My Favorite Brunette

My Favorite Brunette

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Elliott Nugent
Produced by Danny Dare
Screenplay by
Starring
Music by Robert Emmett Dolan
Cinematography Lionel Lindon
Edited by Ellsworth Hoagland
Production
company
Hope Enteriprises
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • March 19, 1947 (1947-03-19) (United States)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $3.1 million (US rentals)[1]

My Favorite Brunette is a 1947 American romantic comedy film and film noir parody, directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour.[2] Written by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose, the film is about a baby photographer on death row in San Quentin State Prison who tells reporters his history. While taking care of his private-eye neighbor's office, he is asked by an irresistible baroness to find a missing baron, which initiates a series of confusing but sinister events in a gloomy mansion and a private sanatorium. Spoofing movie detectives and the film noir style, the film features Lon Chaney, Jr. playing Willie, a character based on his Of Mice and Men role Lennie; Peter Lorre as Kismet, a comic take on his many film noir roles; and cameo appearances by film noir regular Alan Ladd and Hope partner Bing Crosby. Sequences were filmed in San Francisco and Pebble Beach, California.[3]

Synopsis

The story is told in flashback from Death Row as Ronnie Jackson (Hope) relates to a group of reporters the events that lead to his predicament. Jackson is a baby photographer who dreams about being a real private detective like his friend Sam McCloud (Ladd). One day he is mistaken for a detective by a mysterious lady in distress (Lamour) and soon finds himself involved in a murder mystery. In the end of the flashback, Ronnie is released from prison, which disappoints the executioner played by Bing Crosby in a cameo role.

Cast

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times liked it, saying: "Paramount knows a good thing when it sees one, especially when it earns a pile of bucks. And it also knows that there is magic in the juxtaposition of Mr. Hope and a dame—any dame this side of Woodlawn—and a preposterously turbulent plot. That's why the Paramount's new picture, the aforementioned "My Favorite Brunette," which candidly observes these criteria, is a commendably funny film."[5]

My Favorite Brunette was described by a reviewer for the St. Petersburg Times as a "first rate [Bob] Hope performance".[6]

Home video

In 1975, the film entered the public domain in the USA due to the copyright claimants failure to renew the copyright registration during the 28th year after release.[7] However, all authorized editions currently available are copyrighted by Columbia Pictures Television.

My Favorite Brunette has been widely available on home video, with most copies varying in picture and sound quality. There have been authorized video releases of the film, under license from the Bob Hope estate and distributor FremantleMedia North America, using the original negatives stored at Sony. One such release was licensed to Shout! Factory in 2010 in a DVD box set with other Hope films.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948 p 63
  2. ↑ "My Favorite Brunette". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Filming locations for My Favorite Brunette". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Full cast and crew for My Favorite Brunette". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  5. ↑ Crowther, Bosley. "The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Want To Laugh? Then Don't Miss Bob Hope's New Movie!". St. Petersburg Times. April 24, 1947.
  7. ↑ Pierce, David (March 29, 2001). Legal Limbo: How American Copyright Law Makes Orphan Films (mp3 in "file3"). Orphans of the Storm II: Documenting the 20th Century. Retrieved 2012-01-05.

External links

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