Beauty for the Asking (1939)

Denny drops fiancée Jean and marries Flora who is worth ten million dollars. When Jean is fired from her job she decides to market the face cream she invented. She goes to Jeffrey and he ... See full summary »

Director:

Glenn Tryon

Writers:

Doris Anderson (screen play), Paul Jarrico (screen play)

Stars:

Lucille Ball, Patric Knowles, Donald Woods

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lucille Ball	...	Jean Russell
Patric Knowles	...	Denny Williams
Donald Woods	...	Jeffrey Martin
Frieda Inescort	...	Flora Barton-Williams
Inez Courtney	...	Gwen Morrison
Leona Maricle	...	Eve Harrington
Frances Mercer	...	Patricia Wharton
Whitney Bourne	...	Peggy Ponsby
George Beranger	...	Cyril (as George Andre Beranger)
Kay Sutton	...	Miss Whitman
Ann Evers	...	Lois Peabody

Storyline

Denny drops fiancée Jean and marries Flora who is worth ten million dollars. When Jean is fired from her job she decides to market the face cream she invented. She goes to Jeffrey and he sends a sample of the product to 12 selected rich women. Only one woman invests in the business and Jean is happy until she learns that it is Flora - but she takes the money. As Denny has no job, the girls give him an office at the factory. The business takes off, but Jean finds that she is still in love with Denny and Denny seems to forget he is married to Flora. So Jean and Flora send him to California for six weeks to open the West Coast branch of Jeanne Varelle.

---

Plot Keywords:

face cream | cheating husband | beautician | husband wife relationship | beauty treatment | 

---

Taglines:

Go Glamorous - to Hold "Him!" (original print ad)

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Loosely based on the career of cosmetics giant Helena Rubenstein, founder of a company bearing her name that made her one of the richest women in the world. After her death, the company was sold to Colgate-Palmolive in 1973 for $142.3M and was subsequently acquired by L'Oreal in 1988, which as of 2019 still maintains the brand.

---

Soundtracks

Wedding March
(uncredited)
Music by Felix Mendelssohn

User Reviews

Beautician builds a cosmetics empire

The beautiful Lucille Ball and she was back in her salad days gets jilted by Patric Knowles in Beauty For The Asking. Our heroine is down but not out. She manages to market the tricks of the beautician trade into a cosmetic empire and she can buy and sell Knowles and Frieda Inescourt the rich woman Knowles did marry.

Lucy does well in this role which has some comic and dramatic elements. But Knowles really comes out best in this story. Knowles was never a lead, he's probably best known as Will Scarlett in the Errol Flynn Robin Hood film. But he could occasionally be a villain and he does excel here.

Donald Woods is here, always reliable as the second lead. But he's always kind of bland and he really isn't given much to work with.

Lucille Ball fans should like this.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

24 February 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beauté sur commande

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1