My Favorite Brunette

When baby photographer Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) office-sits for traveling p.i. Sam McCloud, he finds his dreams of playing detective coming all too true all too soon when mysterious damsel-in-distress Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour) sashays into his office. Soon our hero is up to his ski-nose in trouble as he and his comely client are chased by a gang of cutthroats with designs on Carlotta's uncle's uranium (that's right, uranium!). One of Hope's best comedies, BRUNETTE deftly spoofs hard-boiled private eye thrillers of the era with a barrage of uproarious one-liners and set pieces. Hope and Lamour's usual comic/romantic chemistry is at its finest amid a nifty supporting cast including Peter Lorre, the unfairly uncredited Jean Wong (a delight as Mrs. Fong, mother of a tot so loathe to smile that Ronnie quips, "This kid's gonna grow up to be a sponsor!"), Lon Chaney Jr. (essentially playing his classic and oft-imitated OF MICE AND MEN role for laughs), and a couple of cameos too hilarious to spoil here (including the Paramount tough guy who appears as McCloud)! The DVD currently available doesn't have the most pristine print, but it's got some fun interactive features, including a trivia quiz. I only hope somebody decides to give this cheeky, cheerful farce the Criterion-caliber treatment it deserves! UPDATE for 2011: There's a remastered Bob Hope DVD collection available from The Shout Factory, including a gorgeous print of MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE, complete with Paramount logo! HOORAY!

The film concerns Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) a quite shy baby photographer gets mistaken with his next door neighbour Sam McCloud (Alan Ladd) , a famous San Francisco private eye . The problems start when the Baroness Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour) contracts Ronnie to find her husband (Frank Puglia) and investigate about a map what marks the location of a Criolita (uranium) deposit that would be the key for defense of free world . It will lead him by the way to an international intrigue . Meanwhile , Ronnie to confront a villain Major (Charles Dingle) and his heavies (henchmen: Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr. ,John Hoyt) .

The picture results to be a hilarious spy caper with lots of fun , giggles , laughs , tongue-in cheek and a little bit of action and suspense . The movie is the following to¨My favorite blonde¨(by Sidney Lanfield) who starred Hope and Madeleine Carroll as his partenaire. There appears some cameos and guest appearances of famed stars , such as Alan Ladd as the typical tough detective and Bing Crosby in a likable final interpretation . Bing Crosby along with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour formed a famous trio with too much success and they starred numerous films with titles as ¨Road to..Bali , Road to ..Morocco,.. Zanzibar , ...Hong Kong¨, among others . Besides , appearing as a secondary actor the terror expert Lon Chaney Jr. , repeating his role of the simple-minded person in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel :¨Mice and men¨(1939) , Chaney's performance as an innocent burly man is spectacularly touching and amusing . In addition , Peter Lorre , as always , plays an astute villainous and with skills for throwing deadly daggers . The motion picture was well directed by Eliott Nugent . The flick will appeal to Bob Hope fans .

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.

The 1940's was a very prolific period for Bob Hope as he made 21 movies during that decade including some of his very best (the "Road" films of course with Crosby and Lamour, "The Paleface" with Jane Russell, and "My Favorite Blonde" with Madeleine Carroll). However, "Brunette" rates as high, if not higher, than any of these as it had a very funny script and a wonderful supporting cast including Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jnr, John Hoyt, Ann Doran, Reginald Denny, Ray Teal, Jack La Rue and a couple of surprise star cameos. Peter Lorre in particular seemed to enjoy sending up his usual image as a sinister killer.

San Francisco baby photographer Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) has unfulfilled ambitions to be a private detective like his neighbour in the next office Sam McCloud. When Sam goes out of town Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour) comes in seeking help and mistakes Hope for the detective who thinks this could be the big chance to prove himself but as usual in a Hope film he runs into more trouble than he can handle. Lamour persuades Hope to look for her uncle who has been kidnapped by the villains and a double put in his place. The plot thickens as he accompanies Lamour into many ludicrous situations, unforeseen danger and one hilarious episode after another.

Some favourite lines from the film:

Bob Hope: "You see, I wanted to be a detective too. It only took brains, courage and a gun - and I had the gun!".

Bob Hope: "I was cut out for this kind of life. All my life I've wanted to be a hard boiled detective like Humphrey Bogart, or Dick Powell ... or even Alan Ladd!".

Bob Hope (to Peter Lorre): "Nice cheerful place - what time do they bring the mummies out?".

Bob Hope: "It always looked so easy in those Tarzan pictures!".

Bob Hope (to Dorothy Lamour): "I don't know how much more of this I can take - you've had me in hot water so long I feel like a tea bag".

Bob Hope could always be relied upon to bring us the laughs with even the most average script but in this film he excels as he is given some great material to work with and certainly makes the most of it. 10/10. Clive Roberts.

Bob Hope is back! This time with Dorothy Lamour. This is the ninth film they both have been in and they were in five more together after this one, Bob Hope is the age of 43 or 44 in this film. Bob Hope plays a baby photographer who has always wanted to be a private eye...a detective. Next to his office is the McCloud Detective Agency. He begs for Sam McCloud (Alan Ladd in a cameo appearance) to give him a chance. But nothin' doin'. While McCloud trusts Bob to answer the phone while he steps outside to work on a case, who should walk in but Dorothy Lamour. The distraught woman needs help and thinks Bob is McCloud the detective. Well, what is Bob to do? Especially as lovely as Dorothy Lamour is. So here is Bob's chance to play detective. Here is where the fun begins. Bing Crosby also has a cameo appearance.