When one thinks about Bob Hope, if one does at all these days, they probably recall his charitable work.  That is not a bad way to be remembered, of course.  Though the Catholic Church does not have the final say on such behavior, it is interesting to note that in his later years, he converted to Catholicism.  Perhaps he was inspired by his lifelong friend Bing Crosby, a noted Catholic?  In any case, being known for his kindness was not what made him famous.  Indeed, if you were to watch a movie like They Got Me Covered (1943), you might not recognize Hope.  This is because, at heart, Hope was a comedian.  This, too, is next to Godliness, particularly if you keep track of recent Vatican news.  Within days of this writing, Pope Francis hosted an audience of comedic performers, including Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon.  Fallon grew up in the Church, while Colbert claims to still be an adherent.  That last bit is a debate for another time.  For now, what does any of this have to do with They Got Me Covered?  Not much, but it is always good to have a little background information if you decide to watch this piece of classic cinema.

In the headquarters of the Amalgamated News Service in New York City, editor-in-chief Norman Mason (Donald MacBride) is witnessing that They Got Me Covered is proving false.  He is angered by the fact that every other news outlet in the world has scooped his publication by reporting Nazi Germany having invaded the Soviet Union.  His ire is particularly directed at his Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Robert “Kit” Kittredge (Bob Hope), who is in Moscow and somehow missed the breaking story.  For now, the only thing Kit is trying to miss are the other journalists over there who are angry with him for pointing them in the wrong direction with claims that there was no way such an attack would happen.  I would say that he faces his detractors like a good Christian, but this being a comedy, he instead dons a disguise and escapes.  The person he cannot get away from is Norman when he returns to the office in the States.  Despite Kit’s plaudits, he has bungled a number of stories that have nearly cost Amalgamated News their reputation, and so Norman fires the would-be star.  Undaunted, Kit returns to his post in Washington, D.C., without informing his secretary and fiancée, Christina Hill (Dorothy Lamour), that he had been let go.  Instead, he is determined to repair his reputation with something big.  The opportunity comes when a European acquaintance, Vanescu (John Abbot), comes to Kit with some mysterious information.  Vanescu, though, is being followed by people who want to kill him, forcing Christina and Kit to dress Vanescu up as a woman so he can slip out of the building unnoticed.  They are successful, but Christina and Kit forget to obtain a rendezvous for where they can get Vanescu’s story.  Luckily, Vanescu is a little more on top of things than they are, and arranges a signal for them to meet in front of the Lincoln Memorial involving a red purse and a green umbrella.  These items are brought to the landmark by Christina’s roommate, Sally (Phyllis Ruth), but Christina and Kit are delayed when they pull up in front of the Washington Monument.  Instead, Sally is the one who ends up getting the story, and she returns frantically to her shared apartment to a room full of concerned people.  Kit is more focused on his potential story, which is also not a very Christian way to behave.  Again, this is a comedy.  At any rate, the following morning, before she can hand over the notebook containing the words she wrote in shorthand from Vanescu, she is kidnapped by thugs.  These henchman work for the trio of Axis powers at which the United States is at war at that time.  They do so because they had previously recovered her journal, but could not read the shorthand.  Yet, they take her without her glasses, so not even she can decipher what is on the pages.  Meanwhile, Christina and Kit follow a clue on the note about the rendezvous with Vanescu, which leads them to a Moroccan themed restaurant.  This is a front for the Fascist spies, and soon Kit is ushered into a room to be kept busy by Olga Vanescu (Lenore Aubert), while her accomplices make their escape.  The notebook in question is in the room, but Olga manages to distract Kit by talking about Vonescu, her husband.  Actually, Kit is just distracted by her beauty, allowing himself to be lured away by her supposedly to look for Vonescu while Christina looks on in shock.  The idea is to find a way to dispose of Kit, but instead Otto Feischum (Otto Preminger), the Gestapo agent, comes up with a plan to discredit the journalist with a fake marriage.  This is why these things should be Sacramental as the Church teaches, but I digress.  Kit is drugged and wakes up in Niagara Falls on a honeymoon with Gloria (Marion Martin), a showgirl paid off by the spies.  Initially, this has the desired effect as newspapers pick up on the scandalous affair.  However, Christina sees through the ruse when she recalls that Gloria is not the woman with which she last saw Kit.  When her once and future fiancé turns up, he brings her a handkerchief he took from Olga.  This becomes a clue to her identity as it is scented with expensive perfumes one can only find in a high-end department store.  While Kit follows his own leads, Christina tracks down the business and makes her own visit.  Their efforts nearly get them both captured, but they are saved when Christina’s roommates show up with reinforcements.  It leads to Kit being exonerated and getting first dibs on the story regarding Fascist operatives working on American soil.

The end of They Got Me Covered would suggest that Christina and Kit are now free to get married.  There is the matter of Gloria, but she is murdered while on stage and dies in Kit’s arms, making him look like the culprit.  Between her, Christina, and Olga, it made this rather square Catholic wonder about the sanctity of marriage.  Actually, this is something that occurs to me often when watching classic movies.  It seems like engagements are made and broken with regularity.  The Church takes the institution seriously, which is why it is referred to as a Sacrament.  There are seven of them, and every Catholic is called to each of them, though marriage and holy orders are often conflated.  Holy orders are taking vows of religious life, meaning some form of consecration or being a member of the clergy, for example.  Like those who come together at a wedding, men and women who take part in holy orders join themselves to God.  In both instances, they take vows.  The Church beautifully describes these two as the Sacraments of Service.  Whether marriage or holy orders, God is the Person who should be first served.  Everything else in life should flow from that promise.  The Sacraments also involve serving one another, whether it is a community or a family.  As I said a moment ago, this is serious stuff, which makes me wonder about how committed these people are to one another.  I would say Christina is the more determined one, but she acts annoyed by Kit’s antics.  I cannot blame her.  I would be mad too if my fiancée walked out of a restaurant with another woman without acknowledging me.  He also seems to quickly forget about Christina whenever he sees another attractive female.  I get that these moments are played for laughs, but I would like to have seen just a little Christian restraint on his part.

Despite Kit’s awful behavior, They Got Me Covered is a mostly harmless bit of classic cinema.  Hope has some clever lines in there that make it worth at least contemplating watching.  If nothing else, you can enjoy the fashion of the times, which is always neat to see.