"Pick-a-little, talk-a-little, pick-a-little, talk-a-little, cheap cheap cheap, pick-a-lot, talk-a little more."
So sang the uppity women of River City in Meredith Willson's "The Music Man", demonstrating the gossip based simply on rumor, not fact. Those "ladies" had nothing on the gossip mongers of Adrienne Ames' house of beauty where the clientele of bored, overweight rich businessmen's wives manipulate a nice member of their group into a suicide attempt, simply out of their jealousy of the younger Ames whom they are trying to discredit as a homewrecker. This threaten to destroy her relationship with a handsome Craig Reynolds oh stands by her in spite of the gossipy old biddies, which includes silent leading actress Esther Ralston. Dorothy Vaughan gives a touching performance as the sensitive wife of a businessman bored in his marriage who still loves his wife in spite of her diminishing glamour.
Made on a shoestring budget, this sensationalist film does not mince words with its view of society matrons with only gossip and destruction on their mind. Certainly, the women who work for Ames aren't much help, basically telling them to their face that they are way past their prime, and not so discreetly. The script has many witty wisecracks at these women's expense, and certainly many of them deserve much more in terms of their personal character which Ames gives them at the end like Clara Blandick did to Margaret Hamilton in "The Wizard of Oz". In a sense, it's a moral tale about the evils of gossip, a reminder of the Book of James which devotes an entire chapter to the evils of "the tongue".
Ironically, Pert Kelton, who was on the outside looking in at the gossipy towns women in "The Music Man", plays Ames assistant and sarcastic best friend. She delivers each of her lines as if she was pouring a whole bottle of vinegar on to a salad, and that delightful no-nonsense voice is put to good use. She steals every scene that she is in, and thus the film. There is a very funny scene involving an adorable spider monkey that seems like something you'd see in an Our Gang short. This may not be the most subtle of screenplays on the evils of flapping one's lips more than one should, but it certainly is extraordinary entertaining!More like a hen house.
So sang the uppity women of River City in Meredith Willson's "The Music Man", demonstrating the gossip based simply on rumor, not fact. Those "ladies" had nothing on the gossip mongers of Adrienne Ames' house of beauty where the clientele of bored, overweight rich businessmen's wives manipulate a nice member of their group into a suicide attempt, simply out of their jealousy of the younger Ames whom they are trying to discredit as a homewrecker. This threaten to destroy her relationship with a handsome Craig Reynolds oh stands by her in spite of the gossipy old biddies, which includes silent leading actress Esther Ralston. Dorothy Vaughan gives a touching performance as the sensitive wife of a businessman bored in his marriage who still loves his wife in spite of her diminishing glamour.
Made on a shoestring budget, this sensationalist film does not mince words with its view of society matrons with only gossip and destruction on their mind. Certainly, the women who work for Ames aren't much help, basically telling them to their face that they are way past their prime, and not so discreetly. The script has many witty wisecracks at these women's expense, and certainly many of them deserve much more in terms of their personal character which Ames gives them at the end like Clara Blandick did to Margaret Hamilton in "The Wizard of Oz". In a sense, it's a moral tale about the evils of gossip, a reminder of the Book of James which devotes an entire chapter to the evils of "the tongue".
Ironically, Pert Kelton, who was on the outside looking in at the gossipy towns women in "The Music Man", plays Ames assistant and sarcastic best friend. She delivers each of her lines as if she was pouring a whole bottle of vinegar on to a salad, and that delightful no-nonsense voice is put to good use. She steals every scene that she is in, and thus the film. There is a very funny scene involving an adorable spider monkey that seems like something you'd see in an Our Gang short. This may not be the most subtle of screenplays on the evils of flapping one's lips more than one should, but it certainly is extraordinary entertaining!More like a hen house.