A highly contrived secret agent farce, taking place in early WWII. The plot concerns an effort to transmit a message from England to British agents in the US concerning plans for deployment of a squadron of Lockheed Hudson light bombers the RAF has bought. The microfilm message is hidden inside a scorpion medallion which gets transferred back and forth several times between agent Madeleine Carroll (Karen) and Bob Hope(Larry: a vaudeville performer with a penguin(Percy) act. Madeleine ran into Hope while trying to lose a couple of German agents on her tail, who had killed her partner on the ship from England(Why wasn't she sent by plane for such an important mission??) Hope tries to lose this mysterious lady at first, but she finds him wherever he goes. They separately board a train for Chicago to meet an agent there. But, the Germans have beat them there and killed the agent, who leaves a note for a contact in L.A.. Madeleine and Hope have quite a time getting from Chicago to L.A., including stealing a bus and a small plane, and stowaways in a boxcar. Periodically they are running from police or sheriffs, being charged with murder or theft, along with running from the German agents, who are always hot on their heels and even ahead of them(How did the Germans know where they were going next??). At L.A., the Germans have tied up and hidden the British agent, so Madeleine steals their car and makes for the Air Base where the Hudsons are, leaving Hope behind to deal with the Germans. Somehow, he escapes the Germans and gets to the air base a little later.
I had no prior knowledge of Madeleine Carrol. She didn't impress me as especially beautiful or charismatic, although she had been popular through the '30s both in the US and her native England. It was 5 years before she did another film, in the meanwhile devoting herself to various functions relating to WWII, being saddened by the death of her sister from a London air raid. I would have preferred Betty Hutton, a new arrival at Paramount, in her place in this film. I don't believe Betty ever costarred with Hope: a lost opportunity for some fantastic comedy.
There were many holes in the screenplay(nothing terribly unusual),a few of which I already alluded to, for example the uncanny ability of the Germans to keep up with or anticipate Bob and Madeleine. "My Favorite Brunette", also costarring Hope, had a similar problem, with Peter Lorre popping up wherever the stars went, sometimes ahead of them. On the other hand , there is a fair amount of humor Hope-style.
Note :Some factual details about the 2 engine Lockheed Hudson light bomber featured here: As shown in the film, they were made in southern California. Especially before the US entered the war, they were mostly sold to the RAF, for use in coastal patrol, sub chasing, training, transport and reconnaissance. They were not powerful enough to take part in massed bombing raids(limited range and bomb capacity). However, pilots reported they were exceptionally maneuverable for a 2 engine plane. At least early in the war, they were shipped disassembled in crates to England. Thus, the idea that a squad of Hudsons were ready to fly to England and take part in mass bombing raids doesn't jibe with the facts. The range of these planes was too short to fly across the Atlantic, at least until air bases were established in Greenland and Iceland. Hollywood often used Hudsons as proxies for larger bombers, because they were available nearby.
I had no prior knowledge of Madeleine Carrol. She didn't impress me as especially beautiful or charismatic, although she had been popular through the '30s both in the US and her native England. It was 5 years before she did another film, in the meanwhile devoting herself to various functions relating to WWII, being saddened by the death of her sister from a London air raid. I would have preferred Betty Hutton, a new arrival at Paramount, in her place in this film. I don't believe Betty ever costarred with Hope: a lost opportunity for some fantastic comedy.
There were many holes in the screenplay(nothing terribly unusual),a few of which I already alluded to, for example the uncanny ability of the Germans to keep up with or anticipate Bob and Madeleine. "My Favorite Brunette", also costarring Hope, had a similar problem, with Peter Lorre popping up wherever the stars went, sometimes ahead of them. On the other hand , there is a fair amount of humor Hope-style.
Note :Some factual details about the 2 engine Lockheed Hudson light bomber featured here: As shown in the film, they were made in southern California. Especially before the US entered the war, they were mostly sold to the RAF, for use in coastal patrol, sub chasing, training, transport and reconnaissance. They were not powerful enough to take part in massed bombing raids(limited range and bomb capacity). However, pilots reported they were exceptionally maneuverable for a 2 engine plane. At least early in the war, they were shipped disassembled in crates to England. Thus, the idea that a squad of Hudsons were ready to fly to England and take part in mass bombing raids doesn't jibe with the facts. The range of these planes was too short to fly across the Atlantic, at least until air bases were established in Greenland and Iceland. Hollywood often used Hudsons as proxies for larger bombers, because they were available nearby.