Karen Bentley: “My name’s Karen Bentley and I can’t tell you any more.”
Larry Haines: “My name’s Larry Haines and there’s no more to tell.”
Comedic war-tinged movies were all the rage in Hollywood during World War II. . . a way to ease the tension while keeping morale up. Think Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940), Abbott and Costello’s quasi trilogy of Buck Privates, In the Navy, and Keep `Em Flying (all of which were released in 1941), Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be (1942), as well as today’s feature, the Sidney Lanfield directed, Bob Hope starring My Favorite Blonde (also 1942).
A wartime crime caper woven within a Bob Hope vehicle, Karen Bentley (Madeleine Carroll – The 39 Steps), is a British secret agent who is given the unenviable task of delivering a cipher after her partner is murdered by a ruthless group of German spies led by Madame Stephanie Runick (Gale Sondergaard – who was also in The Cat and the Canary, Never Say Die, and Road to Rio with Bob Hope).
Detailing a secret flight plan for fighter jets journeying from the United States to England for the war effort, it is of the utmost importance for Bentley to evade the roving band of German murderers and get the code to her superiors. Surrounded and with nowhere to go, she stumbles into a nightclub featuring the popular show of Larry and Percy, that is Bob Hope and his pet penguin. Stealing the performance, his slick penguin (who can ride roller skates in full regalia) has a five-hundred dollar per week contract deal in Hollywood, much to the chagrin of his owner – who got a reluctant offer of thirty bucks to be his trainer.
As these things do, it just so happens that Bentley chooses Haines’ room to hide in, attaching the cipher to his jacket and boarding him on a train that she will follow. . . once she loses her tails (none of this is known to him). Of course, she never really does shake them, and soon this turns into an opposite sexed Planes, Trains, and Automobiles – spy comedy edition.
The pair journey in every which way they can, from New York City all the way to Los Angeles, using their superior combination of luck, buffoonery, and thievery to evade their wily foes. Hope is at his babbling wordplay best, while Carroll’s suave but ill equipped British spy is a perfect foil. At first the man can’t believe his luck that a beauty like her is interested in a guy like him, only for her lunatic actions (that he can’t truly understand – as he isn’t in on the joke that he’s being used) to flip the script soon after with the comic desperately trying to dodge the beautifully distressing dame. . . before eventually falling for her and realizing they will have to work together to get out of this outrageously dangerous jam. These situations lead to witty dialogue such as this: “Larry! Larry! You have 3 hours between trains. Wouldn’t you like to go past my apartment house and drop me off?”, his reply: “Drop you off? I sure would. How many stories is it?”
Filled with fun wordplay, a solidly entertaining adventure story, and a game cast, it also boasts a few really special moments. At one point, Haines turns on the radio to hear one Bob Hope – he promptly turns it off, exclaiming – “I can’t stand that guy”. Even better, there’s a surprise cameo from Bing Crosby that leads to interesting glances and shrugs about how it couldn’t be him (later on, Hope imitates Crosby’s singing style on a bus full of Irishmen who are belting out “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”). There is also an uncredited appearance by Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer as a rather rude teen. Lastly, there’s a small but memorable moment with Dooley Wilson as a porter – the actor would become much more famous after his role as Sam in Casablanca a little later the same year.
A fun film that packs more than enough comedy, crime, caper, charm and cheekiness into its rather brisk one hour and eighteen minute runtime, My Favorite Blonde is worthy of being added to the prestigious list of war-tinged comedies highlighted above. Before signing off, it must also be said that the penguin really is one of the cutest things you’ll see – especially when wearing his monogrammed pyjamas! So, all aboard this comedic wartime journey through America, I hope you’ll like it.