The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)

Director:

Preston Sturges

Writers:

Earl Felton (screenplay)
Earl Felton (story)
(more)

Release Date:

27 May 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Western

Tagline:

She had the biggest Six-Shooters in the West!

Plot:

Saloon-bar singer Freddie gets very angry whenever boyfriend Blackie seems to be playing around. She always packs a six-shooter...

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Singing | Hit On The Head | Hanging | Courtroom Scene

Cast

Betty Grable	...	Winifred Jones
Cesar Romero	...	Blackie Jobero
Rudy Vallee	...	Charles Hingleman
Olga San Juan	...	Conchita
Porter Hall	...	Judge Alfalfa J. O'Toole
Hugh Herbert	...	Doctor
Al Bridge	...	Sheriff Ambrose (as Alan Bridge)
El Brendel	...	Mr. Jorgensen
Sterling Holloway	...	Basserman Boy
Dan Jackson	...	Basserman Boy (as Danny Jackson)
Emory Parnell	...	Mr. Julius Hingleman
Pati Behrs	...	Roulette
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Abdullah Abbas	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Robert Adler	...	Clerk (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor	...	(uncredited)
Louis Bacigalupi	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Georgia Caine	...	Mrs. Hingleman (uncredited)
Chester Conklin	...	Messenger Boy (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Pullman Porter (uncredited)
Nestor Eristoff	...	(uncredited)
Eddie Gribbon	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Richard Hale	...	Mr. Gus Basserman (uncredited)
Margaret Hamilton	...	Mrs. Elvira O'Toole (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Train Conductor (uncredited)
Herbert Heywood	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Esther Howard	...	Mrs. Smidlap (uncredited)
Rose Marie Iannone	...	Girl (uncredited)
Richard Kean	...	Doctor Smidlap (uncredited)
George Lynn	...	(uncredited)
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Sheriff Sweetser (uncredited)
Mary Monica MacDonald	...	Freddie (age 6) (uncredited)
George Magrill	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Hank Mann	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Joe (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	...	Poker Game Onlooker (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Hanger-on (uncredited)
Tom McGuire	...	Deputy (uncredited)
George Melford	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	Doctor Shultz (uncredited)
Robert Milasch	...	(uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Harry Morgan	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
'Snub' Pollard	...	Hanger -on (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Russell Simpson	...	Grandpa (uncredited)
Emil Sitka	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Ray Spiker	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Jack Stoney	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Joan Sylvester	...	(uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Wilbur (uncredited)
Tom Tyler	...	(uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Marie Windsor	...	LaBelle Bergere (uncredited)

Directed by
Preston Sturges

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Earl Felton		screenplay
Earl Felton		story
Preston Sturges		writer

Produced by
Preston Sturges	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge		(as Cyril Mockridge)

Cinematography by
Harry Jackson

Film Editing by
Robert Fritch

Art Direction by
George W. Davis
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little
Stuart A. Reiss		(as Stuart Reiss)

Costume Design by
René Hubert

Makeup Department
Marie Brasselle	....	hair stylist
Irene Brooks	....	hair stylist
George Lane	....	makeup artist
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist (as Allen Snyder)
Lillian Ugrin	....	hair stylist

Production Management
R.L. Hough	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Eckhardt	....	assistant director
Gaston Glass	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Eugene Grossman	....	sound
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Larry Airhart	....	gaffer
Bruce Hunsaker	....	grip
Irving Rosenberg	....	camera operator
Anthony Ugrin	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	vocal director
Alfred Newman	....	musical director
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (as Herbert Spencer)
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Leonard Doss	....	associate technicolor color director
Doris Drought	....	script supervisor
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Key Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Goofs:

Continuity: Despite being a Technicolor film, this picture contains process and insert shots which are in black-and-white. In particular, though Charles and Winifred are photographed in color on their buggy ride to the church, the background and the church exterior itself are in black-and-white.

Quotes:

Grandpa: Never wait too long between shots or your finger may change its mind.

Soundtrack:

Clementine Capers

As Famous Flops Go, Not Bad

Zany, scattered and at times downright demented, it is perhaps not so terribly surprising this was considered such a disaster when it came out that it instantly vaporized Preston Sturges' Hollywood career. I guess this sort of loose, free wheeling parody (and at times it has a Coen Brothers inspired kookiness about it) just wasn't the sort of thing audiences took to in 1949.

That very looseness, that daffy unrehearsed quality can give one the impression that the film is simply not as good as it could've been, but my God it isn't THAT bad. There are sparks of originality throughout and while it may never quite catch fire, this is still Sturges and still superior to a good number of tame, vanilla comedies that came out around this time.

It may not have been the case but it certainly looks like many of the actors were having a ball during filming, particularly Cesar Romero. Watch the one scene where he is quizzing some hayseed local about his sweetheart's (Betty Grable) whereabouts. He can barely keep a straight face and happily lets this character actor steal the scene with a funny, one man "who's on first?" routine. I thought Grable did a fine job as well and showed pretty fair comic timing, though I wonder if Sturges really wanted that other Betty (Hutton) for the role and couldn't get her for some reason. Sturges may have allowed those two freaky brothers (one of whom is played by Sterling Holloway) to take things too far; I'm sure audiences at the time watched their crazed antics with stone faces. In fact, they're not even recognizably human which may have been the point. I'm not sure.

An odd, not terribly satisfying movie, but watchable, never boring and with spurts of that famous snappy Sturges dialogue.