Main Cast: Betty Grable, Cesar Romero, Rudy Vallee, Olga San Juan, Sterling Holloway
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 77 minutes
Plot
Preston Sturges' final American film was generally conceded to be a disaster in 1949; even star Betty Grable publicly bad-mouthed the finished product. When seen today, Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, while no classic, seems a lot better than it did five decades ago. Grable plays a western dancehall girl named Freddie, who is forced to take it on the lam after accidentally shooting a judge (she'd been aiming at her faithless boyfriend Blackie Jobero, played by Cesar Romero). Arriving in the tiny burg of Bashful Bend, Freddie is mistaken for the schoolmarm whom the town elders have recently hired. Taking advantage of this mistaken-identity situation, Freddie puts the make on wealthy banker Charles Hingelman (Rudy Vallee, a Sturges "regular"), who owns a valuable gold mine. Before the film's 77 minutes are over, Freddie finds herself smack dab in the middle of a shootout between the Good Guys and a family of dimwitted outlaws. As was always the case in a Preston Sturges production, Beautiful Blonde of Bashful Bend is chock full of colorful supporting players, including Hugh Herbert (hilarious as a myopic dentist), El Brendel, Sterling Holloway, and Margaret Hamilton. Also on hand are stalwart Sturges stock company players Porter Hall, Alan Bridge, J. Farrell McDonald, Georgia Caine, Esther Howard, Torben Meyer, Dewey Robinson, and Harry Hayden--many of whom, in keeping with 20th Century-Fox's curious billing policy, are denied on-screen credit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Deserving of a better place in the history books than it receives, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is no great piece of cinematic filmmaking, but it is a generally engaging way to pass a little time in an undemanding way. Part of the problem people have with Blonde is that they come to expecting -- justifiably, because of Preston Sturges' other films -- to be entertained in an intelligent, inventive way. That's not what Blonde has in mind; all it wants to do is offer a rowdy, high spirited, somewhat over-the-top good time. The other part of the problem is that Sturges doesn't know exactly how to do that; there's just a bit too much effort put into, and this is the kind of picture that simply has to feel like it just rolled off the director's back, without him even noticing it too much. Plus, some of the gags simply aren't that good. And finally, though she tries very hard and has some absolutely sensational moments, Betty Grable just isn't the perfect casting; the part calls for someone who has a little more going for her in the wild cannon department, such as Betty Hutton. All that said, Blonde still has more than its share of laughs, and even if she's not perfect for the part. Grable knows how to put across a laugh line. The supporting cast is top notch, even when given little to do, which also helps a great deal. Come to Blonde without high expectations, and you might just enjoy yourself quite a bit. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
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, even though it is not considered to be in the same league as the intelligent comedies Sturges made at Paramount Pictures that he is known for.[1][2]
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend would turn out to be the last American film that Sturges would work on – although he would receive credit for films that were remakes or adaptations of his earlier movies. Sturges directed only one more film in his life, the 1955French comedy Les carnets du Major Thompson (released in the U.S. as The French, They Are a Funny Race).[3]
Hot-headed Winifred "Freddie" Jones (Betty Grable) is a saloon singer in the Old West who catches her boyfriend, gambler Blackie Jobero (Cesar Romero), flirting with another woman and takes a shot at him with the six-shooter she always carries. Unfortunately, she hits a Judge (Porter Hall) instead, so she and her friend Conchita (Olga San Juan) 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 (Rudy Valee), owner of a valuable gold mine, who starts to romance Freddie. When Blackie shows up while tracking Freddie down, complications ensue.[1][4][5]
"In the Gloaming" - by Annie Fortesque Harrison and Meta Orred[6][7]
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.[3]
An early draft of the screen play, dated 29 December 1947 indicates that Sturges was considering June Haver in the role of Freddie, even 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.[3]
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 I. 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.[3]
The Beautiful Blonde... was in production from late September to late November of 1948, with an additional sequence shot in early January of 1949.[8]. It's unclear whether Sturges or another director worked on the January shoot, which was to change the ending of the film at the insistence of Zanuck.[3] The film premiered in Hollywood and New York City on 27 May 1949 and went into general American release in June.[8] It was marketed with the tagline: She had the biggest Six-Shooters in the West![9]
The film was budgeted at an estimated $2,260,000 and brought in during its initial American release only about $1,489,000.[10]The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend was released on video in the U.S. on 25 May 1989.[11]
