Beauty for the Asking

It starts like a formulaic 30s romance, but the female leads (Ball, Inescort, Courtney) play surprisingly savvy - though definitely fallible - women.

The male leads play their roles quite well, Patrick Knowles especially, but it's Ball and Inescort, and their relationship, that really stand out and make this movie well worth watching.

Even the beauty salon theme feels more honest and better thought-out than what you'd expect from a Depression-era rags-to-riches tale. Ball's character even emphasizes that good health is the key to beauty.

FWIW, I watched this (thank you, TCM) with someone who almost never has patience for old films, and she was hooked after about 20 minutes.

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.

Just caught the last 45 minutes of this unexpectedly well-written and performed movie gem. Excellent melding of a sharpe, no-nonsense script with sharp, no-nonsense acting on Miss Ball's part. Nice underlying feminist message of two women rivals becoming friends after experiencing betrayal by the same man...very protocol-feminist.

I really enjoyed this movie. At the beginning, I thought this movie would be predictable and formulaic, but it surprised me, especially at the end and I loved the ending.

Flora was my favorite character by far. I was sympathetic toward her at the beginning and really enjoyed seeing her transformation. And it was so fun to see Frieda Inescort play a character so different from the usual ice queen roles I've seen her play.

Lucille Ball was pretty and good in her role, but nothing to write home about. Patrick Knowles was good in his role as a character who doesn't realize what a huge jerk he is.

But, Inescort shines in her role as Flora. She is what made this movie good and different.

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.