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

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's Go To The Movies

That Girl! Edition, Part IX

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

Whether they are everybody's girl or joining the circus, these girls have got it going on... 

Yes, you know the ones!

The ones 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?

So hold on to your top hat... 

Let's pop some corn, grab a seat on the aisle and marvel at these golden ladies of the silver screen.

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Everybody's Girl 

(1918)

(A little milliner shares a room on Brick Dust Row with a fellow worker. Because the millionaire owner of the row has sublet all the parlors the girls have to receive their gentleman callers in a local park. There, she meets a young man and the two fall in love. However, once he discovers her situation, he presumes her promiscuous and tells her, in no uncertain terms, that he could never marry such a woman. This takes place while on an excursion boat which catches fire. Another young man, a gun-toting row resident, steps up and saves them both. When the young man learns that the girl's suiter will not marry the milliner because of her situation, he takes the young man to visit the millionaire who owns the row and shows the young suiter that such greed is at the root of the girl's situation. His eyes now open, the suiter, who happens to be a man of means, marries the girl and, for her wedding present, transforms the row into a suitable place to live.)

Alice Joyce

(This silent comedy/drama was directed by Tom Terriss and stars Alice Joyce, May Hopkins, and Walter McGrail.)

(Joyce was known as "The Madonna of the Screen" for her striking features and presence.)

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Grand Old Girl

(1935)

(A veteran school teacher has been trying to close down a business which runs a crooked gambling operation in the back room. She uses the owner's loaded dice to beat him at his own game. Using her winnings, she opens a respectable business, a place for her students to gather. Unfortunately, a fight between students breaks out, causing her business to close. In turn, the school board fires the teacher from her position as principal of the local school. When the owner of the gambling operation learns of this, at first he is pleased, but changes his tune once he learns that the woman has lost her pension. He fires off a telegram to an old friend of his, who just happens to the President of the United States. The president decides to visit the town in order to honor the school teacher's year's of dedication and hard work.)

(Adapted from a story by Wanda Tuchock, this drama was directed by John Robertson and stars May Robson, Mary Carlisle, Fred MacMurray, and Alan Hale.)

(Originally titled, A Portrait of Laura Bayles,  this film was dedicated to the "school teachers of America", and RKO developed a separate advertising strategy targeting this fact, completely separate from their usual marketing program.)

Fred McMurray and Mary Carlisle

(This film served as Fred McMurray's screen debut.)

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Circus Girl

(1937)

(A young woman, a trapeze artist marries into an established family aerial-act. Her husband immediately become jealous of a fellow trapeze artist whom he believes has eyes for his young wife. The husband sets into motion a plot to kill his perceived rival by creating a series of staged accidents - including a tiger mauling that goes awry, resulting in the death of another popular circus-performer.)

(This action/drama was directed by John H. Auer and stars June Travis, Robert Livingston, Donald Cook, Betty Compson, Charles Murray and Lucille Osborne.)

June Travis and Robert Livingston

(Members of the famed Escalante Family performed all the aerial stunts for the three leads.)

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Night Club Girl

(1945)

(A pair of show biz wannabes strut their stuff at a fancy night club and bomb big time. They watch and learn as other acts go on and succeed, designing their own big comeback.)

(This comedy was directed by Edward F. Cline and stars Vivian Austin, Edward Norris, Maxie Rosenbloom, Minna Gombell, Judy Clark and Bill Dunn.)  

 (Former Three Stooges star, Fred Sanborn makes his final film appearance, doing his famous xylophone routine which he also did in his first move, 1930's Soup To Nuts. Also noteworthy, the normally-mute actor actually speaks in this one.)

Minna Gombell

(This was only one of five films Gombell would appear in during 1945. The actress enjoyed a fruitful career on both stage and screen - starring in silent films and transitioning to talkies with ease. Featured in over 50 films, she married four times. Her first marriage lasted less than a year. Her second, to a publicist who was arrested for fraud, also ended after a year. Her fourth marriage was to a producer/writer who was actually married to another woman and remained a bigamist until his death in 1966.)

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Everybody's Girl

(1950)

(A burlesque show, complete with harem dances, bumps & grinds, nudist jokes, skits, and sketches. Lots of musical comedy with cartwheels and handstands galore.)

(This feature was directed by Lillian Hunt and stars burlesque performers Gay Dawn, Mary Andes, and Sylvia 'Sugar' Kane.)

Gay Dawn

(This is an actual burlesque show, filmed in 1950 at the Follies Theater at Third and Main in Los Angeles. It's exactly what you would have seen if you'd been sitting in the theater. There's no audience present and the comedians featured keep the jokes relatively clean. Skits include  one about a man who inhabits a world only he can see, one about an anti-nudist society, a school daze routine, and one called "Does he have the guitar?" with Harry Arne at his baggy-pants best. 'Guitar' has a second meaning (wink, wink) and there are lots of double-entendres.)

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Geisha Girl

(1952)

(An evil scientist in Japan develops small explosive pills that are more powerful than nuclear weapons. He and his gang intend to seize control of the world, but the pills accidentally fall into the hands of two not-very-bright American GIs. Soon the GIs find themselves being chased by the scientist and his gang, and the Japanese secret police! With the help of an airline stewardess and a crazy hypnotist-magician, the duo manages to put an end to the evil scientist's devious plan.)

(This adventure/comedy was directed and produced by George Breakston and C. Ray Stahl, and stars Steve Forrest, Martha Hyer, Tetsu Nakamura, Heihachirō Ōkawa, and Dekao Yokoo.)

(Shot entirely in Tokyo, Japan, the film was created to educate American viewers about such Japanese traditions as Kabuki theater, Buddhist religious ceremonies, and geisha houses. Despite the filmmaker's intentions, the Japanese people in the film are relegated to roles which are now viewed as culturally insensitive clichés.)

Martha Hyer

 (Hyer, who did not play a main role in the film, got the top billing. She would eventually be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work in 1958's Some Came Running. Enjoying a lengthy and varied career, the actress appeared in films opposite Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Abbott & Costello, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Wyman, Doris Day, Frances Farmer, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Bob Hope, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton and many more.)

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Circus Girl

(1954)

(A Maharajah, entranced by the beauty of a Swedish circus performer, kidnaps her and takes her to his palace where she wakes having feverish dreams about the terrible events in her past.)

(This adventure/drama was directed by Viet Harlan and stars Kristina Söderbaum, Willy Birgel and Adrian Hoven.)

Kristina Söderbaum

(Söderbaum was a Swedish-born German film actress, producer, and photographer. She performed in Nazi-era films made by the German state-controlled production company, UFA. It was said she "epitomized the model Aryan woman." From 1935-1945, she starred in ten films for director Veit Harlan, whom she married in 1939. Post-war, Söderbaum was often heckled off the stage and even had rotten vegetables thrown at her. She frequently expressed regret for her roles in anti-Semitic films. After a time, her husband was allowed to direct films once more and the two made a series of films together until his death in 1964. By 1974, she'd transformed herself into a much sought after fashion photographer.)

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Modern Girl

(1961)

(A jewelry salesman sends his daughter for higher education against his orthodox wife's wishes. During a parade, the girl is awarded a gold medal as best girl cadet. A handsome reporter covering the event becomes instantly smitten with her beauty. He, with the help of his best friend, tries in vain to win the girl's attention. Meanwhile, the girl's brother refuses to marry his girlfriend because she is too old-fashioned. Following in his sister's footsteps, the girlfriend transforms herself into a modern girl and the brother finds himself head over heals in love with her. In addition, the youngest sibling finds herself lost in the fast-paced, dizzy world of the idle rich. Jewelry goes missing and youngest soon finds herself accused - not only of theft, but also... murder!)

(This comedy/drama was directed by R. Bhattachary and stars Pradeep Kumar, Sayeeda Khan, and Smriti Biswas.)

Jagdish Raj Khurana

(The film features Jagdish Raj Khurana, the Bollywood actor who holds a Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor; he played the role of a police inspector in 144 films.)

Soldier's Girl

(1967)

(A young Neapolitan soldier meets a girl and falls madly in love with her. The two plan to get married, however the soldier dies of indigestion before their wedding day. Grieving heavily, the young woman entertains the advances of many a suiter. But each time she grows close to another, the spirit of her former beloved reveals himself, unravelling each affair.) 

 

(This comedy/drama is considered by film critics to be the penultimate film directed by Alessandro Blasetti . Taken from the book written by Edoardo Anton, it stars Graziella Granata, Antonio Casagrande, and Tony Renis.)

Graziella Granata

 (Granata is an Italian retired film and stage actress who obtained a modicum of success thanks to a film contract with Angelo Rizzoli's film production company. She worked with, among others, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, Mario Camerini, Luigi Comencini and especially Alessandro Blasetti, who provided her with her most memorable roles, including this film which she shared a David di Donatello Award for Best Actress with Silvana Mangano. For the fans of horror films, she will always be remembered as the beautiful victim of a vampire in the 1962's Slaughter Of The Vampires. At the dawn of the 70's, after appearing in a number of Spaghetti Westerns and Italian Crime Films, Granata dedicated herself to the theater and subsequently retired altogether.) 

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Ciné-girl

(1969)

(A separation from reality occurs when a young actress, hired by thieving film director, finds her life story displayed on the screen, but being acted out by someone else.) 

 

(This French film was directed by Francis Leroi and stars Juliet Berto, Christine Guého, and, the director, Francis Leroi.)

Juliet Berto

 (Berto was a French actress, director and screenwriter. She first appeared in Jean-Luc Godard's Two or Three Things I Know About Her, and would go on to appear in many of Godard's subsequent films, including La Chinoise, Week End, Le Gai Savoir, and Vladimir et Rosa. She later became a muse for the French New Wave director Jacques Rivette, starring in Out 1 and Celine and Julie Go Boating. In the 1980's she became a screenwriter and film director. Her 1983 film, Cap Canaille, was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival and in 1987, she served as a member of the jury at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. Berto died of breast cancer six days before her 43rd birthday.)

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And that's all for now.

Tune in next week.

Same time, same channel.

Everybody's Girl - Debra Monk

from the musical Steel Pier