Customer Reviews

My Favorite Brunette [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This review refers to the Madacy release.

Ten stars for the movie, minus eight stars for the transfer equals two stars for the DVD.

As great as this movie is, the transfer to DVD is pathetic; I suggest turning it down. The beginning of the movie is the worst part, full of scratches and sound so poor it's difficult to understand the dialog. Unbelievably, it's not even presented in full frame. The left side of the credits (and presumably, the rest of the movie) are cut off.

I suppose that in any industry or technology, there will be people in it just to make a buck. Movies such as this are a national treasure that deserves to be treated and immortalized as an art form. This is just the "make a buck" version.
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I think this should be Madacy's tagline: "If it's from Madacy, you will be MAD when you SEE what you paid for."

Before transferring a movie to video, these people would put a pristine print through a blender just to make sure their standards don't deviate.

It always amuses me when you see a product (that is not a big studio, mind you) that advertises a movie as being "remastered". Well, folks, I've got news for you, it's not. Perhaps they meant that it was remastered in a mysterious basement somewhere taken from a print that can't count itself higher than 8mm. It really is too bad, given that this is one of my favorite movies. A film that makes a comedy out of being a Private Eye, puts Bob Hope in the role of a baby photographer that takes the place of his P.I. friend when he goes out of town for a couple of days. Bob Hope is quick and funny and it's not campy, but quite witty and an enjoyable watch. There are no good transfers out yet that I've seen of this film and I jumped at this when I saw "remastered" in the title. The transfer here is completely average, not great, but watchable with some skipping of audio throughout as well. The studio for this DVD review is A2ZCDS. The price isn't exactly low either, that's why I figured that it was legit. I should have jumped back instead.

Movie-5 Stars
Transfer-2.5 stars

This review refers to the Alpha (Gotham Distribution, as listed on Amazon) version of this movie on DVD. The print used for this DVD is absolutely horrible. The opening credits are barely readable, and the movie itself looks murky and has tons of scratches and dust. It's a shame that Alpha couldn't find a better print, but from some of the reviews I've read it seems that some other companies have had the same problem. It would be better not to release it at all than to use such a bad print. This is a really fun movie, and it deserves a lot better than this. Wait for a cleaner copy to surface - one will eventually.

This DVD-production [is bad]! The movie itself is a real good one with beautifully acting performances. Although the dvd-edition do not cost a fortune, it's more like a lousy super-8 after running threw the projector one million times! I'm truly disappointed. The movie is worth much better treatment.

Bob Hope made many movies for Paramount during the 1940's when he was at the peak of his career. "My Favorite Brunette" is one of the best and is well written with some very funny comic situations. Hope is reunited with his co-star from the "Road" series - Dorothy Lamour - and they work well together. "Brunette" has an impressive supporting cast including Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr, John Hoyt, Ann Doran, Reginald Denny, Ray Teal, Jack la Rue, and features a couple of surprise star cameos.

Hope plays baby photographer Ronnie Jackson but his heart is set on becoming a private detective ("All my life I've wanted to be a hard boiled detective like Humphrey Bogart, or Dick Powell, or even Alan Ladd!"). Dorothy Lamour is Carlotta Montay and she mistakes Hope for Sam McCloud who is a qualified private detective and has the office next door to Hope. Lamour hires Hope to look for her missing uncle who has been kidnapped but after various misadventures she realises just how inexperienced he is! After being exposed to great danger and becoming a target for the villains Hope begins to regret his deception. ("I don't know how much more of this I can take - you've had me in hot water so long I feel like a tea bag").

Some favourite lines from the film:

Bob Hope (to Peter Lorre): "Nice cheerful place - what time do they bring the mummies out?".

Bob Hope: "It always looked so easy in those Tarzan pictures!".

Hope was best known for his series of "Road" comedies with Crosby and Lamour but in "Brunette" proved he could handle a leading role on his own. Around this time he also made "My Favorite Blonde" with Madeleine Carroll and "My Favorite Spy" with Hedy Lamarr but played different characters in each film. The Bob Hope films of the forties were popular light hearted entertainment and can be viewed with increasing pleasure over and over again.

Wish I had read the other reviews before purchasing this wretched "dvd". Beyond pathetic. It's like watching something found in an abandoned theater's basement. It actually hurts to watch a great movie being butchered by this production company.

Just saw it on Turner Classic Movies - tape it in SP mode and make it a part of your permanent collection. STAY AWAY FROM THIS DVD!

I enjoyed this movie overall. Would I watch it again--not for a while. The sound quality is a bit low, it looks like it could use a bit of remastering visually as well.

As far as the actual movie goes--it takes a few moments to get into the plot as it is a framed narrative, most of it taking place in the immediate past getting the viewers up to date with the current situation (Bob Hope in San Quentin). It gets very enjoyable after that, a few confusing moments--a result of a bit of sloppy spoofing. However, mostly it is done very well, anyone familiar with the hard boiled detective genre, film or book will enjoy this for its light hearted take on it.

Lamour and Hope play perfectly off each other there is also a nice blink and you miss it cameo by their on the road co-star, Bing Crosby.

I really did enjoy this though, but not the very very very best. But quite good.

This is one of the all time great Bob Hope films. But this DVD
is barf technology. A dupe of a dupe, muddy contrast, fuzzy sound. Too bad. Beware.

Bob Hope stars as a wanabe 'hard-boiled' detective who stumbles into a mess of mobsters and mayhem. Hope is in top form with very funny one-liners throughout the film. Character actors Lon Chaney and Peter Lorre provide great screwball villains for the film. Two cameos add icing to the mix (you should be able to guess one of them if you know your Bob Hope films). The quality of the transfer is average and the DVD package is lackluster but the low price makes up for it. Recommended for the family and anyone with a good sense of humor.

The film opens in San Quentin, with the warden granting the imprisoned Ronnie Jackson the privelege of telling his story to a bevy of reporters before he is executed. As Ronnie spins his tale, the camera pans back in time to San Francisco as Ronnie plies his baby photography trade. Ronnie has always wanted to be a part of the McCloud Detective Agency. He gets a chance when McCloud is away and the Baroness Carlotta Montay assumes Ronnie is a real private eye and hires him to search for her missing husband (later, she changes it to a missing uncle). Soon, Ronnie is nose-deep in side-splitting danger, mysterious maps, escapades in a brooding mansion and a shady sanitorium, and potentially crazy brunettes.

With this 1947 thriller-comedy, Bob Hope is back in perilous surroundings. But, this time, his allegiance is shifted from his favorite blonde, Madeleine Carroll, to his favorite brunette, Dorothy Lamour. The look of this film is very dark, with many scenes taking place at night or in very dim locations. Everyone but Bob plays it straight and, if not for Bob's constant barrage of humor, this easily could have been a typical film noir. As it is, old Ski-nose zanily spins plenty of detective cliches.

Dorothy Lamour teams up again with familiar co-star Bob in this "Road"-less enterprise and makes the most of her sarong-free femme fatale role. There's a certain comfort level between Dorothy and Bob that translates very well onto the film. But just when you think this movie is Crosby-bereft, guess who has a cameo somewhere in the film? Charles Dingle, Frank Puglia and John Hoyt have nice supporting roles, with Lon Chaney Jr. and the great but creepy Peter Lorre rounding off the cast nicely. Alan Ladd also has a tiny but amusing cameo.

At this stage of his career, Bob Hope had already perfected his screen persona of cowardly, self-deprecating funnyman. As usual, the jokes come in fast and furious, in strafe-like fashion. My Favorite Brunette is yet another excellent showcase for Bob's natural timing and hilarious one-liners.

Ironically, the funniest line of the movie is uttered not by Bob Hope, but by a state trooper (threatening Hope): "If you bother us again, I'll personally punch you in the nose so hard it will look like other peoples' noses." The second funniest line is said by Bob Hope as he reaches up into a chandelier and pulls out a champagne bottle: "Aha! Ray Milland's been here!" (If you don't get that, check out The Lost Weekend.)