So much average

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Bob Hope is up to his usual antics in this 1947 film.Condemned to death for a murder he did not commit,Hope reveals the story of how he went from baby photographer to detective and gets mixed up with some really bad guys who have victimized Dorothy Lamour and her noble uncle.Problem with the film is that it never discusses the ramifications of the uranium even though we may imagine what they might be.Other than Peter Lorre doing his usual evil ways, Charles Dingle, who was so good as Bette Davis's brother in "The Little Foxes," is as sinister as ever in this film.

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.

My Favorite Brunette is directed by Elliott Nugent and written by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose. It stars Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Frank Puglia, Lon Chaney Junior, Peter Lorre, John Hoyte and Charles Dingle. Music is by Robert Emmett Dolan and cinematography by Lionel Lindon. Ronnie Jackson (Hope) is on Death Row and tells reporters how he come to be there. He was a baby photographer who dreamed of becoming a hard boiled detective like his heroes, Humphrey Bogart, or Dick Powell, or even Alan Ladd. One day he gets mistaken for a detective in the office across the hall by a mysterious brunette in distress (Lamour) and gets plunged into a murder mystery. Blood! And it ain't mine, it's red! A wonderful film noir spoof that finds Hope in his element as the writing allows the gags to come thick and fast in almost scattergun explosions. This is as good a place as any to start for potential newcomers to Hope's films, the bonus here is that the back up cast is impressive as well. With Hope's chemistry with Lamour (gorgeous and hard looking) set in stone (they had already worked together at least seven times by this point), this is complimented by the likes of Lorre and Chaney who mimic past performances in more serious fare, while Alan Ladd pops in for a delightful little cameo to further nudge and wink to film noir iconography. The best scenes come at a gloomy mansion and at a Sanitarium (seriously enjoy a brilliant game of golf here), and Hope's narration throughout the film only furthers the comedy gold on offer. 8/10

On the streets of San Francisco, a mysterious woman named Carlotta appears out of the blue asking a man to help her. He's not really a private detective, but he's so swept off his feet he acts the part anyway. Then her story unravels. He suspects her sanity, not realizing he's only one step behind her en route to the sanitarium."Nutty as a fruitcake, but with all that beautiful frosting!" That's not James Stewart talking about Kim Novak, but rather Bob Hope on the subject of Dorothy Lamour, his co-star in this farcical takeoff of the film noir, made more than ten years before Hitchcock's "Vertigo". Maybe the Master should have called it "Deja Vu" instead.That's not entirely fair. "Vertigo" is a classic on many levels, whereas "My Favorite Brunette" is an amiable timekiller with Hope solid if not sharp, making the best of an uneven set of wisecracks and a wrong-man story even weaker than the one Carlotta spins at the outset. Still, Peter Lorre is on hand to lend the film some Hitchcockian gravitas as one of the key hoods, and the opening set up showing Hope at San Quentin telling his tale to reporters as he awaits the gas chamber gets things off right.Hope is Ronnie Jackson, a baby photographer whose office is next door to a detective he idolizes. The detective chooses to leave Ronnie alone in his office just as Carlotta walks in, to tell of a man who is either her husband, her uncle, or neither, hand him a ring and a map, and lead him on a chase involving keyhole cameras and invisible golf balls which pits him against Lorre ("Ol' Shortenin' Bread" Ronnie calls him), slick southerner Charles Dingle ("Mint Julep") and muscle man Lon Chaney Jr. ("Boulder Dam with legs").Seeing Hope's mock-tough-guy persona go through the paces of a Raymond Chandler-style potboiler is fun. He's all show but never learns, to the point that when he jumps a middle-aged woman in one scene, the joke isn't him losing so much as him thinking he could win.In the beginning we see him on Death Row asking the warden about a reprieve from the governor: "No word, huh? Well, I'll know who to vote for next time." Every time he smokes a cigarette, he tries to sneer at the guard, only he ends up nearly coughing instead.Director Elliott Nugent keeps the story moving, which helps with the holes, but the film-noir mood he establishes at the opening quickly dissipates into a shooting gallery for Hope's one-liners. Edmund Belion and Jack Rose, the screenwriters, miss a good opportunity to use the story as more of a send-up. Alas, the mystery is played too much on the level, and except for some reaction shots from Lorre, we never see the villains as part of the comedy.But it's Hope, it's the 1940s, which means you are in for a good time. Plus one thing "Vertigo" didn't have, a terrific last line. Watch it once, and it will be the biggest smile you take away from this underbaked charmer.