My Favorite Spy (1942)

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

M. Coates Webster (story)
Sig Herzig (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 June 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

You'll tingle when they tangle in Tangiers.

Plot Keywords:

Bandleader | Aunt | Jealousy | Secret Message | Flower Pot

Cast

Kay Kyser	...	Kay Kyser
Ellen Drew	...	Teresa 'Terry' Kyser
Jane Wyman	...	Connie
Robert Armstrong	...	Harry Robinson
Helen Westley	...	Aunt Jessie
William Demarest	...	Flower pot policeman
Una O'Connor	...	Cora, Kyser's maid
Lionel Royce	...	Winters, chief German agent
Moroni Olsen	...	Major Allen
George Cleveland	...	Gus, man in park
Vaughan Glaser	...	Colonel Moffett (as Vaughn Glaser)
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Jules, man in mark
Chester Clute	...	Higgenbotham
Teddy Hart	...	Complaining soldier
Kay Kyser Band	...	Themselves (as Kay Kyser's Band)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8000)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Teddy Hart, the very diminutive brother of the great lyricist Lorenz Hart (Rodgers & Hart), has a tiny role as the complaining solider in the early Army training base sequences. Teddy had the lead in the Broadway production of his brother's Musical "The Boys From Syracuse" but never ever equaled his brother's success.

Quotes:

[Kay finds his girlfriend bound and gagged in a closet]
Connie: Do you want to ruin everything?
Kay Kyser: But she'll smother in there! There's not enough air.
[Connie opens and closes the door several times]
Connie: That ought to hold her.

Soundtrack:

The Wedding March

Kay Kyser as Harold Lloyd

Whoever said that band leader Kay Kyser was a comedian? This Harold Lloyd produced opus proves that there is nothing funny about him. He looks a little like Harold Lloyd, but that's about it. This RKO comedy is well planned and has a funny premise. Lloyd provided for many belly laugh opportunities. The problem is that Kyser cannot deliver a punch line and is totally inept at physical comedy. William Demarest has a funny bit as a policeman doing battle with Kyser, but most of the humor is crushed by Kyser. Tay Garnett was not the best choice for director; he lets a number of slapstick possibilities escape. He makes the same mistakes in his later "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". The film would have worked if Lloyd has taken the lead himself, with a director like George Stevens handling the camera. What a pity!