Hold That Blonde!
{{short description|1945 film by George Marshall}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Hold That Blonde!
| image = File:Hold That Blonde.jpg
| caption =
| director = George Marshall
| producer = Paul Jones
| screenplay = Walter DeLeon
Earl Baldwin
Eddie Moran
| based_on = {{Based on|The Heart of a Thief
1914 play|Paul Armstrong}}
| narrator =
| starring = Eddie Bracken
Veronica Lake
Albert Dekker
| music = Werner R. Heymann
| cinematography = Daniel L. Fapp
| editing = Leroy Stone
| studio = Paramount Pictures
| distributor = Paramount Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1945|11|23}}
| runtime = 76 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Hold That Blonde! is a 1945 American comedy crime film directed by George Marshall and starring Eddie Bracken, Veronica Lake and Albert Dekker.{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/work/hold-that-blonde-95405|title=Hold That Blonde (1945) - George Marshall | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie}}
Plot
Bracken plays a kleptomaniac who unwittingly becomes involved with a gang of jewel thieves, including a beautiful woman, Sally, whom he promptly falls in love with, initially unaware of her true occupation.
Cast
- Eddie Bracken as Ogden Spencer Trulow III
- Veronica Lake as Sally Martin
- Albert Dekker as Insp Callahan
- Frank Fenton as Mr. Phillips
- George Zucco as Dr. Paval Storasky
- Donald MacBride as Mr. Kratz
- Lewis Russell as Henry Carteret
- Norma Varden as Mrs. Carteret
- Willie Best as Willie
- Jack Norton as the drunk
- Lyle Latell as Tony
Production
The film was originally known as Good Intentions.{{cite news |title=Of Local Origin|page = 21 |newspaper= New York Times}}
Officially it is a remake of Paths to Paradise, a 1925 silent comedy starring Raymond Griffith, inasmuch as both are based on the same play, The Heart of a Thief by Paul Armstrong. However, the storyline was almost entirely reworked, to the extent that the two films have almost nothing in common apart from a few sight gags and a party sequence in which a valuable necklace is the target of the thieves.
The movie was originally offered to Bob Hope, then under contract to Paramount. He refused to do it unless he could make one film per year outside Paramount. The studio refused and Hope was put on suspension. The part was given instead to Eddie Bracken. (Hope and Paramount would eventually resolve their differences and sign a new seven-year contract.){{cite news |date=7 May 1945|page=14 |title=NEWS OF THE SCREEN: New Contract Settles Paramount-Hope Dispute-- Swedish Film Among 4 Newcomers This Week |newspaper= New York Times}}
Filming started 20 November 1944. The part was a favorite of Lake's because it represented a change of pace for her ("it's a comedy, rather what Carole Lombard used to do") and she liked working with George Marshall, calling him "splendid... he's lots of fun, acts out the scenes himself," she said.{{cite news |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |date=8 July 1945|page =C1 |title=Change of Pace in Roles Beckons Veronica Lake: Star to Pause at Career's Crossroads Roles to Shift for Veronica |newspaper= Los Angeles Times}}
Reception
Diabolique said "this is the sort of movie that should have been great fun but just isn’t; Bracken flails about, Lake is dull and lacking sexiness, and together they lack the chemistry of, say, Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard."{{cite magazine|url=https://diaboliquemagazine.com/the-cinema-of-veronica-lake/|magazine=Diabolique Magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=The Cinema of Veronica Lake|date=11 February 2020}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0037785}}
- {{TCMDb title|78176}}
{{George Marshall}}
Category:1940s crime comedy films
Category:1940s English-language films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American comedy films
Category:American crime comedy films
Category:American films based on plays
Category:Films directed by George Marshall
Category:Films scored by Werner R. Heymann
Category:Films set in New York City