My Favorite Spy

My Favorite Spy
1951 US Theatrical Poster
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Produced by Paul Jones
Written by Edmund L. Hartmann
Jack Sher
Starring Bob Hope
Hedy Lamarr
Music by Victor Young
Cinematography Victor Milner
Edited by Frank Bracht
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • December 25, 1951 (1951-12-25)
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $2.6 million (US rentals)[1]

My Favorite Spy is a 1951 comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr.

Synopsis

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. There, he encounters the irresistible Lily Dalbray, Augustine's one-time "friend," who is now in league with his arch-enemy, Brubaker.

Cast

Production notes

  • Production Dates: late Jan-early Apr 1951
  • The working title of this film was Passage to Cairo.
  • Bob 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.
  • In the scene in which Peanuts talks on the phone with President Harry S. Truman, Truman's voice is not heard.
  • 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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