"The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend" Review

 

by Daniel White

What's the point of making a Betty Grable musical without any musical numbers for the high-spirited star to shine in? The zesty Miss Grable was born to strut her sizable talent in song and dance routines, something she doesn't get much of a chance to do in the Twentieth Century Fox flick, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949).

Directed and written by Preston Sturges, the film does provide Betty with a chance to warble two pleasing, if unremarkable, numbers. And though she has a lovely singing voice, she is at her best when dancing. Leave the ballads to Judy, and let Betty shimmy and shake.

Still, any movie that combines the frantic, cockeyed, upside-down worldview of Mr. Sturges with the gung-ho gumption of Miss G can't be all bad, and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is quite good - in parts. Though mostly a rollicking, cheerful mess, it does contain moments of sublime silliness that remind us of the director's past cinematic achievements.

Betty plays Winnifred "Freddie" Jones, a dance hall dolly with a penchant for pistols. When she catches her beau, Blackie Jobero (Cesar Romero) two timing her with a French "twist" named Roulette (Pati Behrs), Freddie decides to settle the matter with a six shooter. Unfortunately, she shoots the wrong person, embedding a bullet into the backside of the local judge, Alfalfa J. O'Toole (the hilarious Porter Hall). Forced to flee, she hops a train with her clever gal pal, Conchita (Olga San Juan), one step ahead of the law. It's a loopy concoction of mistaken identity coupled with the need to hide Freddie's prowess with a gun. Naturally, that proves to be a near impossibility when the two fleeing females arrive in the aptly named Snake City.

What makes this willy nilly film watchable is the Sturges dialogue, the supporting Preston Players and its leading lady, the wonderful Betty Grable. I used to dismiss her as a fleshy, flashy hacktress of minimal ability (this, having never seen any of her films!). Not true! She is a talented, engaging performer, who is genuinely funny! Eventually, the movie completely unravels, ending in a surreal gunfight that is implausible, improbable, and preposterous. And the romantic angle is even less believable, with absolutely no spark between Gable and Romero, and her pairing with Rudy Valee even less exciting.

The only relationship that shows any true warmth and feeling is between Freddie and Conchita. The actresses are superb and complement each other nicely. With the brash Betty and the sharp-tongued Miss San Juan as the main focus, this could have been a riotous buddy caper, a la Hope and Crosby. Instead it's a half-baked Western/screwball comedy/musical. But at least the half that got baked is pretty damn tasty.

Showing off her famous legs frequently in outfits designed by Rene Hubert, Grable looks delicious as she cavorts with the zany cast of characters (including Hugh Herbert, El Brendel, Stanley Hollaway, and the uncredited Margaret Hamilton ).

A film that misfires just as often as it hits its mark, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend must have looked like on paper a promising blend of that ball-of-fire Betty Grable, the brilliant goofiness of Preston Sturges and a boffo supporting cast. That promise doesn't always deliver cinematic greatness, but it does provide some moments of movie magic. Available on YouTube.