Leggy Betty Grable is saloon singer “Freddie” Jones and the beautiful blonde of the title.
She’s as adept with a six-shooter as she is at turning men’s heads, but both skills land her in trouble.
When she misses her mark, her bullets somehow always find the rear end of Bashful Bend’s honorable Judge O’Toole.
After one drilling too many, O’Toole puts a price on Freddie’s head.
So she flees to Snake City, poses as a missing school teacher named Hilda Swandumper and flirts with gold mine owner Charles Hingleman (Rudy Vallee) until her sharp shooting gives away her real identity.
Cesar Romero plays Blackie, the handsome galoot who keeps making “Freddie” jealous and follows her to Snake City, threatening to reveal her real identity if she doesn’t leave with him.
Betty Grable as Freddie Jones and her friend Conchita (Olga San Juan) meeting mine owner Charles Hingleman upon their arrival in Snake City in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Cesar Romero as Blackie Jobero, the man who’s flirting keeps stirring Freddie’s jealousy in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Review:
A playful farce that seems so downright silly at times and the comedy so forced that it’s a waste of time. The Basserman boys, in particular, are annoying in their supposedly comic routines.
The film was horribly received when it was released in 1949 with the promo tagline: “She had the biggest Six Shooters in the West.” There are a couple of delightful moments, like the opening when grandpa is teaching young “Freddie” how to use a six-shooter when all she wants to do it play with dolls.
Another saving grace: A delightful performance by Olga San Juan in one of her last films. When Freddie flees to Snake City, her fellow dancer Conchita is forced to assume the identity of Freddie’s Indian maid, much to her dismay. Olga was married to actor Edmond O’Brien.
Porter Hall as Judge Alfalfa J. O’Toole, promising harsh punishment for the woman who shot him in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Margaret Hamilton of Wicked Witch fame as Mrs. O’Toole, wondering what her husband is doing in a bed above the saloon in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Directed by:
Preston Sturges
Cast:
Betty Grable … “Freddie” Jones
Cesar Romero … Blackie
Rudy Vallee … Charles Hingleman
Olga San Juan … Conchita
Porter Hall … Judge O’Toole
Hugh Herbert … Doctor
Al Bridge … Sheriff
El Brendel … Mr. Jorgensen
Sterling Holloway … Basserman brother
Dan Jackson … Basserman brother
Emory Parnell … Mr. Hingleman
Pati Behrs … Roulette
Runtime: 77 min.
Title tune: The Beautiful Blonde of Bashful Bend
Richard Hale as Gus Basserman, vowing vengeance for his sons in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Sterling Holloway and Danny Jackson as the Basserman boys, Snake City troublemakers in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Memorable lines:
“Freddie” Jones, of a judge she’s accused of shooting: “Maybe he doesn’t remember my name, Ambrose. Maybe he forgot it in the excitement.”
Ambrose: “Remember your name? In letters of fire, he remembers your name. In letters of fire nine feet high.”
“Freddie” Jones: “You like to drink in class, huh?”
Brother #1: “What’s the difference?”
“Freddie”: “Suppose I told you I didn’t like it.”
Brother #2: “Other teachers told us they didn’t like it, too.”
“Freddie,” loading her gun: “But you didn’t care what the other teachers said?”
Brother #1: “That’s right.”
“Freddie”: “You’re going to care what this teacher says.”
Brother #2: “Is that so?”
“Freddie”: “Or this little teacher is going to blow your little head off.”
Blackie: “What I can’t figure is how you’re getting by as the mighty school marm. You can’t spell cat.”
“Freddie” Jones: “I can spell louse.”
“Freddie” Jones, wondering about Blackie’s interest in the reward on her head: “You’d sell your grandmother for $40.”
Blackie: “That’s an entirely different matter. She’s very old and not at all well preserved. You, on the other hand, are the roundest, daintiest, the most fragrant and the most irresistible little whisk that ever flew out of a cage … even though you have the mind of a child of 3 and the disposition of a tarantula.”
Al Bridge as Sheriff Ambrose, Betty Grabel as Freddie Jones and Chris-Pin Marin at bartender Joe, about to face the judge in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Betty Grable as Freddie Jones, showing off her shooting skills while the Basserman boys and Mr. Jorgensen look on in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Olga San Juan as Conchita, with a wounded judge in her bed, his wife standing by and the friend who shot him all together in her room in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Rudy Valle as Charles Hingleman reassuring school teacher Freddie Jones (Betty Grable) in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Cesar Romero as Blackie with Pati Behrs as Roulette, the gal who throws Freddie into a fit of jealousy in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
El Brendel as Mr. Jorgensen, the man who comes to realize Freddie Jones isn’t the gun-shy school teacher she’s pretending to be in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Emory Parnell as Julius HIngleman, Charlie’s dad, at odds with Gus Basserman again in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Hugh Herbert as the doctor, taking a closer look to make sure it was a bullet he plucked from the judge in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Marie Windsor as LaBelle Bergere, the latest beauty to grace Blackie’s arm in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Olga San Juan as Conchita, the best friend who keeps getting drawn into Freddie Jones’ antics in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Russell Simpson as grandpa, teaching young Freddie how to handle a six-gun in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Mary Monica McDonald as young Freddie, practicing her six-gun skills with her grandpa in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Betty Grable as Freddie jones, flirting to get her way with Sheriff Ambrose (Al Bridge) in The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
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