Oddball Films presents The Best (And Worst) of the Blonde Bombshells, a program celebrating our favorite smoldering, cheeky, entertaining blondes from the Golden Age of Hollywood. With rare, bizarre and hilarious clips, excerpts, musical numbers and burlesque performances, you'll be sure to have more fun with these blondes! The Art of Film: The Love Goddesses (1965) chronicles the rise of the woman as a cinematic sex symbol with clips and commentary about our favorite blondes and some noteworthy brunettes that made the big screen sizzle. There's a double-dose of of the funny and fabulous Mae West, in the marvelous I'm No Angel (1933) where she plays a bold and brassy lion-tamer at the Circus (even putting her head inside a lion's mouth!) and small screen oddity Mae West Meets Mister Ed (1964) in which Mae West, playing herself, asks Wilbur to come on up and redesign her stables sometime. Sultry German vixen Marlene Dietrich belts out a song before brawling with the boys in a rowdy saloon in an action-packed excerpt from Destry Rides Again (1939). Jayne Mansfield knocks Mickey Rooney speechless at the 1958 Golden Globe Awards in a hilarious vintage Kinetoscope recording. Zsa Zsa Gabor cashes in on the Workout Tape craze and does pushups on half-naked beefcakes in It's Simple Darling! (1993). We've also got burlesque blondes including The Fabulous Cat Girl (1954), several swinging sixties Scopitones, the tantalizing trailer for The Seven Year Itch, plus Vintage Hair Commercials and so much more!
Date: Friday, December 7th, 2012 at 8:00pm
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating, RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
Destry Rides Again (B+W, 1939, excerpt)
Marlene Dietrich and Jimmy Stewart star in this classic western. Dietrich is Frenchy, a lovely saloon gal with a cheeky dulcimer voice, while Stewart plays the titular role, a no-nonsense deputy with an eye for justice and an itch trigger-finger. After Frenchy's performance of "You've Got That Look," a brawl ensues, bringing both lawman and lusty lady into the fray.
I'm No Angel (B+W, 1933)
Mae West shines with all her sass and showmanship in this condensed version ofI’m No Angel, in which she plays a sideshow beauty that hits it big and finds fame as Tira: The Incomparable, a Circus Performer that rides elephants and tames lions with a whip and a gun. Always saucy, Mae West truly is “incomparable”, and to prove it, she even wrote the film.
Mae West Meets Mr. Ed (B+W, 1964)The 1960s were a hard time for many of the great stars of the 1930s and 40s. Joan Crawford made a turn towards schlocky horror, and Mae West headed for the horse stables of Television. In this bizarre episode of the classic TV program, Mae West sweeps into town and requests that Wilbur redesign her horse stable, with all the luxury fit for a Hollywood Queen. Ed overhears the conversation and begins to resent his own surroundings, shabby by comparison, but soon realizes pampering isn't what it's all cracked up to be.
The Love Goddesses (1965)
This film explores the role of women in Western filmmaking, from the silent era up through the 1960s, from Lillian Gish to Brigitte Bardot with clips, photos and commentary. We explore the early silent films that set the tone for roles that women were expected to play. Early films contained the Good Girl (Heroine) or the Vamp. The Vamp could be very sexual because the Heroine was void of sexual play. As soon as WWI came around, a different woman emerged. She was stronger and could wear more varieties of dress, appearing queen-like on screen. Moral attitudes eventually relaxed a bit in the early 1930’s. Busby Berkeley films accentuated the female form and played on female stereotypes. Comedy began to take center stage with Mae West as the quintessential sexy comedienne.
Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Rooney at the 1958 Golden Globe Awards (B+W)
In this hilarious bit from the Golden Globes, Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Rooney appear on stage together to deliver an award. What results is every short man's dream, and a joke that keeps on giving. Mansfield, with a genius-level IQ, was pigeon-holed as a ditz from her first picture, and she was never able to shake that image. This was no exception, but you can also see how brilliant the timing is on this "dumb" blonde.
Hollywood Steps Out (Color, 1934)
This bizarre Merrie Melodies cartoon features caricatures of a who's who of Hollywood big wigs all stopping to ogle an avatar of Blonde Burlesque megastar Sally Rand doing her famous Bubble Dance.
The Fabulous Cat Girl (B+W, 1950s)
A sexy blonde gets her frisky feline on in this offbeat burlesque number.
Plus! Vintage 1960s Swinging Musical Scopitones, the sizzling trailer for Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch and a selection of hair commercials highlighting the blonde experience!