A Few Words About A few words about...™ My Favorite Brunette -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

From his beginnings in the cinema arena in the mid-1930s, appearing in short films, through his over fifty feature films, Bob Hope was one of America's most beloved imports.

Fortunately, via releases from Kino Lorber, fans are being treated to a selection of his work, Road pictures, and otherwise.

My Favorite Brunette, a 1947 film, directed by Elliott Nugent, is another quality affair making its way to Blu-ray.

Dupes appear to be what they are, and always have been, but generally everything about this disc, from grain structure to shadow detail, black levels and overall resolution, is superb. One reel appears to have been replaced by dupe at some point in its history, but be that as it may...

A fun film -- one of many in Mr. Hope's treasure chest of appearances -- and a lovely Blu-ray.

Did I mention Mr. Hope to be one of America's most beloved imports?

From the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation website, a list of honorary degrees:

• DOCTOR OF LETTERS DEGREE Quincy College, Illinois. 6-8-1958.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Georgetown College -Washington, D. C. 6-4-1962.
• HONORARY DIPLOMA Massey College, Atlanta, Georgia. 3-19-1964.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE University of Wyoming – Laramie, Wyoming. 6-1-1964.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Monmouth College, – West Long Branch, New Jersey. 6-5-1965.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Whittier College – Whittier, CA. 6-12-1965.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Pennsylvania Military College – Chester, Pennsylvania 1-29-1966
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Northwestern University – Evanston, Illinois. 6-11-1966.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE SMU – Dallas, Texas. 4-3-1967.
• DOCTOR OF FINE ARTS DEGREE Brown University – Providence, Rhode Island. 6-3-1968.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Ohio Dominican College -Columbus, Ohio. 9-1-1968
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Miami University – Oxford, Ohio. 4-27-1969.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Ohio State University -Columbus, Ohio. 6-7-1969.
• SPECIAL DIPLOMA East High School in Cleveland, Ohio. 6-13-1969.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Bowling Green State University- Bowling Green, Ohio. 6-14-1969.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE University of Cincinnati -Ohio. 4-22-1970
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE St. Michael’s College -Winooski Park, Vermont. 6-7-1970.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Pace College – New York, NY. 6-8-1970.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE University of Nevada, Las Vegas.6-11-1970.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Bethel College – McKenzie, Tennessee. 5-25-1971
• LEGUM DOCTORIS DEGREE Universitatis Sancti Bonaventurae.St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, New York. 5-30-1971.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE University of Santa Clara -Santa Clara, CA. 6-12-1971.
• DOCTOR OF FINE ARTS DEGREE Jacksonville University, Jacsonville, Florida. 4-6-1972.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Wilberforce University – Wilberforce, Ohio.6-1-1972.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Pepperdine University – Malibu, CA. 4-12-1973.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE SERVICE DEGREE Drury College – Springfield, Missouri. 5-27-1973.
• DOCTOR OF INTERNAL RELATIONS DEGREE Salem College – Salem, West Virginia. 5-10-1974.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Indiana University -Bloomington, Indiana. 5-12-1974.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Florida Southern College -Lakeland, Florida. 2-19-1975.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Northwood Institute – Midland, MI. 5-18-1975.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Norwich University – Northfield, Utah. 5-24-1975
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE University of Scranton – Scranton, Pennsylvania. 6-1-1975.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Utah State University – Logan, Utah. 6-5-1975.
• HONORARY DIPLOMA BH High School for Crippled Children -Port Arthur Texas. 11-9-1975
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Utah State University – Logan, Utah. 6-5-1975.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Mercy College – Westchester, NY. 4-28-1976
• DOCTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE DEGREE St. Ambrose College -Davenport, Iowa. 5-9-1976.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE John Carroll University -Cleveland, Ohio. 5-30-1976
• DOCTOR OF PERFORMING ARTS DEGREE Dakota Wesleyan University – Mitchell, South Dakota. 9-24-1976
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE St. Anselm’s College, Manchester, New Hampshire. 5-15-1977.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Western State University – Fullerton, CA. 6-4-1977
• HONORARY DIPLOMA Winston Churchill High School in Maryland. 6-6-1977.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Baldwin – Wallace College- Berea, Ohio. 6-12-1977
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE College of the Desert -Palm Desert, CA. 6-17-1977.
• DOCTOR OF LETTERS DEGREE Gonzaga University – Spokane, Washington. 5-14-1978.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Capitol University – Columbus, Ohio. 5-21-1978.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE St Louis University – St . Louis, Missouri. 5-12-1979.
• DOCTOR OF ORATORICAL SCIENCE DEGREE Central New England College of Technology – Worcester, Massachusetts. 6-3-1979.
• MASTER OF SURVIVAL DEGREE The University of Southern Vietnam. 1-27-1973.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Oral Roberts University -Tulsa Oklahoma. 5-1-1983.
• DOCTOR OF PHILANTHROPY Pepperdine University – Los Angeles, CA., 1-26-1984
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Columbia University – New York. 3-30-1984.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREES University of Charleston, West Virginia. 5-6-1984.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE The Citadel Military College of South Carolina – Charleston, South Carolina. 5-12-1984.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Washington University – St. Louis, Missouri. 5-18-1984.
• DOCTOR OF AVIATION MANAGEMENT Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. 4-26-1986.
• HONORARY ADULT HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA Pinckney Community High School. 6-7-1986
• DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC HUMANITIES DEGREE Life Chiropractic College – Marietta, Georgia. 6-14-1986.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Loyola College – Baltimore, Maryland. 5-16-1987.
• SPECIAL DIPLOMA Northland Christian School. 5-27-1988.
• DOCTOR OF HUMAN LETTERS DEGREE University of San Diego-San Diego, CA. 5-27-1990.
• DOCTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE (Doctor Beneficentine Ciuibus) from the College of Gettysburg, PA. 10-13-1990.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE University of Rhode Island- Kingston, Rhode Island.5-17-1992

Image - 4.5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 4.75

Pass / Fail - Pass

Recommended

RAH

 

[warnerbro]

Thank you very much! This film is so much fun! It's absolutely hilarious! And it's great to see Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney, Jr. together on location at the beautiful home on Monterrey Peninsula! It looks like the same location used for Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain

 

[Gary16]

Great review but I believe the director is Elliott Nugent not Elliott Nugget. Autocorrect?

 

[Robert Harris]

Great review but I believe the director is Elliott Nugent not Elliott Nugget. Autocorrect?

Previously.

 

[Alan Tully]

People want more horror & sci-fi from Universal, but my top wish would be the Paramount Bob Hope films they own, he hasn't done that well on Blu-ray so far. So many great movies, my top picks would be The Ghost Breakers & The Road To Singapore/Zanzibar/Morocco/Utopia, but the DVDs do look very good.

 

[Will Krupp]

So many great movies, my top picks would be The Ghost Breakers & The Road To Singapore/Zanzibar/Morocco/Utopia, but the DVDs do look very good.

The old, stand-alone single or double feature GHOST BREAKERS discs look much much better than the newer transfer that appears in the Bob Hope Collection (with CAT & THE CANARY.) Track that old one down if at all possible.

 

[Alan Tully]

The old, stand-alone single or double feature GHOST BREAKERS discs look much much better than the newer transfer that appears in the Bob Hope Collection (with CAT & THE CANARY.) Track that old one down if at all possible.

Yup, thanks, that's the one I have. I try & watch it every Christmas Eve (I can't always when I'm with relations or friends), it's perfect, it's a ghost story that does get quite scary inside the big mansion at night (I think the whole film is set at night, maybe the last shots are day) & really funny at times.

 

[PMF]

[...]From the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation website, a list of honorary degrees:

• DOCTOR OF LETTERS DEGREE Quincy College, Illinois. 6-8-1958.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Georgetown College -Washington, D. C. 6-4-1962.
• HONORARY DIPLOMA Massey College, Atlanta, Georgia. 3-19-1964.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE University of Wyoming – Laramie, Wyoming. 6-1-1964.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Monmouth College, – West Long Branch, New Jersey. 6-5-1965.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Whittier College – Whittier, CA. 6-12-1965.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Pennsylvania Military College – Chester, Pennsylvania 1-29-1966
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Northwestern University – Evanston, Illinois. 6-11-1966.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE SMU – Dallas, Texas. 4-3-1967.
• DOCTOR OF FINE ARTS DEGREE Brown University – Providence, Rhode Island. 6-3-1968.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Ohio Dominican College -Columbus, Ohio. 9-1-1968
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Miami University – Oxford, Ohio. 4-27-1969.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE Ohio State University -Columbus, Ohio. 6-7-1969.
• SPECIAL DIPLOMA East High School in Cleveland, Ohio. 6-13-1969.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Bowling Green State University- Bowling Green, Ohio. 6-14-1969.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE University of Cincinnati -Ohio. 4-22-1970
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE St. Michael’s College -Winooski Park, Vermont. 6-7-1970.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Pace College – New York, NY. 6-8-1970.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS DEGREE University of Nevada, Las Vegas.6-11-1970.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Bethel College – McKenzie, Tennessee. 5-25-1971
• LEGUM DOCTORIS DEGREE Universitatis Sancti Bonaventurae.St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, New York. 5-30-1971.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE University of Santa Clara -Santa Clara, CA. 6-12-1971.
• DOCTOR OF FINE ARTS DEGREE Jacksonville University, Jacsonville, Florida. 4-6-1972.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES DEGREE Wilberforce University – Wilberforce, Ohio.6-1-1972.
• DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE Pepperdine University – Malibu, CA. 4-12-1973.
• DOCTOR OF HUMANE SERVICE DEGREE Drury College – Springfield, Missouri. 5-27-1973.
• DOCTOR OF INTERNAL RELATIONS DEGREE Salem College – Salem, West Virginia. 5-10-1974. [...]

Lest ye forget...

• DOCTOR OF PAINLESS University of Hollywood - Paleface, CA 12-24-1948

 

[warnerbro]

Yes, yes, yes! Please bring us next THE GHOST BREAKERS! My all-time favorite Bob Hope film. It is actually quite terrifying in places with beautiful production design as well as creepy atmosphere -- and it's hilarious.

 

[aPhil]

I like The Ghost Breakers, but I give a slight edge in favor of The Cat and the Canary (1939 version). Would love to have it on Blu-ray.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I like Cat & Canary and Ghost Breakers but my favourite has always been My Favorite Blonde.

 

[RBailey]

For me, it's always been CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT. Basil Rathbone, Vincent Price, Raymond Burr, John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Jr., Joan Fontaine, Audrey Dalton...what a cost. The Technicolor DVD from Paramount is great and it would make an eye-popping Blu-ray. It includes my favorite Bob Hope "trick" ending. One of his best!

 

[RBailey]

...what a cost.

"What a cast! " Old fingers don't want to work!

 

[aPhil]

I like Cat & Canary and Ghost Breakers but my favourite has always been My Favorite Blonde.

The Cat and the Canary (1939)
My Favorite Blonde (1942)

Now add Where There's Life (1947)
and we would have the 3 Bob Hope films also featuring George Zucco.

 

[Will Krupp]

I like The Ghost Breakers, but I give a slight edge in favor of The Cat and the Canary (1939 version). Would love to have it on Blu-ray.

I was raised on GHOST BREAKERS (and love it) but the availability (or complete lack thereof) of CANARY made it a compete revelation when it was finally released on DVD (and with a stellar transfer.) I'd love to have them both as I think his chemistry/rapport with Paulette Goddard is stellar. She's one of the few, if not the only, of his leading ladies who never feigned annoyance or impatience with his on-screen shenanigans. Especially in CANARY, she seems delighted with him from the first moment and actually laughs OUT LOUD at his jokes.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I was raised on GHOST BREAKERS (and love it) but the availability (or complete lack thereof) of CANARY made it a compete revelation when it was finally released on DVD (and with a stellar transfer.) I'd love to have them both as I think his chemistry/rapport with Paulette Goddard is stellar. She's one of the few, if not the only, of his leading ladies who never feigned annoyance or impatience with his on-screen shenanigans. Especially in CANARY, she seems delighted with him from the first moment and actually laughs OUT LOUD at his jokes.

I'm sure being with Chaplin had something to do with that.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I would love all the Paramount Bob Hope movies on Blu Ray but lets be realistic Paramount isn't releasing catalog films on blu and they currently don't license anything that was previously released on DVD. The 5 Hope films just released have been available to license from an old deal through the Bob Hope Estate I believe. The only other titles available in this deal are: The Great Lover, Seven Little Foys, Private Navy of Sgt. O' Farrell and How to Commit Marriage. Mr. Lime previously commented that none of these currently have HD masters. There are a few late 50's and 60's Bob Hope films that MGM still has that could be licensed if an HD master is available.

 

[Will Krupp]

I would love all the Paramount Bob Hope movies on Blu Ray but lets be realistic Paramount isn't releasing catalog films on blu and they currently don't license anything that was previously released on DVD.

I know, it's just wishful thinking.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Actually I forgot most of the 30's and 40's Hope Paramount movies are owned by Universal. But Kino doesn't currently have a deal with Universal

 

[ahollis]

That would be Universal that owns the early Paramount Hope films.