Baby photographer Bob Hope (Ronnie) dreams of being a detective. His dreams come true when detective Alan Ladd (Sam) leaves town for a few days leaving Hope in charge of things. Dorothy Lamour (Carlotta) enters the picture and needs a detective so Hope pretends to be Ladd and takes on her case. The film carries you along and whether you like it will depend on your opinion of Bob Hope. Personally, I'm always let down by his shtick and there are a couple of typical Bob Hope moments that annoy me. Firstly, he cracks topical jokes with asides to the audience which are never really funny in the first place, eg, finding a bottle of alcohol and referencing Ray Milland who won an Oscar for "The Lost Weekend" (1945), a film about alcoholism. Is that his best joke? Also, scenes drag on, eg, the drawing room with the record player not plugged in. Oh, come on, Bob - this is beyond frustrating! Set aside this, Dorothy gets to sing a song.However, like all his efforts, you go along with the ride and for me, the best part of the film comes at the end with the appearance of the executioner. It's actually funny!

Poking affectionate fun at the whole detective/film noir genre, My Favorite Brunette comes complete with Philip Marlowe style narration from baby photographer Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope), as he describes to members of the press how he came to be facing the gas chamber for murder.He starts his story as hard-boiled private eye Sam McCloud (an uncredited Alan Ladd) leaves town for a few days, entrusting wannabe detective Jackson to mind his office. No sooner has Sam left than in walks sultry brunette Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour), who mistakes Ronnie for Sam, engaging his services to help find her missing husband. Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity for some serious sleuthing, and beguiled by the brunette's beauty, Ronnie becomes embroiled in a case of mystery and murder.Where Hope's comedic style often comes across as horribly dated (particularly in some of the Road movies), with cheesy vaudevillian gags, disparaging quips about his fellow stars, crusty jokes about current news events and awful ad-libbing, My Favorite Brunette manages to avoid most of these pitfalls by sticking to a sharp script that focuses on the parody of a particular genre, largely curtailing the need for smug asides, derogatory remarks and off-the-cuff buffoonery.The result is a very satisfying spoof that benefits from a solid cast, including some familiar faces who are happy to send up their stock-in-trade, including Peter Lorre playing slimy henchman Kismet and Lon Chaney Jr. as a hulking Sanitarium employee. Comedy highlights involve Kismet desperately trying to plant a clue for Jackson to find, Jackson playing golf with a patient at the nuthouse, and Jackson trying to use one of those newfangled recording machines.

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.

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