My Favorite Brunette

Director: Elliott Nugent

Overview

Awaiting execution, Bob Hope tells the gathered reporters how he got into his present predicament. It seems that Hope was once a baby photographer, his office adjacent to the one leased by a private detective. Hope's trouble begins when he is mistaken for the detective by beautiful client Dorothy Lamour.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/18/2005
UPC:	0096009153090
Original Release:	1947
Source:	ECHO BRIDGE HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Presentation:	[Full Frame]
Language:	English
Time:	1:25:00
Sales rank:	78,559

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bob Hope	Ronnie Jackson,Ronnie Jackson
Dorothy Lamour	Carlotta Montay
Peter Lorre	Kismet
Lon Chaney Jr.	Willie
Charles Dingle	Maj. Simon Montague
Reginald Denny	James Collins
Frank Puglia	Baron Montay
Ann Doran	Miss Rogers
Willard Robertson	Prison Warden
Charles Arnt	Crawford
John Hoyt	Dr. Lundau
Garry Owen	Reporter
Richard Keene	Reporter
Anthony Caruso	`George Raft' Type
Matt McHugh	`Jimmy Cagney' Type
George Lloyd	Prison Guard Sergeant
Jack Clifford	Prison Guard Captain
Ray Teal	State Trooper
Al Hill	State Trooper
Boyd Davis	Mr. Dawsen
Clarence Muse	Man in Condemned Row
Helena Phillips Evans	Mabel
Roland Soo Hoo	Baby Fong
Jean Wong	Mrs. Fong
Charles Cooley	Waiter
John Westley	Doctor
Theodore Rand	Waiter Captain
Tom Dillon	Policeman
Harland Tucker	Room Clerk
Reginald Simpson	Assistant Manager
James Flavin	Mac the Detective
Jim Pierce	Detective,Detective
Budd Fine	Detective
John Tyrrell	Bell Captain
Joe Recht	Newsboy
Bing Crosby	Executioner
Alan Ladd	Private Detective
Eddie Johnson	Caddy,Caddy
Betty Farrington	Matron
Brandon Hurst	Butler
Jack Chefe	Henri the Waiter
Jack La Rue	Tony
Mike Donovan	Kelly - Police Detective
Betty Hutton	Betty Hutton - Singing 'Murder, He Says'
Creighton Chaney	Willie,Actor
Thomas P. Dillon	Policeman
Robert Emmett Dolan	Composer

Technical Credits

Edmund Beloin

Jack Rose

Daniel Dare	Producer,Producer
Gordon Jennings	Special Effects
Edmund Beloin	Screenwriter
Jack Rose	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Woody Allen often stated that Bob Hope was a major influence on his work, and this is especially clear in My Favorite Brunette. Many of the gags and one-liners given to Hope would not seem out of place coming from Allen, with the crucial difference that the former delivers them "sincerely," whereas coming from the latter they would be tinged with irony. Brunette is a send-up of the "private dick" film, with Hope's take on a Phillip Marlowe type, giving him the chance to play his favorite "fish out of water" routine for all it's worth. For most of the film, the gags come fast and furious here, often making no sense but accumulating an irresistible force nonetheless. Unfortunately, about two-thirds of the way through, the tangled plot (an essential feature of the genre being spoofed) takes precedence and slows things down a little; it isn't a fatal change of pace, but it does keep the film from being the full-length laugh-fest it could have been. Hope is right at home with the material, and, of course, he gets good assistance from Dorothy Lamour. What's surprising is how delightfully funny Peter Lorre and (especially) Lon Chaney Jr. are. If My Favorite Brunette just misses being a classic comedy, it still has a great deal to recommend it.