Search - My Favorite Brunette on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 7/25/2023...

Strong start only to fizzle out quite a bit.

Great Movie, Terrible Transfer

InSearchOfTheRedButton | Lostin, OH | 12/22/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"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."

"Remastered?"

Shaun333 | 12/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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"

Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour reunite in entertaining comedy

C. Roberts | Halifax, Yorkshire, United Kingdom | 02/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."