Over the past week I watched movies from the summers of 1942 and 1943. All three got rave reviews when they came out in theaters and all are easily found online today. I wanted to see if I would give them great reviews in 2023. The red title links take you to Amazon, but all were available on several streaming services or YouTube.
My Favorite Blonde is a 1942 comedy starring Bob Hope as Larry Haines and Madeleine Carroll as Karen Bentley. Larry is an actor who performs with a penguin in a variety show. Karen is a spy who runs into trouble and uses Larry to help achieve her mission. At first Larry is an unwitting accomplice but eventually Karen must give away her identity and ask for his help.
I really enjoyed this movie. It was filled with twists and turns and I was kept guessing until the end. This was probably the most serious comedy movie that I’ve seen Bob Hope in, and I actually think that this is my favorite of his movies. There were a few minor continuity errors that were a bit jarring, but overall this was a fun movie. I’d recommend it.
Mr. Lucky is a 1943 romance starring Cary Grant as Joe and Laraine Day as Dorothy. Joe is trying to scam the women at the War Relief organization out of money during a sham gambling fundraiser. Dorothy is very skeptical of him at first, but eventually they fall in love. Joe has a change of heart about scamming the women, but several people are out to get him anyway.
I liked this movie. It wasn’t my favorite of the three, and it definitely wasn’t my favorite Cary Grant movie, but I’m glad I watched it. Grant’s character was charming and funny. He even learns to knit! I think the ending was weak. It was a happy ending for the couple, but it felt rushed and I felt robbed of the classic romance ending I expected. It felt unfinished and left me with questions instead of tying things up neatly.
There was also a series called Mr. Lucky that ran from 1959-1960. Both the film and the movie were based on a story by Milton Holmes. That is all they had in common, though. The series was not related to the movie otherwise.
The More the Merrier is a 1943 romantic comedy starring Jean Arthur as Connie, Joel McCrea as Joe, and Charles Coburn as Benjamin Dingle. The film takes place during Washington, D.C.’s wartime housing crisis. Due to an odd string of events, Connie finds herself with Joe and Dingle as temporary roommates. More unexpected events cause a string of twists and turns that eventually leads to a happy ever after for the main characters.
I loved the characters in this movie and I felt the actors portrayed them well. The movie definitely was funny. The solution provided for the main problem at the end was a bit confusing, but I liked the movie enough that I didn’t mind.
As a bonus, I want to add Walk, Don’t Run to the list because it is the 1966 remake of The More the Merrier.
This time the movie is set in Tokyo during the 1964 Summer Olympics. Tokyo was experiencing a housing crisis during that time. The movie starred Cary Grant as William, Jim Hutton as Steve, and Samantha Eggar as Christine. This was Grant’s last movie. I also really liked this movie. I was thrilled that this was an obvious remake with even some matching dialog, but Walk, Don’t Run was very much its own movie. It was funny and again I loved the characters. I really enjoyed watching one right after the other so I could see the changes as well as the similarities between the two. Both movies also had great sets and costuming. I honestly don’t think I could pick a favorite between the two.
I hope this list gives you some ideas for movie night this week. Remember to check YouTube and other streaming services to find them. I think I might try to do a list like this every season. There are so many great movies from the early 1940s!
History in the Kitchen 