Main Cast: Bob Hope, Madeleine Carroll, Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco, Lionel Royce, Victor Varconi
Release Year: 1942
Country: US
Run Time: 78 minutes
Plot
Each of Bob Hope's "My Favorite" films (My Favorite Blonde, My Favorite Brunette, My Favorite Spy) was, by accident or design, a parody of a dead-serious movie genre. 1942's My Favorite Blonde, for example, was a takeoff of Alfred Hitchcock in general and Hitchcock's 39 Steps in particular. Two-bit vaudeville entertainer Hope gets mixed up with gorgeous blonde British-spy Madeline Carroll. The "maguffin" (Hitchcock's nickname for "gimmick") which ties the two stars together is a ring which contains the microfilmed plans for a revolutionary new bomber. Hope and Carroll are forced to take it on the lam when Hope is framed for murder by Nazi-agents Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco et. al. Highlights include Hope eluding capture by impersonating a famed psychologist (watch for Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as Hope's most contentious "patient"). Madeline Carroll also got several opportunities to shine comedically, especially when she lapsed into cloying baby talk while posing as Hope's wife. Bob Hope was hesitant to work with My Favorite Blonde director Sidney Lanfield, having heard of Lanfield's reputation as an on-set dictator. However, the two got along so swimmingly that they would collaborate on such future top-notch Hope farces as Let's Face It (1943) and The Lemon Drop Kid (1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
One of Bob Hope's strongest solo efforts, My Favorite Blonde is terribly silly -- but also terribly hard to resist. While it's often referred to as a satire of Hitchcockian spy films, it's more of a spoof than anything else, using spy films mostly for conveniences of plot and as an excuse for some wonderful gags and one-liners. Things don't start out too promisingly, as the exposition is awkward and poorly executed, but once Hope and Madeleine Carroll connect, things pick up considerably. In many of his later vehicles, Hope comes across as hemmed in by his own persona; here, however, he's still developing, and so there's a freshness and element of surprise to him. Few people could match Hope at this point in his career when it came to timing. Carroll has a much harder task, being asked too frequently to play straight "man" and to carry too much of the plot, but she does this well -- and even manages to get in some smart comic licks of her own (especially in the cutesy-pie baby-talk sequence). Gale Sondergaard's faux Judith Anderson routine also deserves note, and director Sidney Lanfield has done a solid job of keeping things moving and not letting the tangled plotlines cause too much concern to anyone. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
