Movie review of one of Bob Hope’s finest solo comedies, ‘My Favorite Brunette’, where he plays a baby photographer who longs to be a private eye - and is inadvertently given the opportunity when a beautiful brunette (Dorothy Lamour) mistakes him for one, leading 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 (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, telling 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 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.
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 Wolfman 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 noire, 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.
Funny movie quotes from My Favorite Brunette starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Uh oh, her schizo’s about to phrenia!
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): You see, I wanted to be a detective too. It only took brains, courage, and a gun… and I had the gun.
Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour): I’m at my wit’s end!
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): I passed there an hour ago.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): How about it, Sam? Can I go to work for you? Just give me a simple “yes” or “no”.
Sam McCloud: No.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Aw, but that’s TOO simple!
Dr. Lundau: For the past six months, Miss Montay has been suffering from an acute case of schizophrenia, accompanied by visual aberrations and increasingly severe paranoiac delusions.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Mm-HMM! And how is she mentally?
Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour): You said you’d stick with me till your dying breath.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Yeah, and I’m getting too close to it.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): I figure the only way to get the inside dope is from the outside… dope!
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Beautiful day, isn’t it? Well, maybe it isn’t so beautiful… it is day, though.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Easy cuddles! One move and you’re a dead midget!
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Nutty as a fruitcake, and with all that beautiful frosting.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): You can open the mailman later.
State Trooper: If you bother us again, I’ll personally punch you in the nose so hard it will look like other peoples’ noses.
Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour): He said he was safe.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Oh, he’s safe alright… I mean, he’s safe alright.
Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour): But he’s not safe! I know he isn’t!
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): No no, he’s in a terrible spot.
Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour): But I feel he’s in great danger.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Yes yes, he’s in great danger… yeah, but he’s safe alright… he’s safe. I sound like an umpire.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Everything you touch turns to rigormortis.
Sam McCloud: I told you before, stick to watching the birdie and you’ll die of old age.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Yeah but I was cut out for this kind of life. All my life I wanted to be a hardboiled detective like Humphrey Bogart or Dick Powell or even Alan Ladd.
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): You come one step closer and I’ll break this record into a thousand pieces! Oh… wait a minute. Who’s side am I on?
State Trooper: Keep moving! You got a long drive back to town!
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): Yeah well let me tell you something!
State Trooper: What?
Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope): I like long drives…
Editorial review 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.
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