My Favorite Blonde (1942)

Director:

Sidney Lanfield

Writers:

Melvin Frank (story) and
Norman Panama (story) ...

Release Date:

8 March 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Karen Bentley, an English secret agent, links up with Larry Haines and his star penguin Percy in an attempt to outwit German spies.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Penguin | Los Angeles | Vaudeville | German

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bob Hope	...	Larry Haines
Madeleine Carroll	...	Karen Bentley
Gale Sondergaard	...	Madame Stephanie Runick
George Zucco	...	Dr. Hugo Streger
Lionel Royce	...	Karl
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Wallace Faber
Victor Varconi	...	Miller
Otto Reichow	...	Lanz
Esther Howard	...	Mrs. Topley
Edward Gargan	...	Mulrooney
James Burke	...	Union Secretary
Charles Cane	...	Turk O'Flaherty
Crane Whitley	...	Ulrich - Henchman
Dooley Wilson	...	Porter
Milton Parsons	...	Mortician

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #7985) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Some cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): William Irving (Waiter), Mike Lally (Chicago Taxi Driver). 'Frank Marlowe' (Chicago Taxi Driver) and William Lally (Telegraph Operator).

Quotes:

Karen Bentley: [surreptitiously] There's no time to lose. Do you know what it feels like to be followed, hounded and watched every second?
Larry Haines: Well I used to, but now I pay cash for everything.
Karen Bentley: Look at me.
Larry Haines: I'm looking.
Karen Bentley: You've got to trust me.
Larry Haines: I'm not through looking yet.
Karen Bentley: You mustn't ask any questions.
Larry Haines: I'm asking. I mean, I'm not asking.
Karen Bentley: My name's Karen Bentley. I can't tell you any more.
Larry Haines: My name's Larry Haines. There's no more to tell.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in My Favorite Brunette (1947)

Soundtrack:

Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)

very funny Bob Hope movie

After swooning for quite some time on his radio show about Madeline Carroll, the actress, enjoying the publicity, approached him about being a guest on his show. Hope suggested that instead, they do a film together. The result is the delightful "My Favorite Blonde" about a British spy, Carroll, trying to deliver a coded message to Los Angeles. Attempting to escape German agents, she barges into a theater dressing room inhabited by Hope, who is performing as straight man to a penguin.

Hope is a riot, with the wisecracks coming quickly throughout the film, and Carroll is a good leading lady for him - classy, serious, and the character she plays is game for anything to reach her goal. Gale Sondergaard has precious little to do - one wonders if her role was cut; Dooley Wilson has an unspoken bit on the train; and Bing Crosby directs Hope to a bus in one scene. Hope starts to walk away from him, stops, takes a beat and says to himself, "No. It couldn't be." There are other in jokes as well - Hope turns the radio to his own show and turns it off, commenting, "I can't stand that guy." As someone who was a young adult in the '60s, it wasn't kosher to like Bob Hope because of his politics, but I've always enjoyed his film performances. "My Favorite Blonde" is one of his best.