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Miss Grant Takes Richmond is a 1949 comedy film starring Lucille Ball and William Holden, directed by Lloyd Bacon and released by Columbia Pictures. The film was released under the title Innocence is Bliss in the UK.
Overview
For Ellen Grant (Ball), the worst pupil at the Woodruff Secretarial School, it comes as a great surprise when Dick Richmond (Holden) selects her to work at his realty company. actually, it is her apparent empty-headedness that wins her the position. The real estate firm, and now Ellen, are merely fronts for a bookmaking operation run from the back of the office, where Dick and his cohorts take bets on races.
Determined to become a good secretary, Ellen puts an ambitious venture into motion to help the business and the people of the town by creating affordable housing. Little does she know her plans are ruining Dick's organization. He cannot fire her for being efficient and cannot get her to quit. Ellen will stand anything (even passes from the boss) to see the housing project through. Dick's trouble really begins when Ellen unwittingly places a bet placed by the malicious Mrs. Donato (Janis Paige), putting him in debt to her for $50,000. Mrs. Donato, who would rather have Dick than the winnings, tells him that if he does not go away with her or pay her, her gang will deal with him.
Dick now allows Ellen to continue with her housing plan so he can pay off the debt by stealing the down payments on the new homes. So that no one will get wise to the scam, he puts the trusted Ellen in charge of the development. It becomes a nightmare for her when the funds run out before the houses are built and she cannot return the money to her friends, Ellen feels terrible, thinking that her own incompetence was to blame. Seeing the girl he comes to love suffer, Dick decides to go away with Mrs. Donato and pay the people back.
Ellen discovers the truth behind the missing money and the betting racket, but forgives Dick and cooks up an elaborate scheme involving her on "gang" to keep him from sacrificing himself to Mrs. Donato. With the stolen money returned, the new homes can finally be constructed. Dick's partner comes up with $50,000 to pay Mrs. Donato the same way they lost it—with a bet on a horse. Best of all, the love of a good woman makes Dick an honest man.
Filmed two years before Lucille Ball's super-stardom on television in I Love Lucy, this film offers her a chance to showcase her comedic talents. Ball and Holden have terrific on-screen chemistry, and Miss Grant Takes Richmond was well received by critics and movie-goers in 1949.
William Holden's career, like Ball's, would mushroom in the 1950s. He was just a year away from filming the blockbuster Sunset Boulevard, and Ball was at the peak of her pre-television movie career. In the late 1940s, Ball had a string of hit comedies such as Sorrowful Jones with Bob Hope and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) with Eddie Albert, her first major release showcasing her talents for physical comedy.
Miss Grant Takes Richmond co-starred Buster Keaton, the comedian from the silent films. Keaton and Ball had a lengthy history together including a number of comedy workshops. Keaton is credited with mentoring Lucille, including teaching her how to use props successfully in comedy.
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