JoeytheBrit wrote on IMDB:
Bob Hope was arguably at the peak of his movie career when he made this
comedy-mystery with Road movies co-star Dorothy Lamour, and eases his
way through this reasonably high-quality material with the practiced
accomplishment of an old pro. He's one of those stars who played the
same character in almost every film he made; in his case it's the good
guy whose mile-wide yellow streak is matched only by his eye for the
ladies. That's not meant as a slur: Hope found what worked for him
and worked it in return. Lamour was the other side of the coin she
was frustrated by being typecast in the mind of the public as the star
in the sarong. She puts in a nicely appealing performance in this flick
as a plucky damsel in distress whose uncle has been kidnapped by spies,
and exudes an earthy sexiness at times that is perhaps a little
surprising in a middle-of-the-road 40s comedy. [ show more ]
The story is pure Hollywood fluff it's good fluff, though, the kind
of thing tinsel-town's screenwriters seemed to churn out every week
back then, but which they have seemed incapable of recapturing since
the early 50s. Hope plays Ronnie Jackson, a baby photographer, who
dreams of being a private eye like his business neighbour, Sam McCloud.
Mistaken for McCloud by the beautiful Carlotta Montay (Lamour), Jackson
embarks on a nervous mission to locate her missing uncle, Baron Montay
(Frank Puglia). The baron, it seems, has been kidnapped by a bunch of
spies (who count a deliciously sinister Peter Lorre and a
not-quite-all-there Lon Chaney amongst there number) who are seeking
the whereabouts of a stash of uranium. The story itself is
by-the-numbers stuff and strictly predictable, but the comedy is
frequently of the highest laugh-out-loud calibre. Stand-out scenes
include Lorre's attempts to place crucial evidence in Hope's path as
the hopeless would-be detective searches a room, and Hope's foiled
attempt to trick Chaney (who appears to be having a whale of a time)
into helping him to escape from a sanatorium in which he is being held
by the spies. There are a couple of amusing cameos one predictable,
one less so and a nice brisk pace that suits the relatively short
running time. If you're not a Hope fan this isn't going to convert you,
but if you're not averse to his one-size-fits-all brand of comedy then
you're sure to be entertained. [ show less ]
Written on IMDB a long time ago.
