Beauty for the Asking

I really enjoyed "Beauty for the Asking" but felt a bit disappointed that the ending was a bit weak. Still, it is well worth seeing.

The story begins with Denny (Patric Knowles) dumping his fiance, Jean (Lucille Ball), for a rich woman. Jean is naturally heartbroken but manages to collect herself and begin working on her pet project...a face cream. Soon, she has financial backing and opens up some elite beauty salons...and the money comes pouring in to her. However, her backer turns out to be Denny's rich wife....and Jean STILL is in love with the idiot.

The acting is very good in this one....and Lucille Ball is particularly good in this non-comedic role. The plot is also clever and creative. My only problem is the ending...the new man in Jean's life seemed tacked onto the story and didn't have the necessary foundation to make much sense. Still, it is very good overall.

I enjoyed this movie. The review of it in "The RKO Story" was not very flattering and I was expecting something fairly dire. But I was surprised when I began to view it and felt compelled to watch it through.

While it does have a conventional story line and predictable ending, the acting is believable, the script is believable and the direction moves the story along. I enjoyed the efforts of the Lucille Ball character in getting to the top, and helping her counterpart in beautifying herself. The Lucille Ball role (and Lucille herself) reminded me of Ginger Rogers for some reason. I thought she was good as a woman struggling between heart and mind. I didn't go much for the Donald Woods character however - too sappy except for at the start.

Pleasantly surprised in how modern the story and characters were quite frankly. All the casts were marvelous, but miss lucille ball definitely stands out. She was not only talented comically, as we found out later in the career, but was really good as a dramatic actress as well. And as a matter of factly she was also strinkingly beautiful in her own right. Mister Patrick Knowles was particularly handsome, reminiscent of erroll flynn, montgomery clift, and tyrone power. So happy to have found and watched this classic movie gem on TCM.

Pleasantly surprised in how modern the story and characters were quite frankly. All the casts were marvelous, but miss lucille ball definitely stands out. She was not only talented comically, as we found out later in the career, but was really good as a dramatic actress as well. And as a matter of factly she was also strinkingly beautiful in her own right. Mister Patrick Knowles was particularly handsome, reminiscent of erroll flynn, montgomery clift, and tyrone power. So happy to have found and watched this classic movie gem on TCM.

Beautician Jean Russell (Lucille Ball) gets dumped by Denny Williams who marries wealthy Flora instead. On top of that, she loses her job. She tries to launch her face cream with the help of ad man Jeffrey Martin. They get backing from Flora who doesn't know Jean's previous relationship with Denny. Denny has since become a kept man. Jean wants him to work again and puts him in charge.

This could work if Jean is more obsessive in her love for Denny. Lucille Ball may not have the range. She needs more desperation. She needs to be pathetic in loving such a jerk. She is too self assured to play that. If she has the desperation, she could break down and get saved by Jeffrey. That's the romantic move. That's the melodrama. As it stands, it couldn't reach quite that level. Also Lucille Ball is not using her funny bone. It's nice to see her do something else but this doesn't have much juice.

Thin production courtesy RKO Pictures has a plot-line that Lucille Ball's Lucy Ricardo would positively envy. Ball plays the inventor behind a pricey face cream for high society customers; she makes a fortune with it and draws a former flame back into her life. Relatively low-keyed comedy from the era of the screwball farce, relying on cynical jabs at the beauty business rather than sight-gags. Script was worked on at different times by five writers (Grace Norton, Adele S. Buffington, Edmund L. Hartmann, Doris Anderson, and Paul Jarrico), none of whom provides that much-needed hilarious set-piece. Some leisurely laughs along the way, mostly forgettable. Lucy-addicts will raise the rating a notch. ** from ****