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My Favorite Spy
1942 Jump to Synopsis and Details
 
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Summary from NY Times

Produced by silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd, My Favorite Spy is a vehicle for bespectacled bandleader Kay Kyser, who resembles Lloyd more than somewhat. Just before embarking on his honeymoon with new bride Terry (Ellen Drew), Kyser is drafted into the Army. Proving to be a monumentally inefficient soldier, our hero is nonetheless pressed into service by US intelligence officer Major Allen (Moroni Olsen). It seems that Nazi agents have been passing secrets in the nightclub where Kyser's band performs, and Allen wants Kay to act as a counter-espionage agent. To maintain his cover, Kay is discharged from the army in disgrace, and is ordered to noisily make himself a "security risk", so that Nazi chieftan Robinson (Robert Armstrong) will invite Kay to join his spy operation. Trouble is, Kyser must keep his espionage activities secret from everyone-even his wife Terry, who is growing ever more impatient over Kay's unexplained absences from her boudoir. Making matters worse, Kyser is teamed with glamorous blonde secret agent Connie (Jane Wyman), whom Terry understandably suspects of being Kay's clandestine sweetheart. A multitude of slapstick situations follow, culminating in a wild chase through an abandoned theater, with Kay Kyser making like Harold Lloyd to rescue his wife from the Nazis. As directed by Tay Garnett, Kyser's ongoing marital woes seem more pathetic than funny; in addition, his Secret Service cohorts come off as the most sadistic bunch of "good guys" in screen history, bursting with laughter every time Kay's wife throws him out of their apartment. Even so, My Favorite Spy has a few genuine laughs, especially in the final reels.

Cast

Kay Kyser as Kay Kyser

Ellen Drew as Teresa 'Terry' Kyser

Jane Wyman as Connie

Robert Armstrong as Harry Robinson

Helen Westley as Aunt Jessie

William Demarest as Flower pot policeman

Una O'Connor as Cora, Kyser's maid

Lionel Royce as Winters, chief German agent

Moroni Olsen as Major Allen

George Cleveland as Gus, man in park

Vaughan Glaser as Colonel Moffett (as Vaughn Glaser)

Hobart Cavanaugh as Jules, man in mark

Chester Clute as Higgenbotham

Teddy Hart as Complaining soldier

Kay Kyser Band as Themselves (as Kay Kyser's Band)

Harry Babbitt as Harry, vocalist with band

M.A. Bogue as Ish, vocalist with band (as Ish Kabibble)

Sully Mason as Sully, vocalist with band

Trudy Erwin as Vocalist with band (as Trudy Irwin)

Dorothy Dunn as Vocalist with band

Louis Adlon as Herman, a henchman

Murray Alper as Kay's first taxi driver

Bobby Barber as Man in park in front of Kay

Vince Barnett as Kay's second taxi driver

Stanley Blystone as Turnkey

James Conaty as Nightclub extra

Harold Daniels as Madden, contact agent

Hal K. Dawson as Eberle, apartment manager

Edgar Dearing as Police sergeant in bumped car

Carli Elinor as Phillips

Sammy Finn as Henchman

Pat Flaherty as Last recruit smelling gas

William Forrest as Captain Green

Jack Gargan as Nightclub extra

Bud Geary as Undercover marine

Edmund Glover as Johnny Spelvin, the arranger

Roy Gordon as Major Updyke

Fred Graham as Jones, undercover marine

Kit Guard as Dave, henchman

Frank Hagney as Man in Kelly's

Sam Harris as Nightclub extra

Al Hill as Mr. Cooper, henchman

Earle Hodgins as Second speaker in park

Selmer Jackson as Minister at wedding

John James as Recruit

Harold Krueger as Jail inmate

Larry Lawson as Marine catching Kay

Richard Martin as Nightclub extra

John McGuire as Nightclub extra

Pat McKee as Extra at Kelly's

Walter Merrill as Man in Allen's office

Bert Moorhouse as Wedding guest

Edmund Mortimer as Nightclub extra

Jack Norton as Orchid Room drunk

Barbara Pepper as Speedy', 'B' girl at Kelly's

Jack Perry as Henchman

Dorothy Phillips as Woman at wedding

Walter Reed as Nightclub patron

Cyril Ring as Nightclub extra

Bert Roach as Pedestrian in park

Dewey Robinson as Tough waiter at Kelly's

Ronald R. Rondell as Nightclub extra

Henry Roquemore as First speaker in park

William Ruhl as Major Allen's friend

Sammy Stein as Marine socking Kay

Jack Stoney as Henchman

Charles Williams as Third speaker in park

  
 

Directed by
Tay Garnett

Writing credits
M. Coates Webster (story)
Sig Herzig and William Bowers (screenplay)
Frank Ryan contributor to dialogue
Frank Ryan special sequence

Produced by
Harold Lloyd - producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb
C. Bakaleinikoff (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert De Grasse (director of photography)

Film Editing by
Desmond Marquette

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark
Albert S. D'Agostino

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Edward Stevenson (gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James H. Anderson - assistant director
Sam Ruman - assistant director

Sound Department
Earl A. Wolcott - sound recordist

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker - special effects

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff - musical director
George Duning - music arranger
Salvatore Cammarano - librettist: "Anvil Chorus" from "Il Trovatore"


 
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