The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend

Last updated

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
Beautiful Blonde poster.jpg
theatrical poster
Directed by Preston Sturges
Written byEarl Felton (story)
Preston Sturges
Produced byPreston Sturges
Starring Betty Grable
Cinematography Harry Jackson
Edited byRobert Fritch
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Distributed by Twentieth-Century Fox
Release dates
  • May 27, 1949 (1949-05-27)(New York City/Los Angeles)
  • June 1949 (1949-06)(U.S.)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,192,000 [1]
Box office$2,889,000 (US)

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is a 1949 romantic comedy Western film starring Betty Grable and featuring Cesar Romero and Rudy Vallee. It was directed by Preston Sturges and written by him based on a story by Earl Felton.

Contents

The film, Sturges' first Technicolor production, was not well received at the time it was released, and was generally conceded to be a disaster even Betty Grable bad-mouthed it but its reputation has improved somewhat over time, though it is not considered to be in the same league as the intelligent comedies Sturges made at Paramount Pictures for which he is known. [2] [3]

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend would turn out to be the last American film on which Sturges would work although he would receive credit for films that were remakes or adaptations of his earlier films. Sturges directed only one more film in his life, the 1955 French comedy Les carnets du Major Thompson (released in the U.S. as The French, They Are a Funny Race ). [4]

Plot

Hot-headed Winifred "Freddie" Jones is a saloon singer in the Old West who catches her boyfriend, gambler Blackie Jobero, flirting with another woman and takes a shot at him with the six-shooter she always carries. Unfortunately, she hits a judge instead, so her friend Conchita and she take it on the lam. When they get to a tiny hole-in-the-wall town, Freddie and Conchita are mistaken for the new schoolmarm and her Indian maid. They meet the local muckety-mucks, including wealthy Charles Hingelman, owner of a valuable gold mine, who starts to romance Freddie. When Blackie shows up while tracking Freddie down, complications ensue. [2] [5] [6]

Cast

Songs

Production

Earl Felton's original screen story was titled "The Lady from Laredo", and the film had the working titles of "Teacher's Pet" and "The Blonde from Bashful Bend". The film had been scheduled to go into production in September 1947, but was "temporarily shelved" in October because Fox production head Darryl F. Zanuck was concerned about the high cost of doing a film in Technicolor. While the production was delayed, Sturges made Unfaithfully Yours (1948) as his first film for Fox. [4]

An early draft of the screen play, dated 29 December 1947 indicates that Sturges was considering June Haver in the role of Freddie, though Betty Grable had already been announced as starring. In the script, Sturges wrote:

It is my habit, when writing a play, to cast the parts as, in my mind, each character makes his first appearance. Occasionally, a stranger walks in and I am uneasy about his looks and the sound of his voice, but usually as he pauses in the doorway I recognize an old friend whose talents I admire and about whose fitness for the part I have no doubts. [4]

As was usually the case on Sturges' films, the censors at the Hays Office had concerns about the script for The Beautiful Blonde... which had been submitted to them. Joseph Breen, head of the Production Code, warned Fox that it "contains entirely too much dialogue and action which concerns itself in a quite blunt and pointed way with sex." The office approved a draft script submitted on 23 September 1948. [4]

The Beautiful Blonde... was in production from late September to late November 1948, with an additional sequence shot in early January 1949. [9] Whether Sturges or another director worked on the January shoot, which was to change the ending of the film at the insistence of Zanuck, is unclear. [4] The film premiered in Hollywood and New York City on 27 May 1949 and went into general American release in June. [9] It was marketed with the tagline: "She had the biggest Six-Shooters in the West!" [10]

The film was budgeted at an estimated $2,260,000 and brought in during its initial American release only about $1,489,000. [11] The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend was released on video in the U.S. on 25 May 1989. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Grable</span> American actress, pin-up girl (1916–1973)

Elizabeth Ruth Grable was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Sturges</span> American film director and screenwriter

Preston Sturges was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director.

<i>The Palm Beach Story</i> 1942 film by Preston Sturges

The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor Young contributed the musical score, including a fast-paced variation of the William Tell Overture for the opening scenes. Typical of a Sturges film, the pacing and dialogue of The Palm Beach Story are very fast. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Vendetta</i> (1950 film) 1950 American drama produced by Howard Hughes

Vendetta is a 1950 American crime film based on the 1840 novella Colomba by Prosper Mérimée, about a young Corsican girl who pushes her brother to kill to avenge their father's murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esther Howard</span> American actress (1892–1965)

Esther Howard was an American stage and film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in 108 films in her 23-year screen career.

<i>Hail the Conquering Hero</i> 1944 film by Preston Sturges

Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) is a satirical comedy-drama film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, and featuring Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson, Bill Edwards and Freddie Steele.

<i>Unfaithfully Yours</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Preston Sturges

Unfaithfully Yours is a 1948 American screwball black comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallée and Barbara Lawrence. The film is about a jealous symphony conductor who imagines three different ways to deal with the supposed infidelity of his beautiful wife—murder, forbearance, and a suicidal game of Russian roulette—during a concert of three inspiring pieces of classical music. At home, his attempts to bring any of his fantasies to life swiftly devolve into farce, underscored with humorous adaptations of the relevant music. Although the film, which was the first of two Sturges made for Twentieth Century-Fox, received mostly positive reviews, it was not successful at the box office.

<i>Down Argentine Way</i> 1940 film by Irving Cummings

Down Argentine Way is a 1940 American musical film made in Technicolor by Twentieth Century Fox. It made a star of Betty Grable in her first leading role for the studio although she had already appeared in 31 films, and it introduced American audiences to Carmen Miranda. It also starred Don Ameche, The Nicholas Brothers, Charlotte Greenwood, and J. Carrol Naish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Hayden</span> Canadian-American actor (1882–1955)

Harry Hayden was a Canadian-American actor. He was a highly prolific actor, with more than 280 screen credits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewey Robinson</span> American actor (1898–1950)

Dewey Robinson was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 250 films made between 1931 and 1952.

<i>Gold Diggers in Paris</i> 1938 film

Gold Diggers in Paris is a 1938 Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert, and Allen Jenkins.

<i>Child of Manhattan</i> (film) 1933 film

Child of Manhattan is a 1933 American pre-Code melodrama film based on the play Child of Manhattan by Preston Sturges, which was presented on Broadway in 1932. The film was directed by Edward Buzzell and written for the screen by Gertrude Purcell, and stars Nancy Carroll, star of musical comedies at Paramount, John Boles, and cowboy star Charles "Buck" Jones.

<i>Fast and Loose</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

Fast and Loose is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and starring Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard and Frank Morgan. The film was written by Doris Anderson, Jack Kirkland and Preston Sturges, based on the 1924 play The Best People by David Gray and Avery Hopwood. Fast and Loose was released by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Paris Holiday</i> (1958 film) 1958 film by Gerd Oswald

Paris Holiday is a 1958 American comedy film starring Bob Hope, which was directed by Gerd Oswald, and written by Edmund Beloin and Dean Riesner from a story by Hope. The film also features French comedian Fernandel, Anita Ekberg and Martha Hyer, and a rare appearance by writer/director Preston Sturges. The film was shot in Technirama and Technicolor in Paris and in the French village of Gambais.

<i>That Lady in Ermine</i> 1948 film by Otto Preminger, Ernst Lubitsch

That Lady in Ermine is a 1948 American Technicolor musical film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is based on the 1919 operetta Die Frau im Hermelin by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch.

<i>The Shocking Miss Pilgrim</i> 1947 film by George Seaton

The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is a 1947 American musical comedy film in Technicolor written and directed by George Seaton and starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes.

<i>Diamond Horseshoe</i> 1945 film by George Seaton

Diamond Horseshoe is a 1945 American musical film starring Betty Grable, Dick Haymes and William Gaxton, directed and co-written by George Seaton, and released by 20th Century Fox. It was filmed in Technicolor in Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, a nightclub located in the basement of the Paramount Hotel. The film's original score is by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, introducing the pop and jazz standard "The More I See You".

<i>Meet Me After the Show</i> 1951 film by Richard Sale

Meet Me After the Show is a 1951 Technicolor musical film starring Betty Grable and released through 20th Century Fox. The film was one of Grable's last musical films for Fox during her box office reign of the past decade.

<i>Do You Love Me</i> (film) 1946 film by Gregory Ratoff

Do You Love Me is a 1946 American Technicolor musical romance film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Maureen O'Hara, Dick Haymes and Reginald Gardiner. The film also features band leader Harry James and his Orchestra. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Betty Grable makes a cameo at the end of the film. At the time Harry James was married to contracted Fox star Betty Grable.

Earl Felton (1909–1972) was an American screenwriter.

References

  1. James Curtis, Between Flops: A Biography of Preston Sturges, Limelight, 1984 p238
  2. 1 2 Erickson, Hal Plot synopsis (Allmovie)
  3. Allmovie Review
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 TCM Notes
  5. TCM Full synopsis
  6. Perkins, Jeremy Plot summary (IMDB)
  7. IMDB Soundtracks
  8. TCM Music
  9. 1 2 TCM Overview
  10. IMDB Taglines
  11. IMDB Business data
  12. TCM Misc. notes