Wonderland Burlesque's Let's Go To The Movies: That Girl! Edition Part V

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's Go To The Movies

That Girl! Edition Part V

Who's that girl? Well, I'll tell you who...

This week we have another party girl and a couple of very troubled actresses.

Yes, another Let's All Go To The Movies adventure all about 'that girl'. You know the one!

The one whose essence can instantly be captured with one or two words before attaching the word 'girl'. Sure, she's a full-blooded woman (in most cases), but let's keep it young and vital and grant her 'girl' status anyway.

What makes her tick? And what sells tickets?

Well, we've got a lot of girls waiting in queue, so...

Let's pop some corn, grab a seat on the aisle and take a peek at this week's selection of cinematic magic.

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Party Girl

(1930)

AKA: Dangerous Business

"The shocking story of love for sale!"

(A young woman has carefully hidden her past as a 'party girl' but is threatened with exposure when another party girl tricks her fiancé, the son of a wealthy manufacturer, into marriage. Snared in a web involving an escort service the young man soon finds himself trapped in a marriage not of his choosing. Will scandal erupt or will the two lovebirds find a way to thwart the escort's evil intentions?)

"A sensational drama of party girls in modern business."

(Based on the novel, Dangerous Business, this pre-Code crime drama was directed by Victor Halperin and stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jeanette Loff, Judith Barrie, and Marie Prevost.)  

(Throughout filming, actor Paul Bern - who doesn't appear in the picture, managed affairs with Loff, Barrie, and Prevost; the film's three principal females. If the women knew, they never let on.)

"Oh! How I adore you."

(Marie Prevost, a hardcore alcoholic, died at  the age of 38, alone and destitute in a Hollywood apartment. Her body was not discovered for a number of weeks and reportedly parts of her  were consumed by her poor little dog, who was trapped in the apartment with no food. Her career, built mainly during the silent era, took a nosedive as talkies became the rage. The sordid details surrounding her death prompted the Hollywood community to create the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital - an institution which cares for aging, destitute former industry artists.)

(Rejected for release by the BBFC in 1930, the film holds the record as the longest banned in the UK. The ban was finally lifted in 2003, with the picture being designated as PG.)

Jeanette Loff

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Government Girl

(1943)

(In spite of his shortcomings, the secretary of a newly-appointed government official works her magic to help him succeed in DC during World War II. Given the war,  arms production is the day's hot issue. Her new boss used to make cars in Detroit and is now tasked with the production of planes. Fortunately, his headstrong secretary knows all the ins and outs of Washington, making short work of all the red tape headaches which abound and confound.)

"Manpower shortage? Not for this Girl Friday!"

(Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns, this romantic-comedy was produced and directed by Dudley Nichols and stars Olivia de Havilland, Sonny Tufts, Anne Shirley, Una O'Connor, and Agnes Moorehead.)

 

(It can't be worded strongly enough, Olivia de Havilland loathed her role in this film. She was in the midst of a legal dispute with her studio, Warner Bros., regarding the working conditions on her last shoot, 1943's Princess O'Rourke. It was thought that, in order to punish the actress, they loaned her out to David O. Selznick who assigned her to RKO who assigned her to this picture. However, the real story was de Havilland was loaned to O. Selznick in exchange for Ingrid Bergman, whom Warner Bros. wanted for Casablanca. No matter, de Havilland, extremely vocal about her displeasure. found the script wanting and took her griefs to the press. Mugging, in place of creating a character, she smirks and grimaces her way throughout the film. Despite her best efforts, the film was a success at the box office.)

"When men are one to ten... a gal's gotta be good!"

(During pre-production, the film went through numerous casting and production personnel changes. Joseph Cotten was originally slated to star, with Gladys George, Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers all being linked to the picture at one time.)

Olivia de Haviland

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Career Girl

(1944)

(A country girl wants to become a Broadway Star and moves from a small Midwestern town to New York City to get a job on the stage. While waiting for opportunity to knock, she stays at a boardinghouse where others with similar aspirations wait. To better their chances, the hopefuls build a talent pool, wherein the person with the best chance for success gets the full support of the others - keeping in mind that when that person makes it to the big time, they will find jobs for all the others in the pool. Our country girl  is chosen, but things turn tricky, for our little lady's fiancé will do all he can to keep her away from the limelight.)

(This musical, directed by Wallace Fox and starring Frances Langford, was PRC's answer to Columbia's Cover Girl. It is now in the public domain.)

(Langford, a star during the Golden Age of Radio, originally trained as an opera singer. In her youth she required a tonsillectomy which changed her soprano range to a rich contralto. She was then forced to change her musical style, taking on the sound of big band. Known as the 'GI Nightingale', she was an American armed forces sweetheart, entertaining troops while touring as part of Bob Hope's USO show. Post-Hollywood, Langford moved into television. She hosted the NBC musical variety program Frances Langford Presents... in 1959 and 1960's The Frances Langford Show.)

Frances Langford

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Good Time Girl

(1948)

"Here comes trouble!"

(A young girl from the slums accidentally kills a cop while driving drunk. In order to escape the law, she hooks up with a pair G.I.s - crooks who are also on the run. Together, the savage trio goes on a crime spree. Will the long of the arm prevail?)

"Destroyed... by 6 men and a she-devil!"

(This British film noir-crime drama was directed by David MacDonald and stars Jean Kent, Dennis Price, Diana Dors, Flora Robson, and Herbert Lom. Originally known as Bad Girl, it was based on Arthur La Bern's 1947 novel Night Darkens the Street.)

(Parts of this film appear to have been ripped from the headlines; inspired by the then-recent, real-life case of Karl Hulten, an American G.I. stationed in Britain during World War II, and his English mistress Betty Jones. Hulten and Jones went on a crime spree after he went AWOL from the army. Hulton was eventually arrested, convicted and subsequently executed for murder.)

(Star of stage and screen, Dame Flora McKenzie Robson was an English actress renowned for her ability to take on demanding dramatic and emotionally intense roles; ranging from queens to murderesses. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work as the Haitian maid in 1945's Saratoga Trunk.)

(The ad campaign and publicity stills for this film bear a striking resemblance to 1947's Smash Up (AKA: A Woman Destroyed) starring Susan Hayward.

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Buccaneer's Girl

(1950)

(A  fun-loving New Orleans entertainer falls for a pirate who has another identity. As a passenger from his latest prize, she stows away on his ship and soon finds herself falling in love with him. Back home in New Orleans, she's introduced to his other persona: someone engaged to the governor's daughter! Sea battles and land rescues follow. Will true love stay the course?)

"Another adventure 'natural' from U-L!

(This Technicolor romantic-adventure was directed by Frederick de Cordova and stars Yvonne De Carlo and Philip Friend and features a great supporting cast: Elsa Lanchester, Peggie Castle, Andrea King, Norman Lloyd, Verna Felton, and Connie Gilchrist.)

(Originally known as Mademoiselle McCoy and the Pirates, it was created with Yvonne De Carlo in mind. Paul Christian was originally cast as the pirate, but replaced with Philip Friend due to his outstanding performance in another Universal film, 1949's Sword in the Desert.)

(Regarding the film, De Carlo said: "What a dilly! I had six knock down, drag out fights in that one. And I was just recuperating from an operation.")

(In her memoirs, Yvonne De Carlo recalled that while touring Argentina, Eva Perón called her to say how much she'd enjoyed De Carlo's movies, particularly Buccaneer's Girl. De Carlo wrote, "It later dawned on me that she could identify with the character of Deborah McCoy, who capitalized on her position as a prostitute to move up into high society.")

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Captive Girl

(1950)

 (Jungle Jim is tasked with finding a young woman who lives in the jungle with her pet tiger. It's thought she may be the daughter of a pair of famous explorers who were searching for the lagoon of the dead. The local natives and their resident witch doctor search for her as well, for they believe she is an evil she-devil who bears bad tidings and ill will. In addition, a gold-hunting explorer is looking for the girl and the fabled lagoon which he believes holds a vast treasure. Fighting wild animals while racing against time and the other seekers, will Jungle Jim find the girl before it is too late?)

(This is the fourth Jungle Jim films in a series produced by Columbia Pictures. Directed by William Berke, it stars famed-swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role and featuring Buster Crabbe and Anita Lhoest.)

(This was Weissmuller's second film with fellow Tarzan and Olympic Gold Medal swimming champion Buster Crabbe. This was also the only feature film appearance of swimming champion and cellist Lhoest.)

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Teenage Bad Girl

(1956)

AKA: My Teenage Daughter

"Born good with a desire to be bad!"

(A frustrated mother can't seem to straighten out her delinquent teenage daughter whose sleazy boyfriend is leading her down the road to ruin - one that dead ends in death. Oh, what's a mother to do?)

 

(Teenage Bad Girl was first released as My Teenage Daughter. This British drama was directed by Herbert Wilcox and stars Anna Neagle, Sylvia Syms and Norman Wooland.)

(Serves as the film debut of Sylvia Syms and the last commercially successful movie of director Wilcox's career. Upon the film's release, Syms said: "I was, as they say, an overnight sensation" but she "had saddled myself with a seven year contract" with Associated British. So, rather stuck in first gear moneywise.)

(Neagle and Wilcox commissioned playwright Felicity Douglas to write a script about the generation gap and was initially known as I Have A Teenaged Daughter.)

(Janette Scott and Shirley Eaton were announced as potential casting choices for the titular role, however, Wilcox cast Sylvia Syms, after seeing her in the television play The Romantic Young Lady. Syms recalled, "I was crashingly ignorant and very young, and Anna and Herbert cosseted me and spoiled me. They made my part bigger as I went along... Their generosity was incredible. They didn't pay me much but it was more than I was paid for my subsequent films.")

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Cat Girl

(1957)

AKA: The Cat Girl

"Cursed with the blood lust of generations!"

(A woman returns to her ancestral home with the promise of a great inheritance. However, what she truly inherits is a family curse and becomes possessed by the spirit of a leopard. Not understanding her situation fully, she seeks the help of of a disbelieving psychiatrist, who does more harm than good.)

"Screaming terror.. to caress me is to tempt death!"

(This unofficial remake of Val Lewton's 1942 film Cat People is a British-American horror production directed by Alfred Shaughnessy. It stars Barbara Shelley, Robert Ayres, and Kay Callard and was  released on a double bill with their 1957's The Amazing Colossal Man.)

(The first of two cat-related films starring Barbara Shelley, the other being 1961's The Shadow of the Cat.)

(A couple of typos slipped past the US distributors of this film. The US poster   credits cinematographer Peter Hennessy as the director while also adding "The" to the title, while the actual film print contained the original British credits and the correct title.)

(Originally titled Wolf Girl, the film was the first British/US co-production by the studio, American International Pictures (AIP). The Brits did all the heavy lifting on this one. AIP only put up $25,000 and came up with a script in exchange for Western Hemisphere rights.)

(Finding the script about a were-cat too silly for words, British director Shaughnessy rewrote it, making it more of a psychological thriller where the afflicted woman becomes more and more convinced that she's transforming into a monster, but, in reality, it's all in her mind. When AIP executives saw the finished film, they were furious and demanded to know "Where is the Cat Monster?" Taking matters into their own hands, they hired a special effects artist to create a cat mask and a set of claws, reshooting key scenes which were spliced into the film's finale for the US version. Unfortunately, most of the extra footage was slightly out of focus, making it look really shoddy, while the special effects artist was disappointed with how little screen time his cat mask ended up with - a few mere seconds.)

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Fall Girl

(1961)

AKA: Lisette

"She was the bait in a shocking plot!"

Where one man used her... a second desired her... and a third possessed her... until one of them destroyed her!"

(While covering the story of a Eurasian beauty visiting the United States as a publicity stunt, a reporter falls hopelessly in love with his subject, leading to danger.) 

"She fled the violent Orient to our savage world..."

(This suspenseful drama was directed by R. John Hugh, stars John Agar and Danish actress Greta Chi, and features a soundtrack by Lex Baxter.)

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Bebo's Girl

(1964)

AKA: La ragazza di Bube

"She was Bebo's girl... but another man made her a woman!"

(A country girl becomes involved with a soldier who fights for the resistance. Blindly in  love, she follows him, standing by him even when he's arrested and sentenced.) 

(This relatively faithful adaptation of Carlo Cassola’s 1960 novel, La ragazza di Bube  is an Italian crime drama directed by Luigi Comencini, and stars Claudia Cardinale and George Chakiris.)

(Claudia Cardinale, crowned "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia", initially turned her back on her film career. After causing a sensation with her first two films, she left the film acting academy she had won a scholarship to attend and returned home, sparking a huge uproar, only to discover that she was pregnant. Deciding to keep the child and to 'fix' the situation, she signed a seven-year exclusive contract with her new manager whom she would later marry. He got her work immediately Although she worked well into her seventh month, Cardinale's pregnancy was kept a tight secret. Tormented by thoughts of suicide, she fell into a state of depression. When she thought she could no longer hide her condition, she asked Cristaldi to terminate her contract. Understanding her predicament, he sent her to London for the birth, far away from the press. He simply explained that she had gone to England to learn English for a film.)

(Her manager drew up a detailed American-style contract covering every little detail of her life, thus depriving her of any possibility of acting on her own behalf. Cardinale explained: "I was no longer master of my own body or thoughts. Even talking with a friend about anything that could make me look different from my public image was risky, as if it had been publicized, I would have been in trouble." For seven years, Cardinale kept her secret, not only from the public but also from her own son, Patrick, who grew up in the family with her parents and sister more or less as a brother. Only when a reporter uncovered the truth, did she confess.)

(She was eventually wooed by Hollywood, however she refused to sign an exclusive contract with any studio and, after three years, turned her back on tinseltown in favor of life in Italy. Cardinale became good friends with Rock Hudson, who proved to be very protective of her. She also became friends with Barbra Streisand, Elliott Gould, and Steve McQueen, though she never felt part of the community.)

(Cardinale would enjoy a long and distinguished career in film, with her most recent film being released in 2020.  In a 2014 interview, she revealed her secret of success: "If you want to practice this craft, you have to have inner strength. Otherwise, you'll lose your idea of who you are. Every film I make entails becoming a different woman. And in front of a camera, no less! But when I'm finished, I'm me again."

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And that's all for now, folks.

Tune in next week.

Same time - same channel!

Good Time Girl - Sophi Tukker feat. Charlie Barker