Dorothy Lamour Is Bob Hope's "Favorite Brunette"

Confession: I sometimes get the plots of Bob Hope's three My Favorite... movies mixed up. While recently viewing My Favorite Brunette again, I kept waiting for the scene where the baddies give Bob truth serum--with predictably silly results. However, that classic bit is from My Favorite Spy with Hedy Lamarr. Well, to my defense, at least Hedy and Bob's Brunette co-star Dorothy Lamour both have dark hair--as opposed to leading lady Madeleine Carroll from My Favorite Blonde.

Bob Hope made the three My Favorite... films between 1942 and 1951, the peak period of his Paramount career. Technically, he played a different character in each film, though they all displayed the typical Hope persona. The series’ premise had Bob encountering mysterious women that got him involved in murder mysteries and spy intrigue. In My Favorite Blonde, he meets Madeleine Carroll (already a spy movie veteran after 1935’s The 39 Steps) on a train and winds up helping her elude Nazi agents. My Favorite Spy pairs him with the gorgeous Ms. Lamarr in a spy spoof with Bob as a comedian posing as a tough secret agent.

In My Favorite Brunette, Bob plays baby photographer Ronnie Jackson, who tells his story in flashback as he awaits the San Quentin gas chamber. As Ronnie explains in voiceover, he was ready for a career change and knew what it took to be a detective: "Brains, courage, and a gun. And I had the gun."

Tough-guy Hope and Lamour.

When the exotic Carlotta Montay (Lamour) mistakes Ronnie for out-of-town detective Sam McCloud (an unbilled Alan Ladd), the baby photographer plays along. He is soon involved in a plot with a kidnapped uncle, mineral rights, and plutonium. Of course, the story is really just an excuse for the zany situations and frequently funny Hope wisecracks (to Carlotta: "We're caught like two rats in a trap...at least, we're a boy rat and a girl rat."). And while this may not be the Hope comedy with the truth serum scene, it is the one with the "keyhole camera" and a classic routine in which Hope keeps overlooking a clue that bad guy Peter Lorre repeatedly places in front of him.

Hope feels Lon's muscles.

As was typical in Hope's Paramount comedies, the supporting players are first-rate, especially Lorre as a knife-throwing henchman. The most surprising performance, though, comes from Lon Chaney, Jr., who channels his Lenny (from Of Mice and Men) to charming comedic effect as Lorre's oafish partner.

My Favorite Brunette may not be a top-notch Hope vehicle along the lines of Son of Paleface or The Ghost Breakers, but it's a solid comedy that will keep a smile on your face for 87 minutes.

The "Road" Movies A to Z

We interrupt the 31 Days of Halloween for an alphabetical tribute to the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope Road movies. Starting at the top:

A - Alaska (the setting for Road to Utopia); The African Queen clip used in Road to Bali when the boys "see" Bogey.
B - Robert Benchley, who narrates Utopia; "But Beautiful" the big hit song from Road to Rio.
C - Cannibals who want to eat Bob in Road to Zanzibar; Crosby, of course.
D - Deep sea diving, the boys' occupation in Rio; Duke, Bing's name in Utopia.
E - "The End" credit that Bob tries to prevent from ending Bali before he gets the girl.
F - Fearless Frazier, Bob's name in Zanzibar.
G - Gorilla that likes to blow out matches in Zanzibar.
H - Hong Kong and Hope are the obvious choices, but there's also the hypnosis used on Dorothy in Rio.
I - "It's Anybody's Spring", song performed by Bing in a shipboard talent show. He loses to an organ grinder and a monkey, prompting Hope to remark about bringing Sinatra on the next Road trip.
J - Josh, Bing's name in Road to Singapore.
K - Prince Ken Arok, the bad guy in Bali.
L - Lamour, of course. But also Aunt Lucy, played by Bob in a flashback in Road to Morocco.
M - "Moonlight Becomes You" the hit ballad from Morocco; the moon where Bob, Bing, and Joan Collins land at the end of Road to Hong Kong.
N - David Niven, who has a cameo in Hong Kong.
O - Orville, Bob's first name in Morocco, though he goes by his nickname "Turkey."
P - The "patty-cake" bit originated in Singapore that the boys use when an escape is needed; the Paramount mountain that makes a surprise appearance in Utopia...which also features Dorothy singing her hit song "Personality" (later, sadly, used by Wesson Oil).
Q - Anthony Quinn, who played villains in both Singapore and Morocco.
R - Rio!
S - Singapore!
T - Talking animals: camels in Morocco, fish and bears in Utopia. Bing's hit "To See You is to Love You" from Bali, which Hitchcock used in Rear Window.
U - Utopia!
V - Volcano in Bali; Jimmy Van Heusen, who co-wrote all the songs.
W - Whiskers worn by the boys in Utopia; the Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Alley to Bali" that spoofs Road to Bali.
X - The XL squid from Reap the Wild Wind that appears in Bali.
Y - "You're Dangerous" sung by Dorothy in Zanzibar.
Z - Zanzibar...a fitting way to end this list!