The Girl from Jones Beach

One of the story lines in "The Girl From Jones Beach" asks, Should a school teacher appear in public in a swim suit?

My answer is, "Definitely -- if she looks like Virginia Mayo."

The first story line is quite clever: A Vargas-like illustrator creates his "girl" from parts of a dozen different models.

The second line is about the beautiful young woman wanting to be known for her mind.

Together the three make for some mild fun, well played by a top-line cast that includes some great veterans: Lois Blake, still looking good after some 35 years of film-making; Henry Travers, the ultimate avuncular judge; and such stalwarts as Buddy Roosevelt and Guy Wilkerson, best known for their Western roles. Be sure to look for the great Vernon Dent.

Ronald Reagan and Mayo are pros, and do more than look good, although they do that, and do it well. Eddie Bracken needed a slightly firmer directorial hand, but he's always fun. Dona Drake for some reason had used other names earlier, but she is adorable and vivacious and, judging by this role, should have had a great career.

Not a great or classic film, "The Girl From Jones Beach" is still a lot of fun.

No one will ever say that The Girl from Jones Beach is any kind of masterpiece film, but it did provide Ronald Reagan one of the few opportunities to demonstrate a flair for comedy.

Reagan is an artist whose subject matter is beautiful women. He's in fact put together quite a collection of photographs of women who have the most beautiful body part, subject A: best hips, subject B: best ankles, etc. Put them all together with their best features showing and you have the perfect woman.

One day Reagan and pal Eddie Bracken spot Virginia Mayo in a bathing suit on Jones Beach. Here's where some comparisons to the Warner Brothers Marion Davies film Page Miss Glory can be made. She also is a walking composite photograph.

Of course Mayo is a school teacher who's not particularly interested in having a career exposing her body to the leering male population. I think you can figure out the rest of this.

Another reviewer said that this would be interesting as a horror film remake. Actually there was such a film made that starred Lilli Palmer, The House That Dripped Blood. Same premise about body parts.

Reagan does show good comedic abilities. He tries to woo Mayo by pretending to be an immigrant taking a night school class she runs for prospective citizenship applicants. His mittel-europa accent that he puts on is no worse than Rock Hudson's Texan speech in Pillow Talk.

It looked like the cast was having a good time filming this thing and the results are positive.

A very pleasant, harmless way to pass a little time. Even in b&w Virginia Mayo photographs like a dream, and she handles very well the role of a beautiful school teacher who wants to be appreciated for her mind. This is one of Reagan's most ingratiating performances as well, with Donna Drake and Eddie Bracken making perfect comic second leads. And you also get a whole slug of terrific supporting and character actors who are always a pleasure to see: Paul Harvey, Lloyd Corrigan, Florence Bates, Henry Travers, etc. Former silent star Lois Wilson (still a beauty) plays Mayo's mother, who complains that her daughter is more conservative than SHE was at daughter's age.

If you demand that every movie be "high art" then this is not for you. If you enjoy watching terrific middle-of-the-road Hollywood fare of the era, then go for it!

This film was a pleasant diversion one afternoon that I only watched cuz it had Ronald Reagan in it. Hey, he was president after all!

The film was actually pretty boring with no real laughs in it, but it did get me thinking.

First off, I it was kind of sexist, cuz it's about a photographer who has to put together the "perfect girl" with the photographed body parts of several other girls. Apparently photo manipulation was really, really easy before computers, because this "girl" became an immediate pin-up hit. I guess people of the 40s can overlook the varying skin-tones or the Frankenstein-like super-imposing lines that would've appeared between the "sexy" body parts. But hey, it's a comedy, anything goes!

Anyway, as "the girl" becomes more of a hit, Ronnie and his cohort have to dodge the constant barrage of attention from the original 12 models because they want to be just like "the girl." That's what makes the movie so sexist, these girls try to be something they can't be -- perfect.

It's not a terribly good message, although as a comedy it works well enough and doesn't have the sinister aspects it could have.

It would be interesting to see a remake. It's just as relevant today, thanks to the Internet/computer photo manipulation aspect. And we could even see a little screwball comedy, which the original didn't have, as all the models try to latch on to the photographer who becomes "hot" thanks to photo manipulations that they helped to create.

Or the remake could be a horror film. Now that would be really sinister.

7/9/00

Ronald Reagan is a "Glamour Girl" painter, famous for his paintings of the sexy "Randolph Girl". When his pal Eddie Bracken wants to meet her, Mr. Reagan reveals she's actually a composite of twelve beautiful women. One day, at the Beach, Mr. Bracken spots Virginia Mayo in a bathing suit - Ms. Mayo is their "Dream Girl" come true! Alas, Mayo is an prim and proper schoolteacher type!

It's a very slight film; but, it has a very good message, if you can stay with it until the end. You may get a kick out of: Reagan using an unplugged electric razor on what looks like a clean shaved face, nobody answering the question, "How many 'Ms' are in the word Mississippi?" and, Reagan and Mayo reciting Shakespeare. With "Beach" in the title and Virginia Mayo in the credits, you know what you're getting with "The Girl from Jones Beach" - ankles, legs, knees, torso… but, stay calm, it's a 1949 film.

**** The Girl from Jones Beach (1949) Peter Godfrey ~ Ronald Reagan, Virginia Mayo, Eddie Bracken