Hold That Blonde!

Wild and amused comedy very little well-known between the films of George Marshall, with surprising scenes that will make enjoy to all the lovers of the good humor.

Between the great actresses of the comedy it is necessary to add another name: Veronica Lake, a wonderful actress who demonstrated to have a fine talent for the high comedy and who locates it between the greatest of this genre like Katharine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Carole Lombard, Judy Hollyday or Betty Grable. And one of the more beautiful...

Ogden (Eddie Bracken) is a most unusual man. He's a kleptomaniac. But the weirder part is that he's a klepto with a conscience. He always returns what he's taken...though this is a problem since he works in a bank! Tired of his antics with money and bonds deposited in the bank, the manager has no choice but to let him go...at least until he can be cured of this compulsion to steal.

Ogden goes to see a psychiatrist who must be a real quack! Dr. Storasky (George Zucco) suggests that if he finds a nice girl and gets married, his compulsion to steal with vanish. Yeah, I am sure that's the cure (NOT). Unfortunately, the girl he finds and wants to marry is Sally (Veronica Lake)...and Sally is a professional thief...though of course, Ogden doesn't know this. But you can't feel sorry for the dope...he asked her to marry him only moments after meeting her!

This movie is extremely silly...ridiculous silly. Now this is NOT a criticism...just an explanation as to what type of comedy it is. It's NOT sophisticated nor subtle! Occasionally I felt it was a bit too silly to be taken very seriously...sort of like an Abbott & Costello or even Three Stooges film. Again, not really a criticism but more about the style of the movie. I liked the film and thought it was cute and enjoyable...and quite slight. Worth seeing but don't expect brilliance...just fun.

A strained screwball comedy starring Eddie Bracken as a kleptomaniac who becomes involved with a gang of jewel thieves and falls for pretty Veronica Lake. It's a showcase for Bracken, who plays his nervous routine to the hilt. But the script is bland and none of the gags are particularly funny. The most memorable bit is one involving a flagpole and even that feels like something I've seen before. There's also very little chemistry between Bracken and Lake. The pair reportedly didn't get along off screen and it really shows. For her part, Lake gets little to no funny moments of her own. She mostly plays it straight, which is disappointing as she proved in films like Sullivan's Travels she could do comedy quite well. The supporting cast is the movie's saving grace, with Willie Best and Donald MacBride as two of the standouts. It's really not a great movie and certainly not a contender with the best screwball comedies from the period. It's watchable but a bit of a chore to sit through at times. If you're a big fan of Bracken, you'll probably like it more than I did.

Hold That Blonde stars Eddie Bracken and Veronica Lake when both were at Paramount and both had done work for Preston Sturges in the past. But Sturges left Paramount the year this film was done. Sturges definitely would have gotten a few more laughs from this. I think this also was a property Bob Hope might have passed on.

Bracken plays one of his patented schnook roles only this schnook is both rich and a kleptomaniac. The family butler Willie Best returns the stuff as fast as he can, but sometimes the police just get involved, I don't know, I guess it's their job.

Anyway one chance encounter with Veronica Lake where he steals her compact which had a safe combination. Lake is part of a gang doing a most inside job. But this involves Bracken with all his issues and as we know in these films some women cannot resist a schnook.

In fact this involvement is healthy for Bracken's soul says psychiatrist George Zucco. If he had a rgular sex life he might not steal. I don't know is Sigmund Freud would approve, but it does work in Bracken's case.

A little Harold Lloyd like skyscraper work is in Hold That Blonde. Bracken is no Lloyd but he handles the physical comedy well.

Hold That Blonde isn't the greatest of screen comedies, but it serves both the stars well.