The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
My Favorite Brunette
Comedy · Mystery · Romance · 1947
Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
Movie details
My Favorite Brunette
“He's a hilarious hawkshaw... with a case on Dottie!”
1947 Comedy · Mystery · Romance 1h 27m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over My Favorite Brunette?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Family · 2020
An 11-year old boy believes that he is the best detective in town and runs the agency Total Failures with his best friend, an imaginary 1,200 pound polar bear.
Sex and the Single Girl
Comedy · 1964
A womanizing reporter for a sleazy tabloid magazine impersonates his hen-pecked neighbor in order to get an expose on renowned psychologist Helen Gurley Brown.
Love Is in the Air
Romance · 2023
A fiercely independent pilot fighting to keep her family business afloat starts to fall for the man sent by corporate to ground her operation forever.
Heartbreakers
Comedy · 2001
Max and Page are a brilliant mother/daughter con team who have their grift down to a fine science. Max targets wealthy, willing men and marries them. Page then seduces them, and Max catches her husband in the act. Then it's off to palimony city and the next easy mark.
Jingle Bell Heist
Romance · 2025
Two down-on-their-luck hourly workers team up to rob a posh London department store on Christmas Eve. Will they steal each other's hearts along the way?
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Romance · 2023
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster
Mystery · 2010
Scooby-Doo and the gang are on the case when a mysterious lake monster starts scaring the guests at a summer resort in Erie Point, where Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy have taken on seasonal jobs to pay for a barn they accidentally burned down. But in addition to sneaking suspicions, there's some romance in the air.
The Cheap Detective
Comedy · 1978
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
The Thursday Murder Club
Comedy · 2025
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Comedy · 1982
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Elliott Nugent
Written by
Bob Hope · Edmund Beloin · Jack Rose
Bob Hope
Ronnie Jackson
Dorothy Lamour
Baroness Carlotta Montay
Peter Lorre
Kismet
Lon Chaney Jr.
Willie
John Hoyt
Dr. Lundau
Charles Dingle
Major Simon Montague
Reginald Denny
James Collins
Court is in session
Put My Favorite Brunette on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.