IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

On March 2nd, Kino Lorber Studio Classics will continue their fantastic string of Blu-ray releases of classic Bob Hope comedies with three of the comedian’s early starring vehicles, Caught in the Draft (1941), Nothing But the Truth (1941), and My Favorite Blonde (1942). I got an early look at the three discs, and “spoiler alert,” they’re all great. Having previously reviewed Caught in the Draft (1941) and Nothing But the Truth (1941), let’s take a look at My Favorite Blonde (1942).

As discussed in my prior reviews, Bob Hope began working in motion pictures in 1934, but he hadn’t made much of an impact on audiences until the release of the “Old Dark House” mystery/comedy, The Cat and the Canary (1939). It was in that film that Hope hit upon the wisecracking “brave coward” character that he would play for the majority of his film career. However, a single film was not quite enough to cement the Bob Hope comedy formula. Watching Caught in the Draft, Nothing but the Truth, and My Favorite Blonde back-to-back provides an interesting look at how Hope experimented with his comedy character during the first couple of years of his Hollywood stardom. In Caught in the Draft, his character is a bit too cocky and egotistical (in other words, a bit too much like the real Bob Hope). Hope toned it down for the romantic comedy Nothing But the Truth, and while that film is delightful, his character isn’t uniquely ‘Hope.’ One could just as easily see the character played by Dick Powell or Joel McCrea. With My Favorite Blonde, Bob Hope really struck upon the last component that was missing from his comedy character — “the underdog.”

It is true that Hope played the “brave coward” in earlier films, most prominently The Cat and the Canary (1939) and The Ghost Breakers (1940), but in both of those films, his characters were not only successful; they were also famous radio personalities (to capitalize on Hope’s growing fame on NBC radio’s The Pepsodent Show). In fact, more often than not in the comedies that preceded My Favorite Blonde, Hope’s character was wealthy, powerful, or famous. The one major exception was Road to Zanzibar (1941), the second of the Road pictures, in which Hope was first presented as the fall guy for Bing Crosby’s schemes. This ‘loser’ aspect to the Hope character was added to the comedian’s solo romantic comedies with My Favorite Blonde, where he plays a low vaudevillian who is upstaged in his own act by a trained penguin. Through the rest of Hope’s hugely successful run of films in the Forties through the mid-Fifties, there was almost always a ‘loser’ or ‘underdog’ aspect to his character. He would rarely stray from this winning formula — equal parts wiseacre, loser, coward, and reluctant white knight.

My Favorite Blonde is a comedic take on the Hitchcockian “wrong man” suspense plot, co-starring Madeleine Carroll (the heroine of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps). Here Carroll plays Karen Bentley, a British spy who is tasked with delivering secret flight plans, hidden inside a scorpion-shaped brooch, to a British agent in Chicago. When she is cornered by German spies, she pins the brooch on a vaudevillian, Larry Haines (Hope), who has an animal act with a penguin. This leads to a cross-country chase by train, bus, truck, and plane, in which Larry aids Karen, at first involuntarily, then reluctantly, and eventually wholeheartedly. Their attempts to deliver the classified information to the Allies and their budding romance is complicated when the baddies, led by George Zucco and Gale Sondergaard, frame the pair for murder. This provides plenty of opportunities to spoof Hitchcockian “wrong man” tropes.

My Favorite Blonde succeeds as a comedy by providing real stakes for the characters and playing the suspense seriously. The beautiful black & white cinematography by William C. Mellor (The Great McGinty, Too Late for Tears, A Place in the Sun), provides just the right atmosphere for suspense, including foggy night scenes. While the comedy is broad at times, including an uncredited Bing Crosby cameo that comes near to breaking the fourth wall, Madeleine Carroll and the villains play it straight, as if in a real Hitchcock-directed espionage thriller.

Hope is at his best, with better than average wisecracks and ample opportunity to show off his skills as a physical comedian. British actress Madeleine Carroll provides a nice cool contrast with the hyper comedian, but she also proves her own comedy chops when the script calls her to “play act” along with the vaudevillian to fool police and other bystanders in their way. George Zucco and Gale Sondergaard never gave a bad supporting performance, and, once again, they are solid bad guys here.

My Favorite Blonde is a wonderfully funny, charming, and atmospheric suspense comedy. At a mere 78 minutes, the film breezes along, and it is in the very top tier of the Bob Hope-star vehicles. I would personally rank it in my “Hope Top 3,” along with The Cat and the Canary and Road to Utopia. The order of my “Top 3” tends to change with each viewing, but if I was to choose a single film to screen for someone unfamiliar with Bob Hope’s work, I would select My Favorite Blonde. It may be the best representation of what is outstanding in the comedian’s film work.

USA/B&W-78m./Dir: Sidney Lanfield/Wr: Don Hartman & Frank Butler (Story by Melvin Frank & Norman Panama)/Cast: Bob Hope, Madeleine Carroll, Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco, Lionel Royce, Walter Kingsford

For Fans of: If you like Alfred Hitchcock’s “wrong man” movies, such as The 39 Steps (1935) and North by Northwest (1959), you might enjoy this comedy take on similar material.

Video: The upcoming My Favorite Blonde Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics is sourced from a new 2K master. The image quality looks fantastic and is an improvement over prior home video releases. The image is sharp, with inky blacks, extraordinary contrast, and appropriate film grain. The film has many atmospheric sequences, including night scenes with fog, and they are excellently rendered in this new scan. Overall, it looks like a near-pristine film print being projected for the first time.

The original mono DTS sound is solid, presenting dialogue, sound effects, and music with clarity. I detected no age-related hiss or distortion. This film will likely never look or sound better. Whether you are a fan of this particular film or Bob Hope films in general, the disc is highly recommended.

Kino Lorber also included a wealth of special features:

• A new, full-length audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan: She is obviously a big fan of My Favorite Blonde, and she does a great job of putting the film in historical context with other films produced during World War II and the political climate in the U.S. at the time. She also goes into how Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll supported the war effort in very different ways, how My Favorite Blonde relates to Alfred Hitchcock’s espionage thrillers of the era, and much, much more. The talk is well worth a listen.
• The original theatrical trailer
• Bonus trailers for The Cat and the Canary, Road to Singapore, The Ghost Breakers, Road to Zanzibar, Caught in the Draft, Nothing But the Truth, Road to Morocco, Road to Utopia, The Paleface, The General Died at Dawn, and a brief Kino Lorber promo for some of their other Bob Hope titles.
• Optional English subtitles for the feature

Streaming: At the time of this review, My Favorite Blonde could be rented digitally on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and other platforms. However, the film is only available in SD quality. The Blu-ray provides a much sharper and cleaner transfer.

More to Explore: If you’re looking for another excellent WWII espionage comedy, I recommend the Damon Runyon-like Humphrey Bogart film, All Through the Night (1942). You also can’t go wrong with most of the Bob Hope films produced between 1939 and 1954. Classic film fans are likely familiar with the Road pictures that Hope made with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. Below I posted links to Blu-ray releases of some of the best of Hope’s films as a solo comedian.

Trivia: My Favorite Blonde had its origins in Bob Hope’s popular weekly radio show, The Pepsodent Show. Whenever a joke required a reference to Hope’s dream girl, the writers would always reference Madeleine Carroll. After several months, the actress contacted Hope to thank him for all of the free publicity, and she suggested that they should make a movie together. The bosses at Paramount agreed that it would be a good idea, so the screenplay was put together with this pairing in mind.

For More Info: There have been many film references and biographies written on “Old Ski Nose,” but the definitive tome on the comedian is Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin. If you are looking for a Bob Hope film reference, The Road to Comedy: The Films of Bob Hope by Donald McCaffrey provides a nice overview.