My Favorite Blonde / Star Spangled Rhythm Double Feature (1943)

Great double feature

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. June 21, 2007

My Favorite Bob!

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. February 15, 2007

Star spangeld Rhythm

This movie is light, absurd, and very funny. The "going over the wall" scene is hilarious. January 27, 2007

My Favorite Blonde DVD review

The DVD was in good shape. I enjoyed watching My Favorite Blonde. January 10, 2007

GREAT.... without being brilliant....

STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM has a good and inspiring plot and showcases Betty Hutton at her most likeable. Unfortunately, the Paramount stars aren`t as remembered today as the ones from MGM, Fox and Warner Bros.
But the film remains the best flagwaving vehicle from the studios 1942-1945.

The Goddard/Lamour/Lake number is a standout; I only look at Veronica Lake - her coolness is breathtaking. Other highlights are the Vera Zorina dance and when "men play cards are women do...."

I will also give credit to Victor Moore, Cecil B. DeMille, Bob Hope and a script that never outstays its welcome... The finale is propaganda at its worst, but 1 have to remember why this film was made(to boost the morale and the boys in the fields)

The only thing this film lacks is the Busby Berkeley touch and some tapdancing by major stars.....

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MY FAVORITE BLONDE is Hope at his best, but the female role should have been given to a blonde Vivien Leigh(but she left in 1940 to do her bit for the war-effort in native England)...

That Madeleine woman simply isn`t good or pretty enough....

But the witty lines and (other) performances is a delight.... December 3, 2006

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