In 1947 San Francisco, Bob Hope plays a baby photographer who dreams of being a tough private eye like the guy in the office next door, Sam McCloud (film noir star Alan Ladd, in a cameo). One day when McCloud is out on a case, he sits at his hero’s desk and pretends to be him when a ravishing dame (frequent Hope co-star Dorothy Lamour) needs help finding her missing husband.
That’s the premise of “My Favorite Brunette” (1947), a spoof of the film noir genre made at the height of the movement. It even co-stars Peter Lorre, known for playing noir heavies in films such as “The Maltese Falcon,” which serves as this comedy’s jumping-off point.
“My Favorite Brunette” plays Thursday and Friday, Feb. 19-20, at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto on a double feature with “Road to Morocco” (1942), one of seven “Road” films starring Hope, Lamour and Bing Crosby. It is part of the theater’s “Musicals & Bob Hope” series that runs through March 8.
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Bob Hope double feature: “My Favorite Brunette” 5:50 p.m. and 9:05 p.m.; “Road to Morocco” 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Feb. 19-20. $7. Stanford Theatre, 221 University Ave., Palo Alto. 650-324-3700. https://stanfordtheatre.org
This article originally published at Bob Hope as a tough San Francisco private eye? ‘My Favorite Brunette’ is a scream.