My Favorite Brunette (1947) - film review

Ronnie Jackson is a baby photographer who dreams of becoming a private detective, like Mr McCloud, the man in the office next to his.  One day, he gets the chance to live his dream when he is mistaken for McCloud by a ravishing brunette, Carlotta Montay.  Using her obvious powers of persuasion, she hires him to find her missing husband.  In no time at all, Ronnie is mixed up in a bewildering affair involving gangsters and a valuable map, although he comes down to Earth with a bump when the police arrest him for murder...

Bob Hope fans will not be disappointed by this outlandish parody of the film noir crime thriller, which offers all the familiar film noir ingredients - including Dorothy Lamour as a sleekily seductive femme fatale - and the usual gamut of Bob Hope tomfoolery.  Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. bring a touch of class to a comedy that is perhaps a little too hectic and muddled for its own good, both actors providing a welcome reprieve from Hope’s unremitting comic excesses.  The icing on the cake are cameo appearances from Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby - these provide far bigger laughs than anything Hope can ever hope to extort from his audience.  Although Bob Hope’s scattergun approach to comedy can get very, very wearying, My Favorite Brunette is an enjoyable romp, one of his most consistently entertaining films.

© Derek Adamson 2010

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