My Favorite Spy

Most of Bob Hope's movies from the 1940s and 1950s are okay to good. The style of humor is dated, especially that with Bing Crosby in the Road shows. Also, Hope's technique of speaking to the camera just didn't carry much comedy. But, "My Favorite Spy" has none of that. It still has some of his corny one-liners, but it also has some very good zingers.

The final half hour with some very crazy antics helps raise this film considerably. Hope plays Peanuts White and Eric Augustine – two look- alikes. One's a corny comic and the other is a ruthless international espionage free agent. The place of his frequent female opposite, Dorothy Lamour, is taken in this film by Hedy Lamarr as Lily Dalbray.

This is one comedy in which Bob gets the girl. It's nice fun, with lots of action and mayhem. Some of the other cast members who shine are Francis L. Sullivan and Karl Brubaker, Mike Mazurki as Monkara and Marc Lawrence as Ben Ali.

Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie. All are by Hope unless otherwise noted. "Remember you guys. Your salaries are paid by the taxpayers, and I may be one someday."

"I can just see it now – the unknown civilian."

"No, never mind. No memories. Tonight will make memories for tomorrow. Let's hope that tomorrow we can remember them."

"I don't remember what I said. But if you liked it, I meant every word of it."

"Ach du lieber! Augustine!"

Augustine (Hope) is sitting at a table, pulling the petals off a corsage, looking for a message. A woman sitting at his table asks, "What are you doing?" Augustine, "Oh, this? I was just helping the native farmers. I'm looking for Japanese beetles."

This movie, while far from Hope's best, has Bob in a duel role as Peanuts White and Eric Augusine, the latter being a notorious spy.

What is unique is that the character of Augustine is shown as a humorlous brutal killer, and for a few brief scenes we see a serious side of Bob Hope that to my knowledge has never been shown since in any effort.

The closest to it in terms of range would be Beau James which he did some years later.

1951's "My Favorite Spy" stars Bob Hope, Hedy Lamarr, Francis L. Sulllivan and Mike Mazurki. Hope plays Peanuts White, a burlesque comedian, who bears a strong resemblance to a spy, Eric Augustine. When Augustine is injured, the government gets Peanuts to go in his place to Tangier with $1 million to collect some microfilm. Peanuts, like Hope's other characters, is a bona fide coward, but he goes after Harry Truman talks with him on the phone. ("Oh, she's out on tour?" Hope asks, referring to Truman's daughter Margaret, who at that time was pursuing a singing career.) When Peanuts arrives in Tangier, he meets the woman with whom Eric was previously involved, the beautiful nightclub singer Lily Dalbray. She's under orders from the other side to get the microfilm, so she acts as if she's ready to resume things with Eric. Unfortunately, the real Eric escapes from the hospital and makes his way to Tangier, causing the situation to become even more confusing as everyone chases everyone else.

Hope is very funny in this and does indeed create a second role in Eric Augustine, who has a much darker persona than Peanuts. There are some great laughs, my favorite scene being Hedy and Peanuts dancing in the hotel while his contact tries to get his attention. The part where Lamarr drives a fire engine while Hope hangs onto the ladder is funny as well.

Hedy Lamarr was 36 or so at the time of the filming and looks glorious, particularly in the form-fitting white sequined gown she wears during her nightclub act. It's so unfortunate that in Hollywood, once a woman turned 30, lead roles became so difficult to get. Lamarr was one of the most beautiful and glamorous women in film - at any age. She's basically straight man to Hope here and holds her own in what is a Dorothy Lamour part, right down to the nightclub act. She contributes to the foreign flavor of the film.

This isn't Hope's best film, but it's still very good with some great bits and laughs.

Hope fans should enjoy this showcase. The comedian's in about every scene where the one-liners, throw-aways, and snappy retorts fly faster than a machine-gun on rapid fire. After all, there were seven writers, yes, seven! And I expect each wanted his or her work accommodated. So, it's a loaded script. Bob plays a baggy-pants comedian (Peanuts) pressed into government service in order to catch a dangerous look-alike who's on the run. Along the way he gets "help" from the gorgeous Hedy LaMarr.

Plots are secondary for Hope vehicles, mainly furnishing set-ups for the gag-lines. Here, the setting for international intrigue is Tangier. Thus there's a hint of he Hope-Crosby Road pictures, while La Marr provides the eye candy, in spades. But, I gather from other reviewers that her best scenes ended on the cutting room floor courtesy Hope's desire to dominate. Then too, don't expect much continuity given the generally ragged editing process.

Anyhow, I love that line where a ringing sound comes from Lilly (LaMarr) and Peanuts observes that she always makes him tinkle—snuck by the censors, I guess. And, if you don't like this gag, hold on because more will soon fly by. All in all, it's a Hope showcase during his most productive movie period.

Judging from some of the reviewers here I feel I have to mention a well known fact back then when this movie was made. Bob is Paramount's top comedy moneymaker. Hedy after her triumph role as Delilah a year or so earlier, had to make this movie cause paramount and Bob wanted her to. It turned out that Hedy's best parts were either cut or slimmered down, cause it made Bob second banana in some scenes. Naturally, the studio could not let that happen to their top money maker, so that is what was released ..a toned down Hedy role. Sneak previewers had caught the original version and most agreed that Hedy stole that movie from Bob, mainly cause no one expected it from her. Towards the end we do see some of her funny scenes, but not enough.