They Got Me Covered (1943)

Bumbling reporter Robert Kittredge has been fired after bungling his latest assignment. His career isn't all he's botched up: his girlfriend Chris is tired of waiting for him to marry her. ... See full summary »

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Harry Kurnitz (screenplay), Frank Fenton (additional dialogue),

Stars:

Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lenore Aubert

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bob Hope	...	Robert Kittredge
Dorothy Lamour	...	Christina Hill
Lenore Aubert	...	Mrs. Vanescu
Otto Preminger	...	Fauscheim
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Baldanacco (as Edward Ciannelli)
Marion Martin	...	Gloria
Donald Meek	...	Little Old Man
Phyllis Ruth	...	Sally
Philip Ahn	...	Nichimuro
Donald MacBride	...	Mason
Mary Treen	...	Helen
Bettye Avery	...	Mildred
Margaret Hayes	...	Lucille
Mary Byrne	...	Laura
William Yetter Sr.	...	Holtz (as William Yetter)

Storyline

Bumbling reporter Robert Kittredge has been fired after bungling his latest assignment. His career isn't all he's botched up: his girlfriend Chris is tired of waiting for him to marry her. When he gets a hot tip on some Nazi spies operating in Washington, D.C., he convinces Chris to help him break the story so he can get his job back. The pair soon find themselves in several awkward predicaments as they track the criminals down in a night club, a burlesque show, and face a final showdown at a beauty salon.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | nazi | washington d.c. | reporter | knockout drug | 

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Taglines:

THEIR BEST YET...No Foolin'!

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Genres:

Musical | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Correspondente Fenômeno

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Bob Hope opens the music box we hear Bing Crosby singing his hit "When The Blue Of The Night". Hope says the line "That guy is haunting me". Crosby and Hope were co-stars in the famous "Road" pictures and often made cameos in each other's films.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997)

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Soundtracks

"William Tell Overture"
(uncredited)
Music by Gioachino Rossini
Played briefly multiple times during the rescue at the beauty salon

User Reviews

Knocking the Axe Out Of the Axis

They Got Me Covered is one of two films Bob Hope did on loan out from Paramount to Sam Goldwyn. After that Goldwyn once again signed his own house comedian Danny Kaye so he wouldn't have to pay an exorbitant ransom Paramount put on Hope's talents.

Hope's a bumbling newspaper reporter who turned out to be the only wire service man who did not get the story of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. That got him fired by boss editor Donald MacBride in one of his patented movie temper tantrums,

If you can believe it Hope actually won a Pulitzer Prize, but we soon learn the reason for it. He's got a Rumanian source named Venescu played by John Abbott. Abbott's got another big story for him, but he manages to get himself killed. Hope and ever suffering gal pal Dorothy Lamour have to find out what happened.

This could have been the plot line for any number of melodramatic noir type films, but this is a Bob Hope film so we're talking satire of same. Hope gets a lot of help from a very good cast of players Sam Goldwyn assembled here. Representing the Axis are Otto Preminger, Philip Ahn, and Eduardo Ciannelli plus a very seductive Lenore Aubert as the traditional femme fatale.

Best moments for me are those that Hope has with Donald Meek playing an addled old caretaker who believes the Civil War is still going on. The two of them reprise a couple of old burlesque routines in Abbott and Costello style.

Also look for a really nice performance by brassy blond Marion Martin as stripper Gloria the Glo-Girl.

They Got Me Covered despite the dated World War II topical references still has quite a lot of laughs for today's audience.