Nice effects though.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Lively Hope romp. He's a ditzy PI who couldn't find his shoes in a lighted closet. Good thing he's got Dottie Lamour to help him out of jams. Trouble is he's got to get a map before the bad guys do. Otherwise who knows what will happen. And get a load of the gang. Looks like Columbia turned out all their thick ears for this one, including the sly little Lorre. And what's with his name, "Kismet", when I thought that was a Broadway musical. But I especially like Chaney Jr. as the little brain in the big body. Sounds like he's doing a version of Lenny from Of Mice and Men (1939), with even a reference to "a rabbit". Funny how Chaney can be likable no matter how menacing he looks.Surprise, surprise, Hope's gag lines fly fast and furious. So if you don't chuckle at this one, there's another coming right up. Hope really has his cowardly alter-ego down pat. Heck, he even plays to the camera now and then, just to make sure we're not getting too serious. But oh my gosh, putting him on death row in the beginning had me really worried that his bad jokes had finally done him in. But not to worry, he's still got a long-term contract to do movies as entertaining as this one. Which thankfully, he does.

I caught this on Turner Classic Movies over the summer--my first Bob Hope picture. The plot concerns a baby photographer, Ronnie Jackson, whose office is just down the hall from a Sam Spade-ish private eye, Sam McCloud (played by the mostly absent Alan Ladd). When McCloud is forced to leave for a while, Jackson does the neighborly thing and looks after his office, thereafter getting mixed up in a murderous mystery where danger lurks around every corner and nothing is as it seems.My Favorite Brunette is no comic masterpiece, but it's fun light viewing. The solid script and direction are bolstered by a good cast. Bob Hope is Bob Hoping it for all he's worth, Dorothy Lamour is suitably sexy as the damsel in distress, and Peter Lorre is both menacing and hilarious as he sends up his screen persona. Lon Chaney, Jr. is also quite enjoyable as a hulking simpleton (obviously a take-off on his turn as Lennie in the 1939 adaptation Of Mice and Men) who's tricked into working for the bad guys.The mystery at the heart of the plot was satisfying--for me, anyway--working in enough zany twists and turns to stay surprising along the way. Ultimately, though, it's no more important than as the framework from which to hang Hope's mugging and one-liners. The film moves at a fast enough pace that, if one joke fails to take off, another comes along directly behind it. There's no time to get bored, and Hope's comedic style, while perhaps bland to some, is amiable enough for all ages to enjoy. This one's worth checking out.

Superstar though he may have been, I have to confess that I was never that impressed with Bob Hope's comedy. Admittedly, my exposure to him came late in his career, mostly through his television specials in the 1970's which the elder members of my family insisted on watching. Given his superstar status, I thought I'd try out a Bob Hope movie when I came across this one. In all honesty it's what I would have expected - amusing rather than outright funny and with a somewhat confusing story that held my interest but was never well enough explained.This is one of those movies that starts at the end and then uses flashbacks to explain how the end came about. In this case, Hope played Ronnie Jackson, a baby photographer who as the movie opens is sitting on death row waiting to be executed. Jackson dreamt of being a private eye, and as the result of a case of mistaken identity, ends up being hired by Countess Montay (Dorothy Lamour) to help find her missing uncle. Here's where the confusing mystery comes in. What we're told is that Montay had an appointment at the State Department and that it had something to do with uranium. There's also a bunch of bad guys out to find a map which ends up in Jackson's possession. Aside from that, the mystery wasn't well explained. Of the bad guys, Peter Lorre was OK and somewhat mysterious, but I thought that Lon Chaney (in a somewhat limited role) was really quite good, as well as being a somewhat sympathetic character. Hope and Lamour were fine; Hope's type of comedy essentially what I remembered from the 70's TV specials. There's a very brief cameo from Bing Crosby at the end of the movie, responded to (out of character) by Hope, who says "that guy will take any part he can get." It's not an outstanding movie by any means, and it's also not a bad movie. Mediocre seems to suit it well. 4/10

Baby photographer Bob Hope (as Ronnie Jackson) is on death row, for a murder he didn't commit. While preparing for his stint in the (laughing) gas chamber, Mr. Hope tells his story, in flashback… Hope isn't happy taking baby pictures. His real desire is to become a successful a private detective, like "Sam Spade" or "Philip Marlowe". To wit, Hope is hired by beautiful Baroness Dorothy Lamour (as Carlotta Montay), to solve the mystery of her missing husband/uncle… Medium done Hope is better than most, not as good as some. The material is a bit lame, but Hope handles it expertly. Peter Lorre (as Kismet) and Lon Chaney Jr. (as Willie) lead a fine supporting cast. The frequent co-starred Ms. Lamour is a perfectly subtle spoof counterpoint to Hope's wisecracking coward. Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby bookend the film with two highly entertaining "cameo" appearances. The stuffing in-between gets a little too long and thin, at times.***** My Favorite Brunette (3/19/47) Elliott Nugent ~ Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr.