My Favorite Blonde (1942)

When listing alternatives to Hitchcock’s Suspense/Romance films people like to mention Charade (1963) and even The Silver Streak (1976)

Arabesque (1966) is another one, somewhat less worthy of mention.

People often forget about this one.

The film is clearly inspired by Hitchcock's espionage movies such as the original The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Foreign Correspondent (1940) and such; and not only that, but also already looking forward to North by Northwest (1959).

Regular guy Larry Haines, a vaudeville animal act performer (Bob Hope, not quite as heroic as he began his career nor as cowardly as he would become by the end of it,) gets an offer for his penguin to be in a Hollywood movie but is side-tracked by a blond (Madeleine Carroll) who busts into his dressing room asking for help and refusing to answer any questions.

Seeing an attractive blonde, he somewhat reluctantly agrees, thinking he might get some.

They separate just before boarding a train, (by then he thinks the dame is clearly nuts,) where he is menaced by a group of thugs.

The blonde meets him again at the first stop; and not really having an option (by then he has been framed for murder) they ride the rails, steal a plane, a bus, a funeral wagon; and he impersonates a teamster and a doctor (he goes to the extreme of giving an impromptu lecture,) and steal some watermelons, all the while evading the thugs and the law.

Will the two fugitives be able to deliver a hieroglyph-containing gold scorpion before it’s too late?

Watch and find out.

This is the kind of script Hitchcock made masterpieces out of, but here there is always something which is just slightly off.

I suppose the comedy is fine, this is after all a vehicle for Bob Hope; but the chemistry between the leads is just a bit off when it should be smoking hot.

The film’s cross-country geography is never quite clear and relies on exposition (“Smell that, it smells like orange blossoms.” “We must be in near Los Angeles!” – Don’t tell us how it smells, SHOW US,) which is why Hitch utilized famous landmarks to make the locations immediately identifiable to his audience, giving us the proper sense of space, geography and distance traveled.

The MacGuffin is a secret flight plan, but the war is not truly felt by anyone we see. In America it’s business as usual, people are going to picnics instead of voicing fear or doubt about the future, or even the recent bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Compare, for example even with the anticipation felt throughout Steven Spielberg’s 1941.

The casting of the villains is top-notch (George Zucco, Gale Sondergaard,) and they would be fine, even in a Hitchcock film.

The penguin is used for some comedy but is never instrumental to the plot (missed opportunity here,) most often simply carried in its port-a-pet.

Other than the feeling that things should have been tightened up a bit this is a fine effort that’s effective even in its suspense.

Cameos by Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer and Bing Crosby.