My Favorite Brunette – starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr.
Movie review of one of Bob Hope‘s finest solo comedies, My Favorite Brunette. He plays a baby photographer who longs to be a private eye. And he’s inadvertently given the opportunity when a beautiful brunette (Dorothy Lamour) mistakes him for one. This leads him into a web of danger, deceit, and murder with spies (including Peter Lorre in a delicious performance). A very good, funny romantic movie, of that type that sadly isn’t made any more.
My Favorite Brunette is one of Bob Hope‘s best solo films, where he’s at his best and funniest. He plays a variation on his standard character. That is, an everyman with a yellow streak a mile wide and an eye for pretty ladies in this parody of film noir.
The movie begins with Bob Hope (playing the role of Ronnie Jackson) behind bars. He tells his story to a collection of journalists shortly before he’s due to be executed. In flashbacks, Bob Hope tells the story of how, as a successful baby photography he has always wanted to be a brave private eye. And he gets his chance to play the part when his office neighbor, a real private eye, will be away for a few days and asks him to watch his office while he’s gone. The beautiful and talented Dorothy Lamour (playing the role of Carlotta Montay) enters — the Favorite Brunette of the title. She mistakes him for a private detective, and he soon is on the case, looking for her kidnapped uncle.
Playing detective
This leads him into a world of intrigue, involving a group of spies trying to get control over a uranium mine. Peter Lorre absolutely shines as the enforcer for the spies, coming across as truly menacing, and wonderful to watch. Another wonderful performance by Lon Chaney Jr., best known for his role as the Wolf man in the Universal series of movies. Here, he plays a very large, very strong, mentally retarded man (although that term isn’t used in the film), who’s initially used by the spies, but who helps out Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. The movie is filled with twists and turns, and works on several levels. As a romantic comedy, as film noir, and as a laugh-out-loud comedy starring one of the funniest comedians to ever grace the screen. My Favorite Brunette is one of Bob Hope’s best movies and is highly recommended.
Editorial review of My Favorite Brunette – starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney jr., courtesy of Amazon.com
Ronnie Jackson is your average happy-go-lucky photographer. Naturally, Ronnie doesn’t even think twice when he happily volunteers to take care of his neighbor’s private-eye office. That is until a beautiful brunette walks into his office begging Ronnie to find her missing husband. Soon Ronnie finds himself on a wild goose chase that leads to murder.