My Favorite Blonde (1942) :
Brief Review -
Bob Hope was in the hysterical Groucho Marx mode and did considerably well in the spy comedy. Bob Hope is mostly known for his "Road to.." series with Bing Crosby, but if you really want to know his talent, then you should watch My Favorite Blonde. It might feel like a spy thriller version of Capra's cult rom-com, "It Happened One Night" (1934), due to its pattern of events, but there is something different for you in the second half. The film is about a peculiar vaudeville performer with an eccentric bird who gets mixed up with British and German secret agents in the days just before the United States' entry into World War II. The female British agent is using his help to transport the codes she's carrying, but the German people who are after her would stop at nothing. Since the man has been seen with her, he comes under the radar of the bad gang, and then they both try every single trick to chuck them and the "scorpion." Bob Hope plays a very hysterical character in the movie. You know that Groucho Marx stuff, right? Well, then prepare yourself to see Bob Hope doing a similar verbal comedy in his own style. In every sentence he speaks, he tries to crack a joke, be it a slapstick, PJ, or spoof of something popular. From John Doe to two fingers to Dr. Rings only twice, and then to many other movies and celebrities' references, Hope had a blast during every single minute of his presence. Madeleine Carroll looked beautiful as a blonde and has done a good job in the role of a British agent. She didn't look like an agent from any angle, though. Maybe because she was too pretty for that. Gale Sondergaard looked deadly, and her gang members have also done well. The engaging screenplay is the key here. Sidney Lanfield sums up a hysterical with less mess, and that's a tough job, I believe. Moreover, the spy genre made it more difficult. Well done, Sidney and his team.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Bob Hope was in the hysterical Groucho Marx mode and did considerably well in the spy comedy. Bob Hope is mostly known for his "Road to.." series with Bing Crosby, but if you really want to know his talent, then you should watch My Favorite Blonde. It might feel like a spy thriller version of Capra's cult rom-com, "It Happened One Night" (1934), due to its pattern of events, but there is something different for you in the second half. The film is about a peculiar vaudeville performer with an eccentric bird who gets mixed up with British and German secret agents in the days just before the United States' entry into World War II. The female British agent is using his help to transport the codes she's carrying, but the German people who are after her would stop at nothing. Since the man has been seen with her, he comes under the radar of the bad gang, and then they both try every single trick to chuck them and the "scorpion." Bob Hope plays a very hysterical character in the movie. You know that Groucho Marx stuff, right? Well, then prepare yourself to see Bob Hope doing a similar verbal comedy in his own style. In every sentence he speaks, he tries to crack a joke, be it a slapstick, PJ, or spoof of something popular. From John Doe to two fingers to Dr. Rings only twice, and then to many other movies and celebrities' references, Hope had a blast during every single minute of his presence. Madeleine Carroll looked beautiful as a blonde and has done a good job in the role of a British agent. She didn't look like an agent from any angle, though. Maybe because she was too pretty for that. Gale Sondergaard looked deadly, and her gang members have also done well. The engaging screenplay is the key here. Sidney Lanfield sums up a hysterical with less mess, and that's a tough job, I believe. Moreover, the spy genre made it more difficult. Well done, Sidney and his team.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.