My Favorite Spy

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.

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.

HEDY LAMARR may have been one of BOB HOPE's most glamorous co-stars, but she lacks the sort of comic timing needed for any female who plays opposite the hyper-active Hope. She never loses her poise no matter how ridiculous the situations are, but she never looks at home in this kind of spy story that even has her doing a nightclub act--singing the kind of sultry song that Dorothy Lamour could always put over. It's in the nightclub scene that she looks most uncomfortable as a performer, obviously dubbed by a real singer.

The story itself is the kind of mistaken identity thing that either Hope or Danny Kaye had done many times before and there's nothing new in the way of original material. It's a pleasant enough spoof of spy stories about a cowardly impostor (Hope) assigned by the government to obtain a top secret microfilm from spies in Tangier. Hope is his usual cowardly self and has to be prodded by the contact man (ARNOLD MOSS) to carry out the assignment, which he is more than willing to do once he meets the alluring Lamarr.

This was part of Hedy's deal with Paramount to give them another film after SAMSON AND DELILAH--and there's even a bit of Victor Young's "Samson and Delilah" theme played by the orchestra in the nightclub scene. Hope, who has all the best lines, plays the impostor with his usual comic finesse and gets away with varying amounts of mugging whenever the script isn't funny enough. Hedy tries valiantly to keep up with him, but she's just a little too restrained to make her efforts seem casual and effortless--as they should.

The screwball slapstick for the finale keeps things rushing along toward the predictable conclusion, but it's the sort of average entertainment that pleased Hope's fans who enjoyed his comic energy in this sort of espionage romp from time to time.

One of Hope's best efforts. Hedy Lamar plays the perfect foil to Bob as he plays two very different characters.

Contains one of the funniest sight-gag sequences in modern cinema and allows Hedy to show off the depth of her acting ability. It couldn't have been easy playing opposite Bob Hope anyway, but when she's not quite sure who is showing up had to make it even tougher.

This is a film I can watch over and over again. In fact, I've just about worn out my copy, yet I laugh out loud every time.

Great family viewing with the typical Hope silliness tempered by the very seductive Hedy Lamar.

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."