They Got Me Covered (1942)

20% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
88% of users liked it
(78 ratings)

Bob Hope's first starring vehicle for producer Sam Goldwyn borrows the title of Bob's 1942 autobiography They Got Me Covered and very little else. Co-scripted by Leonard Q. Ross (aka Leo Rosten), Leonard Spigelgass and Harry Kurnitz (among many others!), the film casts Hope as Robert Kittredge, the… More Bob Hope's first starring vehicle for producer Sam Goldwyn borrows the title of Bob's 1942 autobiography They Got Me Covered and very little else. Co-scripted by Leonard Q. Ross (aka Leo Rosten), Leonard Spigelgass and Harry Kurnitz (among many others!), the film casts Hope as Robert Kittredge, the Moscow correspondent for a major American news service, who is fired when he neglects to file a report about Hitler's invasion of Russia. Hoping to get back in the good graces of his boss Norman Mason (Donald MacBride), Kittredge steals another reporter's story about a Nazi spy ring operating in New York. Though officially a comedy, the film is curiously unfunny at times, with Hope playing an unsympathetic, unappealing character who'll step on anyone -- including his long-suffering sweetheart (Dorothy Lamour) and a hysterical kidnap victim (Phyllis Povah) -- to get ahead. Otto Preminger is funnier (perhaps intentionally) as the head Nazi. A few good gags notwithstanding, They Got Me Covered is nowhere near as satisfying as Hope's second Goldwyn effort, The Princess and the Pirate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: David Butler (I), David Butler
Written By: Harry Kurnitz
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 4, 1943 Wide
On DVD: Aug 21, 2003

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
It's just too clear how hard the boys were trying.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
It drags in some critical phases, it labors in obvious spots and the climax is too manufactured. But there are side-splitting moments in it.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Without the talent of Bob Hope this picture would be one dull thud.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A tedious romp through familiar Hope territory.
, Film4
Hope is in his element, and it is impossible not to be swept along by the enthusiasm of his performance.

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I really should have written about this movie when I saw it, I remember really liking this movie, but now the summary doesn't sound familiar. I really want to see this movie again, I love Bob Hope.

Cast

            Bob Hope as Robert Kittredge

            Dorothy Lamour as Christina Hill

            Lénore Aubert as Mrs. Margo Vanescu

            Otto Preminger as Otto Fauscheim

            Eduardo Ciannelli as Baldanacco

            Marion Martin as Gloria the "Glow Girl"

            Donald Meek as Little Old Man

            Phyllis Ruth as Sally

            Philip Ahn as Nichimuro

            Donald MacBride as Norman Mason

            Mary Treen as Helen

            Bettye Avery as Mildred Smith

            Maggie Hayes as Lucille

            Mary Byrne as Laura

            William Yetter Jr. as Holtz

            Henry Guttman as Faber

            Florence Bates as Gypsy Woman

            Walter Catlett as Hotel Manager

            John Abbott as Gregory Vanescu

            Frank Sully as Red

            Rudolph Anders
            
            Ferike Boros as Laughing Woman

            Harry C. Bradley as Hotel Waiter

            Don Brodie as Joe McGirk

            Jack Carr as Comedian

            George Chandler as Smith

            Lane Chandler as Reporter

            Stanley Clements as Office boy

            Joe Devlin as Mussolini

            Ralph Dunn as Cop

            Willie Fung as Laundry Man

            Edward Gargan as Cop

            Richard Keene as Reporter

            Donald Kerr as Stage manager

            Pat Lane as Ballet Dancer

            Lyle Latell
            
            Lou Lubin as Bellboy

            John Mather
            
            Etta McDaniel as Georgia

            Greta Meyer as Katrina

            Billy O'Leary as Tramp

            Anne O'Neal as Woman Patron

            Gil Perkins as Nazi

            Nino Pipitone as Testori

            Hugh Prosser as Captain

            Shimen Ruskin
            
            Hans Schumm as Schmidt

            George Sherwood as Reporter

            Walter Soderling
            
            Arnold Stang as Drug store boy

            Kam Tong as Hawara

            Raymond D. Turner
            
            Henry Victor as Straeger

            Wolfgang Zilzer as Gross

            Stanley Price
            
            John Sinclair
            
            Byron Shores as FBI Man

            Lillian Castle as Wardrobe Woman

            Peggy Lynn as Burlesque Actress

            Doris Day as Beautiful girl in sheet
See full cast