The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949) User Reviews

As Famous Flops Go, Not Bad

[abooboo-2 · 6/10 · 18 June 2001]

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.

yes demented, yes vulgar

[ptb-8 · 7/10 · 16 February 2004]

About 55 years ahead of its time and as rude and silly as if it were made today. It does have a very modern feel about it and shows really how staged other 40s films were. Occasionally when loose behavior and honest rudeness was allowed, or got through or whatever, the films looks and sounds like 2006 not 1949. Just like this one. It very funny and like an 80's Zucker Bros western..or as someone else said here, very Coen Bros....anyway, as I was saying, modern, vulgar and silly. Later, in the late 50s similar cartoony western comedies like LI'L ABNER with censorship busting names (eg: Appollonia Von Climax) and characters appeared (Julie Newmar stepping from a rocket clad in almost nothing) and of course all of BLAZING SADDLES in the 70s. We are in that territory, folks.

A Colorful Farce With Grable Having Some Nutty Fun

[museumofdave · 7/10 · 28 May 2017]

I came onto this film as one of a large purchased collection, and after reading a batch of reviews on various film sites didn't expect much from it; there were numerous citings that it was perhaps Grable's worst film, that it wasn't vintage Sturges, that it was loud farce devoid of virtues except for an expert use of full Technicolor.

And color it has, And it is a loud farce. But although it completely lacks the soft focus turn of the century costumer that Grable so often appeared it, and barely gives the viewer time to absorb the nutty humor, Beautiful Blonde, from it's initial scenes with Grandpa Russell Simpson teaching his little curly-haired granddaughter to reduce bottles to smithereens with a careful aim to the last mad gunfight, a loud and vulgar and often screamingly funny parody of dozens of final shoot-outs in hundreds of western hero epics, this film exudes a sense of madness, of a cast nearly out of control in the spirit of farce.

One critic mentions how often Olga San Juan as "Conchita" the dark- skinned servant, is insulted—but failed to remark on her hilarious comebacks, a few surely cut off mid-sentence by censorship concerns. If a careful viewer listens carefully (often hard to do in this raucous unendingly noisy film), there are ample double-entendres as well as the beginnings of a limerick that rhymes with "Nantucket." Surely most alert viewers will fill in the blank. This film demands your attention, and if you do not have the patience for noise and chaos as part of your experience, you may actively dislike it.

Grable seems to be having a great time, especially as the substitute teacher with a golden gun, confronted by a pair of demented youths out of some clueless Beavis-world, one an off-the-wall Sterling Holloway. And the film is certainly worth watching just to see so many familiar character actors taking full advantage of their few lines—whether it's Margaret Hamilton, Hugh Herbert or for a brief moment, Marie Windsor in full-on scarlet feather drag—the film is so short, so fast-paced, that co-star Cesar Romero almost seems insignificant, and seems to be plot window-dressing. Which he is!

Of course this is no Palm Beach Story, that brilliant farce about romance and love and money: nor has it the zany coherence of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. But it reflects the scattershot, nutty world that Sturges created so often, and seems like his final party before the silence descended--and you are invited.

Betty, Get Your Gun

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 14 May 2018]

Shortly before "Anne Get Your Gun" was released, this film, which I dub "Betty, Get Your Gun" was released, as an often raucous western comedy, starring Betty Grable and Cesar Romero. But, sometimes the duo of Sterling Holloway and Dan Jackson, as the demented Basserman boys, take center stage. They have a penchant for spying on Betty, and acting up in her class or elsewhere. Porter Hall is perfect as the harried Judge O'Toole: the unlucky recipient of 3 bullets from Betty's gun, in a running gag sequence, that lodge in the least damaging place: his buttocks. Hugh Herbert is perfect as the eccentric doctor who pulls these slugs out. Rudy Vallee plays a dapper wealthy bachelor, who owns a gold mine, and competes with Cesar for Betty's heart. Cesar is a handsome rogue who has a love-hate relationship with Betty. .......During the credits, and at the end, the peppy title song is sung. Rather early on, onstage, Betty sings the melodious "Every Time I meet You", accompanied by a barbershop quartet. This was composed by Josef Myrow and Mack Gordon. Later, in a private setting, Rude Vallee, along with Betty, sing the standard "In the Gloming"......The silliness occasionally gets out of hand, but on the whole I liked it. See this short second feature film at YouTube.

lacklustre musical western

[didi-5 · 6/10 · 14 October 2009]

When you hear the name Preston Sturges you expect great things, but this isn't one of his best efforts. Yes, for the gentlemen viewer it has Betty Grable in a range of corsets playing a pseudo Annie Oakley, and for the ladies it has Rudy Vallee (admittedly rather past his prime). For comedy value it has the peerless Sterling Holloway, but this isn't his finest hour.

Plotwise there isn't much here. Grable has an on-off relationship with Cesar Romero which sometimes causes her to go off toting a gun. Twice in a row Porter Hall's judge is in the way, and off she goes on the run with her Mexican friend to impersonate a schoolteacher. And that's it.

There's a couple of songs, but Grable and Vallee's musical talents are wasted and the only real pull of this film is the fact it is in Technicolor. Given the number of second-rate features which were at the time this was made, that's no draw. And even Grable misses her target here.

Not an awful lot of beauty sadly

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 30 January 2019]

'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend' could and should have been good. One does indeed expect quite a lot from Preston Sturges, whose prime period was one of the best of any director with particularly the likes of 'The Lady Eve', 'The Miracle of Morgan's Creek', 'Hail the Conquering Hero' and my favourite of his 'Sullivan's Travels'. And from a cast that includes Betty Grable, Cesar Romero and Sterling Holloway.

It is unfortunate that instead 'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend' was a big disappointment, as an overall film and when you take into account what it had going for it. It is not difficult to see why it was considered a major disappointment with critics at the time, and it is especially a big disappointment by Sturges standards (being the film that was his career death knell somewhat, and of all of the films seen of his, which is nearly all, it does get my pick for his worst). Will agree though with others that 'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend' is not that awful or that it is that much of a catastrophe (so agree far more with its slightly improved over-time re-appraisal), but it is severely wanting in too many areas and is not a good representation really of all involved.

Despite the disappointment felt watching 'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend', there are things that make it watchable. The closest the film gets to being beautiful is the production values, with the truly lavish Technicolor, Sturges' first Technicolor film on a side note, being the main reason to see it. The production design and photography are fabulous. The songs may not be exactly memorable, but they are fun and pleasant. Particularly "Every Time I Meet You", which is charming and a welcome lighter moment. "In the Gloaming" is close behind.

A few funny moments here and there, though they are too far and between, particularly with Hugh Herbert and the fantastically nuts finale. The cast generally do well with what they have, with Grable particularly shining followed by suave Cesar Romero and wonderfully daffy Herbert. Margaret Hamilton is also amusing, who also bags one of the funnier moments at the start.

Sterling Holloway however was never more irritating than here, playing one of the Basserman Boys characters, characters so grating and unbearingly over-played that they very nearly single-handedly bring the film down. They don't quite though because there are other things wrong. It is hard to believe that 'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend' is a Sturges film in direction and writing, his direction is very heavy-handed and suggestive that he was both not interested in the material and struggling to control it, attributes that are not like him at all. The script is little better, the wit, sharpness, bite, sophistication and cynical slyness are barely there and even less so the natural wackiness and daring, instead the dialogue and gags on the most part are far too vulgar, brash and over-time feel so stretched beyond the limit that much of the humour falls flat.

Few amusing and charming moments aside, the story has moments where it is far too slight and then there are other times where one really wishes that the film was longer and had a slower pace. Because much of it is too rushed and the mounting complications get increasingly absurd and confused and it becomes exhausting. The characters were either bland or irritating, and little more than caricatures. Most of the cast have far too little to do, Rudy Vallee especially is wasted.

Concluding, watchable but very underwhelming. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Mediocre Sturges at best

[duckyducky · 29 June 2003]

Well, as far as I can see, there are only three things wrong with this movie, compared with the rest of the director's output:

1) It doesn't have Bill Demarest in it.

2) It doesn't have Jimmy Conlin in it.

3) It isn't funny.

So-so lighthearted movie, if you like broad comedy

[lora64 · 2/10 · 9 February 2007]

Have seen the movie on video only once and doubt I'd want to see it again. It's just too painfully farcical at times for my liking. As someone says, those freaky brothers are a bit much to see, that's why I wouldn't want to endure the movie again.

Bette Grable is always beautiful, no faulting there.

I rather felt Rudy Vallee got some rough treatment in this movie and didn't have not enough opportunity to shine with his usual suavity as in other films.

Glad I saw it once but that's about it. I really prefer any other Betty G. movies than this one, sorry to say. Most are super.

Beatiful Blonde Brings Brainy Banter

[dorothysinger7 · 8/10 · 19 August 2020]

I loved this movie--but I love most old films better than the newer ones. This one was hilarious and timeless. Any schoolteacher should really love and appreciate this hilarious film. I had the great honor of meeting Mr. Romero also one time, and he was the most friendly, gracious (and good-looking) man. I didn't know he had once been a big star at one time! Ms. Grable showed she had fantastic comedic timing in the hilarious well-colored flick. If you love to laugh like I do--watch it! Shows Ms. Grable had brains, as well as looks!

The Lady from Laredo.

[hitchcockthelegend · 5/10 · 3 September 2013]

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

Bashful was Dopey and made me Grumpy, Doc!

[Lejink · 3/10 · 22 November 2020]

Preston Sturges lit up most of the 40's with some of the best movies of the decade, such as "Sullivan's Travels", "The Lady Eve" and my own favourite "Hail The Conquering Hero", to name but three, but he's clearly showing signs of burn-out here.

This madcap comedy stars Betty Grable as a sharpshooting gal in the old Wild West, who when she sees her suave, handsome boyfriend snuggling up next to a new senorita when she's singing to her barroom audience, swaps her mic for a gun, only to end up (twice) shooting the local judge in his derriere. This leads to her escaping to a neighbouring town with a $1000 bounty on her head, which unsurprisingly leads to pretty much all her old townsfolk pursuing her to her new locale where she's trying to start again as a schoolteacher under a new name. Her old boyfriend, Cesar Romero, as interested in the reward as in rekindling his spark with Grable drops in too, but when he apparently shoots and kills the two idiot grown-up sons of the local bad guy, it's all set up for a big shoot-'em-up finale, where lightning strikes thrice when even the old judge comes to town to pass judgement on Grable's Fredi character.

I don't mind the plot being so thin, indeed it's what you expect of a farce, but despite being shot in bright colour and troopers like Grable, Porter Hall as the target-practice judge and Margaret Hamilton as his crotchety wife in a too-small part, trying hard, the film never takes off. I counted three times Grable lost her dress, obviously to show off her $1,000,000 legs, typical of the cheap laughs Sturges chases, you just want to throttle the kooky brothers who follow Grable around, while the massed gunfight at the end between the townspeople and the rogue cowboys goes on forever with at least three sight gags which are painfully unfunny to watch as they're set up and then weakly foisted on the viewer. Indeed, the only time I smiled was over a possibly accidental in-joke reference addressed to an unconscious Romero, when he's ordered to be put into a closet.

It's a short film but it seems longer as you wait and wait for just a touch of the old Sturges wit or magic to lift proceedings but it's a wait in vain. The best I can do here is refer viewers to almost of any his earlier features where I can almost guarantee customer satisfaction. This here is a pale shadow of what he was capable of and is in truth for Sturges completists only.

Achilles had its heel, Pandora had her box, Sherlock Holmes had his Moriarty....

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 29 January 2013]

and Betty Grable had "The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend".

While it is extremely difficult to dislike anything Betty Grable ever did, this film really cracks that rule. Every star has an embarrassing moment, and so does every director. In that case, here it is Preston Sturges who spoofs westerns with a crudeness that is sometimes nose-wrinkling as you try to figure out why they even thought this had a chance of being considered entertainment. It is obvious that someone was influenced by the Broadway success of "Annie, Get Your Gun!" (just imagine Grable in that role!), but that at least had good taste, an excellent Irving Berlin score, and stars like Merman and Betty Hutton to help vanish away the corn. What this film ranks is simply insulting.

An elderly man is seen teaching a five year old girl how to shoot a gun after one of the weakest opening credits songs, certainly the first here (and followed by such gem title songs as the credits of "The First Traveling Saleslady" and "Oh, Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet...") . You get the picture. This isn't Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, or Molly Brown. This is an ill-tempered spitfire who grabs a gun first, shoots second, and apologizes third. In three of the cases of her temperament, a hissing judge (Porter Hall) ends up on the receiving end of her sharp-shooting. The first sequence has Hall (as a character named Alfalfa) being chastised by his nagging wife Elvira (Margaret Hamilton) for being caught in a lady's boudoir. After shooting the judge in the derrière (twice), Grable escapes to the middle of nowhere, and like Mae West in "My Little Chickadee", ends up teaching school. She deals with two over-aged class bullies (one played by Sterling Holloway) by shooting ink bottles off their heads in order to keep them in line. Her old lover (Cesar Romero) shows up to find her interested in prominent townsperson Rudy Vallee and of course, another rumpus is forthcoming.

Grable only sings very briefly in this comedy misfire which takes satire too far and turns the country folk of this town into idiots who begin shoot-outs of their own when Holloway and his twin are believed to be killed. Such familiar character players as Hugh Herbert (as a near-sighted doctor), Al Bridge and the annoying El Brendel turn up, although something tells me they (like the others) wished they had turned it down. Olga San Juan suffers racial slurs as the half Mexican/half Native American companion of Grable's. The only really funny sequence are some gags during the final shoot-out (straight out of a 60's sitcom) and the brief exchange between Hamilton and Hall at the beginning. Fortunately short, this film is an albatross in the career of one of our most delightful musical comedy stars who probably knew better the next time to read the script before she consented to appear in her next projects.

Old Time Favorite

[bjl-91521 · 10/10 · 22 November 2020]

I have loved this movie ever since I was a child. The slapstick comedy never gets old.

This has GOT to be Sturges's worst, Right?

[kijii · 1/10 · 4 November 2016]

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is the last of Preston Sturges's American-made movies. It is also the wackiest of them all. It makes no sense and even the transitions from scene to scene have no flow whatsoever. Let me just post another user's review here and be done with it:

-----------------------------------

Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom 14 October 2009 When you hear the name Preston Sturges you expect great things, but this isn't one of his best efforts. Yes, for the gentlemen viewer it has Betty Grable in a range of corsets playing a pseudo Annie Oakley, and for the ladies it has Rudy Vallee (admittedly rather past his prime). For comedy value it has the peerless Sterling Holloway, but this isn't his finest hour.

------------------------

Plotwise there isn't much here. Grable has an on-off relationship with Cesar Romero which sometimes causes her to go off toting a gun. Twice in a row Porter Hall's judge is in the way, and off she goes on the run with her Mexican friend to impersonate a schoolteacher. And that's it.

There's a couple of songs, but Grable and Vallee's musical talents are wasted and the only real pull of this film is the fact it is in Technicolor. Given the number of second-rate features which were at the time this was made, that's no draw. And even Grable misses her target here.

Wait, there is one thing that was sort of funny: Grable's (and sometimes Romero's) girlfriend in the movie is a girl named Conchita (Olga San Juan) who—due to her dark complexion—plays a Mexican who is often mistaken as an American Indian. She didn't seem to mind which ethnic group people mistook her for, she would just go along with it: She was willing to wear a feather in her hair or argue with Romero in Spanish— whatever.....(this is the sort of slap-stick barnyard humor so prevalent in this movie)

Pistol Packin' Mama

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 16 November 2017]

If I hadn't just seen his double-threat credit moments before this movie started I would have been hard put to identify it as the work of Preston Sturges. Adrift from both his home studio, Paramount, and his repertory company of actors he is indeed a shadow of his former self. True, they gave him the reigning (still just about) Queen of the Fox lot, Betty Grable, and solid support Cesar Romero, but it wasn't really enough and it's not hard to see why this effort did for his Hollywood career. There are touches of the old talent and it's possible that those who claim it a satirical triumph years ahead of its time may just have something of a point but it's equally easy to dismiss this one-trick pony of sharpshooter Grable missing intended target Romero - the boyfriend who done her wrong - and putting a slug in Porte Hall where it will do the most good as a wild turkey.

She'd get them in the end

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 20 March 2013]

On its own The Beautiful Blond From Bashful Bend is an OK amusing sort of comedy. Why it has inspired a cult status is beyond me. How often can Porter Hall get shot in the hind quarters and have it still be funny is carrying a joke too far.

Betty Grable raised out on the frontier by her grandfather was taught to be a dead shot at an early age, the better to take care of herself when Gramps played by Russell Simpson is no longer around. She gets real good at it. When she's older and a saloon entertainer she's lost her heart to a no good gambling man played by Cesar Romero.

When she finds Romero dallying with Pati Behrs, she goes hunting for him six gun in hand. Only Betty doesn't check her target and it's the local circuit judge Porter Hall who is getting a little quiet time in one of the upstairs rooms that gets it in the rear. If you were married to Margaret Hamilton you might look for some quiet time also.

Before justice can be served, Betty flees with her sidekick Olga San Juan disguised as a schoolteacher and her Indian maid. But Romero goes after her and all of them get embroiled in a town feud where Betty gets a few time to display her shooting skills. They have to deal with such town folk as Rudy Vallee, El Brendel, Georgia Caine, Emory Parnell, and a pair of oafish juveniles in Sterling Holloway and Dan Jackson.

According to Tom McGee's biography on Betty Grable she was involved in a three way tug of war over the film with director Preston Sturges and studio head Darryl Zanuck. It was not a happy shoot for her though her exuberant performance would not let you think so.

The Beautiful Blond From Bashful Bend is minor league Sturges when you compare it to the hits he cranked out at Paramount like The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, Hail The Conquering Hero,and Miracle Of Morgan's Creek.

Characters do crazy things

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 28 June 2022]

The title of this screwball western comedy is a real tongue twister. But it's a good way to describe Betty Grable and the character she plays. Although she is beautiful, she's anything but bashful. Especially when using firearms. In the opening segment she learns to fire a gun at her grandpappy's knee.

In fact the little girl is not allowed to play with her favorite doll until she has completed her shooting practice each day. Grandpappy won't always be around and these skills might come in handy. Take that. Bang! And that. Bang bang!

Flash forward to Grable as a saloon singer twenty years later. She now has considerable skill with a gun. She's in love with a good-for-nothing gambler (Cesar Romero). While performing a musical number she leaves the stage, goes into the crowd then up a long staircase. The scene shows off her trademark legs. As she works her way up the stairs, the crowd below thinks it's part of her act.

Romero is in one of the rooms above the saloon with another girl, and when the song ends Grable hurries down the hall to pump him full of lead. Unfortunately she hits a judge in the backside who was in middle of a romantic rendezvous of his own.

This is a Preston Sturges movie where characters do crazy things. The production code never seems to interfere with Sturges' stories, since the scenarios are depicted as broad farces. Perhaps this lax "morality" is why the film did not do well with audiences in 1949. Seeing a gal solve her problems by shooting people is a lot to accept.

In the next part Grable gets out of jail and takes a train west with her friend (Olga San Juan). She intends to start a new life and assumes the identity of a schoolmarm. While working as a teacher she puts the fear of god into some wicked kids with, what else, her gun. This kind of stuff would not fly today given the amount of school shootings that have occurred.

The supporting cast includes character actors and actresses that worked with Sturges on some of his earlier films. They're experts and make the most of the contrived premise. None of them ever react to the situations or to each other. They are too busy hamming it up and setting up the next gag. It gets wilder and wilder.