My Favorite Spy

source: My Favorite Spy

Hope fans should enjoy this showcase. The comedian's in about every scene where the one-liners, throw-aways, and snappy retorts fly faster than a machine-gun on rapid fire. After all, there were seven writers, yes, seven! And I expect each wanted his or her work accommodated. So, it's a loaded script. Bob plays a baggy-pants comedian (Peanuts) pressed into government service in order to catch a dangerous look-alike who's on the run. Along the way he gets "help" from the gorgeous Hedy LaMarr. Plots are secondary for Hope vehicles, mainly furnishing set-ups for the gag-lines. Here, the setting for international intrigue is Tangier. Thus there's a hint of he Hope-Crosby Road pictures, while La Marr provides the eye candy, in spades. But, I gather from other reviewers that her best scenes ended on the cutting room floor courtesy Hope's desire to dominate. Then too, don't expect much continuity given the generally ragged editing process. Anyhow, I love that line where a ringing sound comes from Lilly (LaMarr) and Peanuts observes that she always makes him tinkle—snuck by the censors, I guess. And, if you don't like this gag, hold on because more will soon fly by. All in all, it's a Hope showcase during his most productive movie period.

1951's "My Favorite Spy" stars Bob Hope, Hedy Lamarr, Francis L. Sulllivan and Mike Mazurki. Hope plays Peanuts White, a burlesque comedian, who bears a strong resemblance to a spy, Eric Augustine. When Augustine is injured, the government gets Peanuts to go in his place to Tangier with $1 million to collect some microfilm. Peanuts, like Hope's other characters, is a bona fide coward, but he goes after Harry Truman talks with him on the phone. ("Oh, she's out on tour?" Hope asks, referring to Truman's daughter Margaret, who at that time was pursuing a singing career.) When Peanuts arrives in Tangier, he meets the woman with whom Eric was previously involved, the beautiful nightclub singer Lily Dalbray. She's under orders from the other side to get the microfilm, so she acts as if she's ready to resume things with Eric. Unfortunately, the real Eric escapes from the hospital and makes his way to Tangier, causing the situation to become even more confusing as everyone chases everyone else. Hope is very funny in this and does indeed create a second role in Eric Augustine, who has a much darker persona than Peanuts. There are some great laughs, my favorite scene being Hedy and Peanuts dancing in the hotel while his contact tries to get his attention. The part where Lamarr drives a fire engine while Hope hangs onto the ladder is funny as well. Hedy Lamarr was 36 or so at the time of the filming and looks glorious, particularly in the form-fitting white sequined gown she wears during her nightclub act. It's so unfortunate that in Hollywood, once a woman turned 30, lead roles became so difficult to get. Lamarr was one of the most beautiful and glamorous women in film - at any age. She's basically straight man to Hope here and holds her own in what is a Dorothy Lamour part, right down to the nightclub act. She contributes to the foreign flavor of the film. This isn't Hope's best film, but it's still very good with some great bits and laughs.

This is a typical Bob Hope movie in which "ole ski nose" delivers a lot of one- liners and plays his usual coward-turned-hero. (In this story, a burlesque comic turned spy.) The leading lady for this one was Hedy Lamarr. By 1951, the famous glamor girl of the Golden Age looked like she was a few years past her prime. She had very little sex appeal left. Hope plays a dual role: "Peanuts White" and "Eric Augustine." He does a fine job with both, although in one of those roles he said very little. In all, not one of his more memorable movies, or funnier films, but it has enough decent laughs to somewhat entertain....but mainly, if you are a die-hard Bob Hope fan; otherwise, skip it. Bob did a lot of other films that were much better.

One of Hope's best efforts. Hedy Lamar plays the perfect foil to Bob as he plays two very different characters. Contains one of the funniest sight-gag sequences in modern cinema and allows Hedy to show off the depth of her acting ability. It couldn't have been easy playing opposite Bob Hope anyway, but when she's not quite sure who is showing up had to make it even tougher. This is a film I can watch over and over again. In fact, I've just about worn out my copy, yet I laugh out loud every time. Great family viewing with the typical Hope silliness tempered by the very seductive Hedy Lamar.

I tend to find Bob Hope's solo efforts-- the ones without Bing Crosby-- a bit hit or miss. This early 50s effort misses the mark more than it should. The bosses at Paramount have provided a decent director (Norman Z. McLeod); a sizable budget; a lovely leading lady (Hedy Lamarr); and a roster of dependable costars. But something is off. I think the main problem is that the gags are mostly uninspired, including one with Mr. Hope's character having to wear a girdle. And much of the dialogue is so inane in spots that all we can do is shrug and roll our eyes at the proceedings. It's not that Hope and company don't try, they certainly do. It's just that much of what ended up on screen isn't funny. The initial set-up involves Hope as a vaudeville actor performing some contrived shtick at a burlesque house. He is apprehended by police because he shares a physical resemblance with a wanted spy. Why the police are in charge of this investigation and not the FBI is a mystery. The coppers shoot and wound the doppelgänger (also played by Hope). This requires Hope the vaudevillian to masquerade as the villain to foil an international plot that threatens U. S. security. After he agrees to help, Hope flies to Tangier where he meets Miss Lamarr (in other pictures this would have been Miss Lamour). She's a gorgeous spy working for the other side, headed by criminal mastermind Francis L. Sullivan. We're never told who the other side really is. Only that there's going to be a transfer of microfiche with government secrets on it that Hope must intercept. As MacGuffins go it's a vague one. Naturally, Hope's character falls for Lamarr though it takes two-thirds of the picture's running time for him to figure out she's in cahoots with the crooks. The last third of the story has her experience a change of heart and decide to save him from Sullivan and the other goons. She now realizes she loves the impostor, not the man she originally thought he was. Not all of the hackneyed love story works. Lamarr and Hope exhibit no palpable chemistry as a screen couple. It seems obvious that while Hope finds luscious Lamarr an attractive dish, she's not into him the way she seems into most of her leading men. As a result, her performance is rather cool and detached, which goes against the denouement and happy ending the writers have plotted for her character. The funniest sequence in the film involves a fire that occurs at Sullivan's villa. Lamarr rescues Hope in a stolen car and drives him into town, with henchmen on their tail. In town they duck into a building where a group of firemen are answering a call. Hope and Lamarr don firefighter outfits and hop on the truck with the men. They wind up back at Sullivan's place, to help put out the blaze. It's a bunch of silly nonsense. MY FAVORITE SPY is the third film that Miss Lamarr made at Paramount when she signed a multi-picture deal after leaving MGM. The first was SAMSON AND DELILAH, her most successful picture, where she starred in a biblical epic directed by Cecil DeMille. The second assignment was COPPER CANYON, a John Farrow western in Technicolor that paired her with Ray Milland. Then finally, she made this farce with Bob Hope. She had been stuck in a rut at Metro, typecast in vamp roles. While she's still playing an alluring woman in these later films, her assignments at Paramount provided the actress with more variety and the opportunity to try something different.

This amiable romp sees a familiar theme, mistaken identity followed by turmoil. It begins with a villain named Augustine being cornered and then shot by intelligence agents; this was in the days when the Yanks were regarded as the good guys. Augustine bears a striking resemblance to actor/clown Peanuts White, which is hardly surprising as they are both played by Bob Hope. In fact at the beginning, White is arrested by mistake, and with Augustine out of the way he is pressured, coerced, flattered and bribed into taking Augustine's place – and a plane to Tangier. What does he do there? Without his straight man Bing Crosby, there are no duets, at least no singing duets, but he does end up playing the rear end of a pantomime camel. That would be bad enough, but the real Augustine returns, although shortly he ends up dead, and the faux Augustine has some explaining to do to his leading lady while he is dodging the bad guys who want to kill him (again).

Bob Hope plays a dual role in this comedy spy flick, one as his usual character throwing out humorous one liners, and the other as an international spy who Peanuts White (Hope) is asked to imitate in order to secure a valuable piece of film for the government. Hope actually looked a bit scary as the villain Eric Augustine, and it made me wonder if he could have pulled off a dramatic role in a non comedy vehicle. This was my first glimpse of Hedy Lamarr, and I wasn't too impressed with her looks when she first appeared on screen. But then, it seemed like she got better looking as the movie progressed. By the time of the film's finale and that wild hook and ladder ride, the zaniness of the scene seemed to bring out a naturalness to her personality that seemed suppressed in the early going. Actually, that scene had elements of Abbott and Costello and the Keystone Kops going for it, and was a lot more physical than any other Hope characterization I've seen. As usual, some of Hope's best zingers are of the self deprecatory kind; when one of the detectives removes his clown rubber nose in the early going, Hope's character replies - "Hey, that's not all putty"! You have to be quick when he does the gag about Bing Crosby, never mentioning him by name, but remarking how a skull he's looking at resembles a 'singer I know'. Modern audiences and non-Hope fans would never give it a second thought, but it's one of the fun things about watching these era films when you're old enough to be in on the joke. Hey, I know it's just for laughs, but there was a goof in that scene when the phone started ringing inside the suitcase. When Peanuts/Hope finally gets it out, the receiver is off the hook! "My Favorite Spy" seems to get mixed reviews, and though I enjoyed it myself, I thought about it being re-done as "Road to Tangier" with Crosby and Lamour along for the ride. Say, did you catch it when Peanuts White's real name was revealed? - it was Cecil Longwood.

Most of Bob Hope's movies from the 1940s and 1950s are okay to good. The style of humor is dated, especially that with Bing Crosby in the Road shows. Also, Hope's technique of speaking to the camera just didn't carry much comedy. But, "My Favorite Spy" has none of that. It still has some of his corny one-liners, but it also has some very good zingers. The final half hour with some very crazy antics helps raise this film considerably. Hope plays Peanuts White and Eric Augustine – two look- alikes. One's a corny comic and the other is a ruthless international espionage free agent. The place of his frequent female opposite, Dorothy Lamour, is taken in this film by Hedy Lamarr as Lily Dalbray. This is one comedy in which Bob gets the girl. It's nice fun, with lots of action and mayhem. Some of the other cast members who shine are Francis L. Sullivan and Karl Brubaker, Mike Mazurki as Monkara and Marc Lawrence as Ben Ali. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie. All are by Hope unless otherwise noted. "Remember you guys. Your salaries are paid by the taxpayers, and I may be one someday." "I can just see it now – the unknown civilian." "No, never mind. No memories. Tonight will make memories for tomorrow. Let's hope that tomorrow we can remember them." "I don't remember what I said. But if you liked it, I meant every word of it." "Ach du lieber! Augustine!" Augustine (Hope) is sitting at a table, pulling the petals off a corsage, looking for a message. A woman sitting at his table asks, "What are you doing?" Augustine, "Oh, this? I was just helping the native farmers. I'm looking for Japanese beetles."

Judging from some of the reviewers here I feel I have to mention a well known fact back then when this movie was made. Bob is Paramount's top comedy moneymaker. Hedy after her triumph role as Delilah a year or so earlier, had to make this movie cause paramount and Bob wanted her to. It turned out that Hedy's best parts were either cut or slimmered down, cause it made Bob second banana in some scenes. Naturally, the studio could not let that happen to their top money maker, so that is what was released ..a toned down Hedy role. Sneak previewers had caught the original version and most agreed that Hedy stole that movie from Bob, mainly cause no one expected it from her. Towards the end we do see some of her funny scenes, but not enough.