My Favorite Blonde [Blu-ray]

This is a review of Star Spangled Rhythm, which is what I wanted (was cheaper to get this set than to buy it separately). This is a really fun entertaining movie from the 40's. Fast paced and upbeat with a few good musical numbers, but its not a musical. Its big selling point when it came out was the appearance of so many of Paramount Pictures movie stars. It's fun to see them but the star of the movie is really Betty Hutton in her first starring role.She is a blast to watch and easily eclipses the movie star cameos. Basically she plays a phone operator at Paramount whose Navy boyfriend ( Eddie Bracken,who is terrific) comes back from sea and wants to see his dad, who is really a gate guard at the studio but told his son that he was the head of the studio!!! The rest of the movie involves the efforts of Betty and the dad to promote this fraud on the son, including arranging a benefit for the sailors on the son's ship with all the movie stars because the dad said he could do that. So some crazy times ensue! This is Betty Hutton's movie. So much energy and heart and she gives it her all in every scene. I found her to be both endearing and a joy to watch. And boy is she funny. There's one scene where she tries to climb a wall to get back into Paramount after she's been fired that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It involves 2 guys who offer to help her and just mess things up! Its very intricate and just when you think its over they find a way to keep it going. Its just hilarious. So if you want to see a fun movie I really recommend this.I'm new to seeing Betty Hutton but now I'm a full time fan of hers. So much life and energy that she put into this.(By the way,Bob Hope doesn't have a lot to do in this and was pretty corny).

Watched this film for the 1st time on Blu-ray a couple of days ago, with my 2 sons (21 & 25 respectively), who both like it, finding it very funny. My wife didn't last the duration, as she's not particularly keen on Mr. Hope. Yet, this is a success. For a film from 1942 it looks and sounds great. it's pleasantly short, just under 80 min. duration, the script is witty, giving Bob Hope plenty of scope for delivering one liners. I watched this film many years ago, but had forgotten just how good it is. If you have a multi-region player, this is well worth importing from the USA, as you won't find it on Blu-ray anywhere else. To quote Barry Norman: "And why not!" -Surely this film, along with other Bob Hope classics such as; My Favourite Brunette, My Favourite Spy, the 2 Paleface films, The Lemon Drop Kid etc. would have a buyer base here in Britain. Maybe it is a policy we only release Marvel, and other kid's film here. It is rather sad how many US-releases doesn't get release here, fortunately sometimes, Germany and France, or Australia, makes up for UK's meagre release of classic Hollywood film, of quality.

You can't go far wrong with the early Bob Hope films. This double feature is misleading though because only one is a Hope vehicle. "My Favourite Blonde" is a spy comedy, a take off of "The Thirty Nine Steps", a famous book by John Buchan and British film starring the gorgeous Madelaine Carroll and Robert Donat. The gags come thick and fast and Hope is perfectly cast as a second rate vaudevillian with a performing penguin. He inadvertantly gets mixed up with British agent Carroll who is trying to deliver secret microfilm to her boss. Their adventures take them from New York to Los Angeles, providing the script writers with endless opportunities for mayhem. It is a very entertaining film and Carroll surprises with her comedy technique. "Star Spangled Rhythm" was Paramount's entry into the all star "putting on a show" films which every studio produced during the war. It is one of the best. Betty Hutton stars as a telephonist at the studio and she is very funny. She has 2 standout scenes - when she greets boyfriend Eddie Bracken and a superb routine with 2 acrobats in which she is trying to get over the walls of the studio lot. The show itself has the usual mixture of acts - good such as Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake sending up their images (Lake is inept) and Ray Milland, Lynne Overman, Franchot Tone and Fred MacMurray (his dead pan timing is impeccable) demonstrating if men played cards like women; very poor such as an inexplicable and embarrassing turn by the inert Alan Ladd and Susan Hayward overacting as usual in a skit about the wartime rubber shortage. There are also a couple of great songs - "That Old Black Magic" and "Hit the Road to Dreamland" for example. Ironically, for me the worst bit is the climax with Bing Crosby performing a patriotic song and showing absolutely zero involvement as usual. The prints of the films are excellent but the extras only include the trailers of the films and some liner notes about the productions and the casts. One irritating constraint is that once you have selected a film, you can not return to the top menu to select the other film.

This is delightfully hysterical film starring funnyman Bob Hope and showcasing the gorgeous Madeline Carroll. She really shines and gets to show off her comedic talent. Carroll did so many serious roles like "Secret Agent", "Lloyds of London", that it is refreshing to see her act in a screwball comedy while maintaining some sense of dignity. They have wonderful chemistry. I especially love the scene where Bob gets to "rough-up" Madeleine in order to have the police called to the scene to provide safe escort from the building. The villians are wonderful and Bob gets the best of them. My favorite Bob Hope film. Oh yes, the bonus Star Spangled Rhythm movie is a good look at Hollywood's morale-boosting war contribution. The skit showcasing the three gorgeous ladies from Paramount - Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, and Veronica Lake is hysterical.

"My Favorite Blonde" is great Bob Hope in every sense of the word. Nothing much else said would be necessary. The real gem of this collection is "Star Spangled Rhythm". Some may balk at this but pay attention, there's some really great gags, not to mention the songs and skits that all the Paramount stars put on. You have to see to believe the bit with Betty Hutton and the two gents who try to help her get over the wall into the Paramount lot! This film isn't an exclusive Bob Hope comedy except that he hosts the show for the Navy ship's crew and does one skit with William Bendix. Make sure you take this show in the proper context of when it was made and don't put 21st Century "values" on it.

Star Spangled Rhythm is noted for it's introduction of "That Old Black Magic" in a scene typical of wartime escapist movies. It's good to hear Johnny Johnston again and to see Vera Zorina trying to become a movie star. Highlight however is Mary Martin, Dick Powell and the Golden Gate Quartet performing the outstanding "Hit the Road to Dreamland" one of Johnny Mercer's greatest creations. 40's music at it's best with a nice lilt and words that have meaning which we now only long for. The disc also contains a second movie "My Favorite Blond" which is a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece "The Thirty-Nine Steps". Classic Bob Hope - where are you now that we need you?

First flick, My Favorite Blonde is good, the second not as good (too many songs for me). If you like Hope, then invest.

1942 was a disastrous year for the United States in the Pacific Theater of the War. At home, while the Great Depression had been alleviated by two years of "defense" production, the outbreak of a shooting war led to a great leap forward to levels never before achieved by any nation. With that good news of jobs for everyone who wanted to work, came the frightening enlargement of draft quotas as peacetime conscription had to be geared to fighting the coming land war in Europe while holding the line against a determined foe in the Pacific. As men in increasing numbers were drafted, women responded to the call to fulfill their obligation to their country by working as nurses, but also in every craft necessary to war production. Many families saw the departures of sons, husbands and fathers, hundreds of thousands never to return, and bore the weight of anxiety as to whether that would be the fate of those they loved or would it be the kind of crippling, self-destroying injuries suffered by those returning from the Great War, as it had been called. Radio and motion pictures, the two great entertainment media of the day, rallied to the cause of raising morale and propagandizing for the causes for which we were told we were fighting. It was also a period of great wealth for those producing the product (although not for those on salary, since they were not permitted to keep more than 25,000 a year). Paramount had two of the top rated stars of radio and film to throw into their effort to help fight the war (and make the balance sheets radiate profits): Bing Crosby, one of the most popular of all men in the world, and Bob Hope, the upcoming film star at the top of radio ratings in those days when Comedy Was King (on radio). Already the team of Crosby and Hope had begun its eminently successful series of Road pictures and always popular guest appearances on the others' radio shows as well as unbilled appearances in each others films (where possible). Star-Spangled Rhythm which showed both in cameo roles, was a type of film popular since the earliest days of the "talkies". Periodically, studios would throw every star available into a vaudeville type of movie, songs, comedy bits, dance and skits, sometimes bound together by a minimum of plot (as in this one) sometimes simply like a Broadway revue with a master of ceremonies, other times simply a succession of acts. With two of their brightest newcomers, Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, carrying the load of the plot (helped by an assortment of familiar faces), the stars do their turn. Some clicked then but don't now (after all it is now 69 years later for material not meant ever to be seen again save in one or two second runs and revivals), other bits and songs have lost little of their entertainment value. Overall, the film is sufficiently light-hearted and energetic to warrant seeing on an evening when sitcoms, police procedurals, amateur hours, and talk shows have left you jaded. My Favorite Blonde is in the pattern of mystery-thriller-comedies that served Hope so well throughout his long career. Hope expresses his state of mind with what became a most familiar catalog of facial and bodily movements and, of course, gag and character establishing lines. Madeline Carroll, then a very popular star, serves as love interest and second banana, as did Lamour and a bevy of other fem-stars later. The supporting players, including the rather notable Gale Sondegaard (later blacklisted with her husband), do no more than is required of them....which is serve as villainous comedy foils. Having seen it many times since it first saw light in 1942, I am unable to judge how a younger audience will respond to these shenanigans, I found them enjoyable if not riotously funny (as I may have done almost seventy years ago). All-in-all, I think both will entertain most older people; the young ought to take a look if only to see what their grand-and-great grand-parents were getting a kick from in those days when the casualty lists were still relatively light (as compared to when the losses for just one part of a campaign, a few months in duration, could number 80,000.

Excellent article, description du DVD conforme. Très bon achat. AB AB AB AB AB AB AB AB AB AB AB

"My Favourite Blonde" is a spy comedy, a take off of "The Thirty Nine Steps", a famous book by John Buchan and British film starring the gorgeous Madelaine Carroll and Robert Donat. The gags come thick and fast and Hope is perfectly cast as a second rate vaudevillian with a performing penguin. He inadvertently gets mixed up with British agent Carroll who is trying to deliver secret microfilm to her boss. Their adventures take them from New York to Los Angeles, providing the script writers with endless opportunities for mayhem. It is a very entertaining film and Carroll surprises with her comedy technique. "Star Spangled Rhythm" was Paramount's entry into the all star "putting on a show" films which every studio produced during the war. It is one of the best. Betty Hutton stars as a telephonist at the studio and she is very funny. She has 2 standout scenes - when she greets boyfriend Eddie Bracken and a superb routine with 2 acrobats in which she is trying to get over the walls of the studio lot. The show itself has the usual mixture of acts - good such as Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake sending up their images (Lake is inept) and Ray Milland, Lynne Overman, Franchot Tone and Fred MacMurray (his dead pan timing is impeccable) demonstrating if men played cards like women; very poor such as an inexplicable and embarrassing turn by the inert Alan Ladd and Susan Hayward overacting as usual in a skit about the wartime rubber shortage. There are also a couple of great songs - "That Old Black Magic" and "Hit the Road to Dreamland" for example. Ironically, the worst bit is the climax with Bing Crosby performing a patriotic song and showing absolutely zero involvement as usual.

Bob Hope at his masterful best in this very funny espionage comedy. Lots of laughs during this cross country chase with Bob Hope and the beautiful Madeleine Carroll on the run from German spies. First in the My Favorite series this one is definetly worth checking out.

Diese DVD vereinigt zwei Filme aus dem Jahr 1942, die außer der Mitwirkung von Bob Hope wenig gemein haben. Auch ihre Qualität ist sehr unterschiedlich: "My Favorite Blonde" ist eine brillante Agentenkomödie, "Star Spangled Rhythm" dagegen ein wenig bemerkenswertes patriotisches Potpourri. Beginnen wir mit letzterem. Nach dem Kriegseintritt der USA hielten es die großen Hollywood-Studios für ihre patriotische Pflicht, ihre Solidarität mit den Angehörigen der Streitkräfte durch patriotische Variety-Shows zu dokumentieren, in denen jeweils das gesamte Star-Aufgebot der jeweiligen Firma durch Sketche, Lieder oder Tänze zur Unterhaltung der Truppe beitrug; das ganze wurde jeweils durch eine dünne Rahmengeschichte zusammengehalten, in der einige einfache Soldaten oder Seeleute irgendwie ins Hollywood-Geschehen geraten. Beispiele wären etwa "Thank Your Lucky Stars" oder "Hollywood Canteen" (beide Warner). Innerhalb dieses künstlerisch eher fragwürdigen Genres stellt Paramounts Beitrag "Star Spangled Rhythm" nun auch kein besonderes Highlight dar. Die Rahmengeschichte um einen Studio-Wachmann, der seinem Sohn vorspiegelt, ein hohes Tier in der Studio-Hierarchie zu sein, ist von der Idee her gar nicht so übel, aber infolge der Darstellung dieses Hochstaplers durch den weniger witzigen als nervigen Victor Moore nur schwer verdaulich. Immerhin reißt Betty Hutton (als Moores angehende Schwiegertochter) noch einiges raus. Diese Geschichte ist aber, wie immer bei solchen Filmen, nur der Aufhänger für eine Reihe von Songs, Tänzen und Sketchen. Letztere sind durchgehend zum Vergessen; ein blöder Sketch wird auch dadurch nicht lustiger, dass er von Stars wie Fred MacMurray und Ray Milland dargeboten wird. Bei den Musiknummern sind dagegen einige Highlights dabei, etwa Vera Zorinas Tanz zu "That Old Black Magic". (Bing Crosbys "Old Glory", der Höhepunkt patriotischer Fahnenschwenkerei in diesem Film, ist wohl Geschmackssache). Bob Hope ist der Moderator der Show im Film und dabei, jedenfalls für seine Verhältnisse, nicht übermäßig witzig. So weit, so mittelmäßig. Aber dann ist da noch, ein bisschen früher im Film, die "Hit the Road to Dreamland"-Nummer mit Mary Martin, Dick Powell und dem Golden Gate Quartett: fünf Minuten reinstes Musical-Glück, eine wunderbar romantische Szene mit traumhafter Musik (von Harold Arlen). Das muss man sehen und hören - den Rest des Films kann man sich anschauen, man kann es aber auch lassen. So viel zu "Star Spangled Rhythm". "My Favorite Blonde" ist dagegen ein ganz anderes Kaliber: eine fabelhafte, oft zum Brüllen komische Agenten-Komödie mit zwei großartigen Hauptdarstellern. Die Dame an Hopes Seite ist Madeleine Carroll; und diese Besetzung stellt gleich den Bezug zu dem Film her, der hier wohl als unmittelbares Vorbild gedient haben dürfte, nämlich Hitchcocks "39 Stufen" (mindestens eine Szene ist direkt daraus entlehnt). Dort hatte Carroll (an der Seite von Robert Donat) ebenfalls die weibliche Hauptrolle gespielt. Allerdings läuft die Geschichte diesmal andersherum: nun ist es die Frau, die den Mann in die lebensgefährliche Spionageaffäre hineinzieht. Da dieser Mann, der Kleinkünstler und Pinguintrainer (!) Larry Haines, von Bob Hope gespielt wird, ist von vornherein klar, dass dieser "Held" sich sein Heldentum schwer erringen muss - eigentlich ringt er die ganze Zeit mit sich, ob er der rätselhaften Schönen nun tapfer zur Seite stehen oder sie schnöde im Stich lassen, Mann oder Maus sein soll. Am Ende entscheidet er sich natürlich für den Mann, aber nicht ohne Bedauern: "Als Maus war ich glücklicher!" Die Chemie zwischen den beiden stimmt, der Film hat enormes Tempo, und das Drehbuch (von Melvin Frank und Norman Panama, Hopes bevorzugten Schreibern) steckt voller Wortwitz und voller Gags. Höhepunkt ist eine (eigentlich nur vorgetäuschte, dann aber aus dem Ruder laufende) Prügelei zwischen Held und Heldin, gefolgt von einer ebenso komischen, zuckersüßen Versöhnungsszene. Dabei ist der Film keineswegs nur komisch, sondern auch spannend - durchaus eine funktionierende Agentengeschichte, nur eben mit schrägem Witz. Die turbulenten achtzig Minuten vergehen wie im Flug. Beste Unterhaltung, und allein schon die Anschaffung dieser Zwei-Filme-Edition wert. Dafür die fünf Sterne (für "Star Spangled Rhythm" hätte ich sonst nicht so viel gegeben). Beide Filme liegen in recht guter (Schwarzweiß-) Bildqualität vor, und auch der (Original-) Ton ist, für Filme von 1942, sehr ordentlich.

It arrived on time and is as advertised.