The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend

1949

1h 17m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

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Comedy

Western

Romance

Saloon-bar singer Freddie gets very angry whenever boyfriend Blackie seems to be playing around. She always packs a six-shooter, so this is bad news for anything that happens to be in the way. As this is usually the local judge's rear-end, Freddie and friend Conchita are soon hiding out teaching school in the middle of nowhere.

Directors

Preston Sturges

Writers

Earl Felton(story by)

Earl Felton(screenplay by)

Preston Sturges(writer by)

Stars

Betty Grable

Cesar Romero

Rudy Vallee

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Photos22

Top cast

Freddie

Blackie Jobero

Charles Hingleman

Conchita

Judge O'Toole

Doctor

Sheriff

Mr. Jorgensen

Basserman Boy

Messenger Boy (uncredited)

Margaret Hamilton

Mrs. Elvira O'Toole (uncredited)

Marie Windsor

LaBelle Bergere (uncredited)

Emory Parnell

Mr. Hingleman

Pati Behrs

Roulette

Danny Jackson

Basserman Boy

Directors

Preston Sturges

Writers

Earl Felton(story by)

Earl Felton(screenplay by)

Preston Sturges(writer by)

All cast & crew

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Review

Featured review

5/10

The Lady from Laredo. The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is directed by Preston Sturges who also produces and co-writes the screenplay with Earl Felton. It stars Betty Grable, Cesar Romero, Rudy Vallee, Olga San Juan, Porter Hall and Hugh Herbert. Music is by Cyril Mockridge and cinematography by Harry Jackson. When she accidentally shoots a judge in the posterior, sharpshooting dance hall gal Freddie Jones (Grable) escapes the city of Rimpau and ends up in Snake City disguised as a schoolmarm. In his own words, Preston Sturges would call The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend an unfortunate hodgepodge. Who are we to disagree? From the off nothing sat right for the great writer and director as regards the film, already smarting from the financial disaster that was Unfaithfully Yours, Sturges would end up making a film that wasn't a Sturges movie! Unlike Unfaithfully Yours, which at least received favourable critical notices, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend was savaged by the critics and lost a fortune at the box office. It signalled the death knell for Sturges' career whilst also becoming the first flop of Grable's starring output at this juncture. Would the film have had a better reception were it not attached to Preston Sturges? Well it's possible since lesser expectation levels and less attention to the cost of making it would surely have had people view it purely as a Grable starring piece, but quite simply it's just not a good movie, it's uninspiring on the page to begin with, as Sturges' coarse scripting doesn't sit right in the froth, and then the humour falls decidedly flat once the central premise runs out of ideas. Add in some poorly structured characters, such as the moronic Basserman brothers, and the film irritates instead of bringing joy. Technical attributes do stop it from being an utter waste of time. The Technicolor photography is stunning, the costuming is right out of the top draw, and Grable, who is clearly too good for this sort of stuff, is great value with her effervescence energy and of course those legs! We can also give a modicum of support to the nutty shoot-out that greets the patient amongst us in the finale. Played for scatter shot farce, there is chuckles to be had as Snake City becomes divided and go at it gun for gun. But ultimately these things can't lift the film above the mediocrity that hangs over it during the course of its running time. 5/10

John Chard13 Jun, 2014