Thanks for the Memory

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.

The plot for this film may not have been an old one in 1938, but by the late 20th century it was certainly worn out. A would-be author is struggling to write a great novel. In various renditions, the author is a man or a woman, single or married. This is the classic version with the guy on the typewriter and the wife earning their keep.

"Thanks for the Memory" is old hat for such a theme; and but for the music and the substantial cast, it wouldn't amount to much. The story itself is very little more than the plot already mentioned, but it has a couple of unusual twists that don't help it. The first is that for a struggling writer and spouse, Steve and Anne Merrick live in a very nice apartment, with very nice furnishings. And it's THE party place for scads of regular friends and drop-ins from who knows where So, where do they get the money to finance such a lifestyle? This happens nearly every night.

Bob Hope and Shirley Ross sing the title tune that they first sang just months before this in "The Big Broadcast of 1938." Here' it's a duet they sing warmly as a couple in love. By the next year, Hope would adopt it as his theme song for the rest of his life. That song and the considerable cast are what earn this film my seven stars. Those folks include Hedda Hopper, Otto Kruger, Charles Butterworth, Roscoe Karns, Eddie (Rochester) Anderson, Edward Gargan and more.

The constant drop-in of party folks and wandering drunks gets tedious very fast, and all of the partying takes up much of the film's time. The comedy is just fair. One can guess how the film will end. Most younger audiences in the 21st century would find this film too slow and probably boring. Fans of older films and those who like the music of the period would probably still enjoy this film.

Here are some of the best lines of the film.

Gil Morrell, "By the way, I don't believe I've congratulated you." Steve Merrick, "Oh, you mean my novel?" Morrell, "No, I mean your wife. A lot of fellas can write, but few men can get a girl like Anne. I outta know - she almost married me." Steve, "Yeah, I know. Anne and I have laughed about that lots of times."

Steve Merrick, "Uh, do you write novels?" Taxi Driver, "Not me. I work for a living."

Anne Merrick, "Oh, Steve, you're wonderful." Steve Merrick, "I know it."

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.

"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.

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.