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My Favorite Spy (1951 film)

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Not to be confused with My Favorite Spy (1942 film).
My Favorite Spy
1951 US Theatrical Poster
Directed byNorman Z. McLeod
Written byEdmund L. Hartmann
Jack Sher
Hal Kanter
Lou Breslow
Edmund Beloin
Produced byPaul Jones
StarringBob Hope
Hedy Lamarr
Francis L. Sullivan
CinematographyVictor Milner
Edited byFrank Bracht
Music byVictor Young
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 25, 1951 (1951-12-25)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.6 million (US rentals)[1]

My Favorite Spy is a 1951 American comedy spy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bob Hope, Hedy Lamarr and Francis L. Sullivan. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures and forms the third of a loose trilogy featuring Hope including My Favorite Blonde and My Favorite Brunette.

Plot

US intelligence agents recruit burlesque comic Peanuts White to pose as international spy Eric Augustine, whom he resembles, to acquire a million-dollar microfilm in Tangier, Morocco. There, he encounters the irresistible Lily Dalbray, Augustine's one-time "friend," who is now in league with his arch-enemy, Brubaker.

Cast

Production

The film was produced from late January to early April 1951 under the working title Passage to Cairo.

Hope's character, Peanuts White, was first conceived as a schoolteacher who, while impersonating a recently deceased gangster, is sent to Cairo to obtain information. The character was later converted into a standup vaudeville comedian who resembles a leading international spy, and is persuaded to impersonate him on a mission to Tangier.

Release

The world premiere of the film took place in Bellaire, Ohio, in the living room of Anne Kuchinka. The Ohio housewife won a letter writing contest sponsored by Hope's radio show, in which participants gave reasons why the premiere should be held in their home. Prior to the screening, a star-studded parade and radio broadcast were held in Bellaire. According to a November 19, 1951 Time article, Corp. Karl K. Diegert of the Army Hospital at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, persuaded Hope, who was known for his USO shows, to do a second screening at the camp the day after Bellaire's.

See also

References

  1. ^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953


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