, and the song is perfectly sweet and drowsy.