classicsoncall Review of My Favorite Blonde

My Favorite Blonde (1942)

"Say, what do you operate on, alternating current?"

[7/10 · 22 August 2023]

What makes so many of Bob Hope's films so entertaining is his self-deprecating manner. In this one, his character, Larry Haines, hears his own voice on a radio program and remarks how 'I can't stand that guy'! Robert Mankiewicz, host of Turner Classic Movies, stated how Hope had developed kind of a crush on Madeleine Carroll, and it was Hope's suggestion to have her co-star with him in this picture. I didn't really catch any real chemistry between the two, but then again, their characters were at odds with each other over the course of the story. As a secret British agent, Karen Bentley (Carroll) was in possession of a scorpion pendant that was etched with the location and destination of one hundred fifty military planes bound for London from Los Angeles. Those dastardly Nazis, led by George Zucco and Gale Sondergaard would have loved to get their hands on the little doo-dad, but it kept getting surreptitiously passed between Bentley and Haines, ultimately leading to chaos in a hotel room and a manhunt for Larry after being accused of murder! Lending a hand to his 'Road' buddy Bob, Bing Crosby makes a quick cameo outside a union hall, but I was left scratching my head over a bit involving Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer that I thought was done in poor taste. Many consider this to be one of Hope's better films, and in my list of his movies I've seen and reviewed here on IMDb, it currently ranks number four out of twenty-eight pictures, so obviously that claim has some merit.