The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
theatrical poster
Directed byPreston Sturges
Written byEarl Felton (story)
Preston Sturges
Produced byPreston Sturges
StarringBetty Grable
CinematographyHarry Jackson
Edited byRobert Fritch
Music byCyril J. Mockridge
Distributed byTwentieth-Century Fox
Release dates
  • May 27, 1949 (1949-05-27) (New York City/Los Angeles)
  • June 1949 (1949-06) (U.S.)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,192,000[1]
Box office$2,889,000 (US)

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is a 1949 romantic comedy Western film starring Betty Grable and featuring Cesar Romero and Rudy Vallee. It was directed by Preston Sturges and written by him based on a story by Earl Felton.

The film, Sturges' first Technicolor production, was not well received at the time it was released, and was generally conceded to be a disaster – even Betty Grable bad-mouthed it – but its reputation has improved somewhat over time, though it is not considered to be in the same league as the intelligent comedies Sturges made at Paramount Pictures for which he is known.[2][3]

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend would turn out to be the last American film on which Sturges would work – although he would receive credit for films that were remakes or adaptations of his earlier films. Sturges directed only one more film in his life, the 1955 French comedy Les carnets du Major Thompson (released in the U.S. as The French, They Are a Funny Race).[4]

  1. ^ James Curtis, Between Flops: A Biography of Preston Sturges, Limelight, 1984 p238
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference amg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Allmovie Review
  4. ^ TCM Notes