My Favorite Brunette (1947)

Director:

Elliott Nugent

Writers:

Edmund Beloin (original screenplay) and
Jack Rose (original screenplay)

Release Date:

4 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Mystery

Tagline:

He's a hilarious hawkshaw... with a case on Dottie!

Plot:

Baby photographer Ronnie Jackson, on death row in San Quentin, tells reporters how he got there: taking care of his private-eye neighbor's office...

Plot Keywords:

Death Row | Photographer | Murder | Baby Photographer | Detective Agency

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Ronnie Jackson
Dorothy Lamour	...	Carlotta Montay
Peter Lorre	...	Kismet
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Willie (as Lon Chaney)
John Hoyt	...	Dr. Lundau
Charles Dingle	...	Major Simon Montague
Reginald Denny	...	James Collins
Frank Puglia	...	Baron Montay
Ann Doran	...	Miss Rogers
Willard Robertson	...	Prison Warden
Jack La Rue	...	Tony
Charles Arnt	...	Crawford

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #11981) | UK:PG | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Hope Enterprises

Trivia:

The film contains a number of in-jokes. Bob Hope's character is just saying that he wants to be a private detective like Alan Ladd - when Ladd appears, playing a private detective. Bing Crosby, Hope's long-term co-star and rival in the Road movies, plays an executioner who is livid when he doesn't get to execute Hope's character. Hope retaliates by saying "He'll do any kind of role" - at the time Crosby was a top star, but here was doing a one scene cameo. Dorothy Lamour's character looks longingly after Crosby for a moment - in the Road movies, Crosby nearly always got the girl - before Hope wins back her attention.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: A shot of the plane landing is flipped: the writing on the tail is backwards.

Quotes:

Ronnie Jackson: Easy cuddles! One move and you're a dead midget!

Movie Connections:

References Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

Soundtrack:

BESIDE YOU

Child photographer turned private eye

This was one of the three films that Bob Hope did for Paramount with the theme of favorites: blonde, spy and brunette. He was at one of the best moments of his career when this spoof about the detective movie genre went into production.

"My Favorite Brunette" was directed by Elliott Nugent with a style that made it fun and light to watch. The screen play by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose parodies those films that showed a charismatic private eye get into all kinds of dangerous situations. In this film, Ronnie Jackson, a photographer in San Francisco is suddenly, thrown into a web of intrigue when he steps into the office of his neighbor, the real P.I, Sam McCloud, who is fed up with the job and is leaving town.

Enter the femme fatale, something that is a must in this type of film, Carlotta Montay. She will get Ronnie into all kinds of difficult situations and even the gas chamber as he tries his best to deal with all the bad people that are chasing Carlotta.

Bob Hope was excellent in his take of Ronnie Jackson. Dorothy Lamour, in all her beauty, made the most of her Carlotta. Two cameos in the film were notorious because they are uncredited and unexpected: Alan Ladd, and Bing Crosby. Others in the film are Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr., Charles Dingle, Frank Puglia, Reginald Denny, among the supporting cast.

The film is still a lot of fun as it makes fun of other more dramatic movies thanks to the direction of Elliott Nugent.