Sadly Over-hyped

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Seeing this film's title might bring to mind all those unfunny western spoofs which used to show up once in a while. But here they hit the bull's eye. This film is great fun from beginning to end. It starts with a young Freddie (Betty Grable) being taught how to shoot by her grandfather. She becomes a dead shot. Next she is singing in a saloon a nice melody "Every Time I Meet You". Problem is, she is carrying a gun with the intention of getting even with her boyfriend Blackie (Cesar Romero) who is betraying her. She shoots the wrong person and has to flee the town. She becomes a school teacher and has the most terrible pair of pupils, the Basserman Boys. Those boys are just as terrible as they are funny. There is a final shootout where at a certain point there is no reason for fighting. I always thought Preston Sturges was ahead of his times, but if you want to have fun with a great comedy, the time is perfect now.

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

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.

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.