''The Bamboo Blonde'' is a 1946 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

directed by

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

based on an original story "Chicago Lulu" by Wayne Whittaker. A low budget production, it stars singer

Frances Langford Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades. She was known as the "GI Nightinga ...

in the title role,

Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...

– from TV's ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' – and

Russell Wade Russell Wade (June 22, 1917 – December 9, 2006) was an American actor. Life and career Russell Wade was born on June 21, 1917, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He signed an RKO contract in 1942. Having appeared in 80 films, his last one was ' ...

, usually a bit player. As an RKO star, Langford was famous for her role in entertaining the troops in World War II, and the film features a number of songs that her character sings at a nightclub and war bond rallies across the nation.

Plot

A reporter is interviewing businessman Eddie Clark (

) on the backstory behind his conglomerate of companies branded the alluring "Bamboo Blonde". During World War II, young Captain Patrick Ransom, Jr. (

), an experienced private recreational pilot, has just been commissioned and given command of a

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

, bomber. Seeking to meet up with his veteran aircrew for the first time before shipping out together the next morning to the Pacific, he is first ditched by the unimpressed and wily bunch, which misdirects him to a ''declasse'' New York nightclub, then snubbed by his elitist fiancée, socialite Eileen Sawyer (

Jane Greer Jane Greer (born Bettejane Greer; September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001) was an American film and television actress best known for her role as ''femme fatale'' Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir '' Out of the Past''. In 2009, ''The Guardian'' ...

), who refuses to accompany him there. Determined to meet up with his new aircrew, he persists on his own, only to cluelessly end up at a nightspot owned by Clark that is out-of-bounds to military personnel. Before he realizes this, or is apprehended by M.P.s, Ransom sees beautiful blonde singer Louise Anderson (

). Overwhelmed, he impetuously falls in love her. When he later passionately kisses the curvy torch singer goodbye his crew mistakenly imagines he's a playboy and dubs him the Air Corps' greatest ''wolf''. Out in the Pacific, Ransom's plane and crew run into a prolonged stretch of bad luck. Trying to shake it, one of the them paints a risque image of the singer on the nose of their bomber. At first, both embarrassed and put off, Captain Ransom relents and allows what becomes dubbed "the Bamboo Blonde" to stay. The plane and crew go on to become famous, without Ransom ever letting on that the blonde bombshell is not "his girl". Seeking to capitalize on their fame, the Air Corps decides to bring the "Bamboo Blonde" and its crew back home to front a national

war bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

drive. Clark immediately dreams up ways to exploit his singer's connection to the famous bomber. While all of America assumes the couple has been reunited stateside, things are actually pretty touch-and-go with the couple, as each is coming from a different place and struggling to find their way. Their magnetic attraction to one-another merely complicates things at every turn. With the pair finally back in New York for a big finale, Eileen schemes a way to break them up, under the guise of throwing a $100,000 a ticket bond rally gala. Only then does Louise discover that rather than being the shy "farmboy" he had presented himself as being (while seeking to downplay to both her and his crew that he was instead a scion to a substantial Pennsylvania fortune) he is of the same social set as Eileen. Convinced her romance with Ransom is just a lark on his part, and determined to ruin any possibility of a match together, she gives her full vampy nighclub performance to the stuffy

old money Old money is "the inherited wealth of established upper-class families (i.e. gentry, patriciate)" or "a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited wealth". The term typically describes a social class of the rich who have been able t ...

crowd. In spite of a surprisingly enthusiastic reception - certainly by the men in the crowd, young and old alike - she flees to the airport to put as many miles as she can between her and her nonplussed beau. When all commercial flights are grounded due to fog, she relents when Ransom offers to fly her instead. Deceiving her, he lands on the grounds of the family estate, where Louise is warmly embraced by Ransom's open-armed parents. After some humbling miscues on Ransom's part, the lovebirds' future together is finally assured.

Cast

as Louise Anderson *

as Eddie Clark *

as Patrick Ransom, Jr. *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

as Montana Jones * Richard Martin as Jim Wilson *

as Eileen Sawyer *

Glen Vernon Glen Vernon (born Glenn Vernon; October 27, 1923 – October 27, 1999) was an American actor. Glenn Vernon hailed from Fall River, Massachusetts, and pursued a dramatic career upon graduation from high school. He used his given name of Glenn Ver ...

as Shorty Parker *

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

as Patrick Ransom, Sr. *

Regina Wallace Regina Wallace (September 1, 1886 – February 13, 1978) was an American film and theatre actress. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Wallace began her career in 1913, performing in New York, where she appeared in the Broadway play ''A Good Little De ...

as Mrs. Julie Ransom *

Jean Brooks Jean Brooks (born Ruby Matilda Kelly; December 23, 1915November 25, 1963) was an American film actress and singer who appeared in over thirty films. Though she never achieved major stardom in Hollywood, she had several prominent roles in the ea ...

as Marsha *

Tom Noonan Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Francis Dolarhyde in '' Manhunter'' (1986), Frankenstein's Monster in ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), Cain in '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), T ...

as Art Department *

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virg ...

as Mom *

Jason Robards, Sr. Jason Nelson Robards (December 31, 1892 – April 4, 1963) was an American stage and screen actor, and the father of Oscar-winning actor Jason Robards Jr. Robards appeared in many films, initially as a leading man, then in character roles an ...

as American officer

Background

In May 1943, RKO originally advertised that a countrywide series of contests would be used to find an "unknown" to portray ''The Bamboo Blonde'' in a future romantic comedy feature.Staff (May 3, 1943
"'The Bamboo Blonde' on RKO Schedule"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Retrieved: July 2, 2011. Anthony Mann, on his 11th film as a director, is better known for later working with

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

on many films (primarily Westerns), as well as for making epics in his later career. This early film is typical of a period when Mann accepted any and all assignments in a variety of genres.

Songs

Songs in the film were all written by Mort Greene and Lew Pollack, and sung by Frances Langford. * "I'm Good for Nothing but Love" * "Dreaming out Loud" * "Moonlight over the Islands", Langford with chorus * "Right Along about Evening" * "Right Along about Evening" (reprise), Langford with Paul Harvey, Ralph Edwards, Iris Adrian and Regina Wallace

Legacy

Scenes from ''The Bamboo Blonde'' later appeared in an excerpted form in ''Make Mine Laughs'' (1949), starring

Joan Davis Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1907 – May 22, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy ''I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful earl ...

Dennis Day Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was of Irish descent. Early life Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, New York City, the ...

and

Ray Bolger Raymond Wallace Bolger (January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian and stage performer (particularly musical theatre) who started in the silent-film era. Bolger was a major Broadway performer in ...

. The new picture was a filmed variety show, using old material from RKO and some new scenes. Mainly due to its connection with Mann, the ''The Bamboo Blonde'' was screened at the "B Musicals Film Festival" in 2011 at

Film Forum Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Kare ...

in Manhattan, New York City.Staff (April 2011
"B Musicals at Film Forum in New York City"
''

'' Retrieved: July 1, 2011

References

Notes Bibliography * Cooke, Mervyn. ''A History of Film Music''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008. . * Dolan Edward F. Jr. ''Hollywood Goes to War''. London: Bison Books, 1985. . * Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * Harwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies". ''The Making of the Great Aviation Films'', General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bamboo Blonde, The 1946 films American aviation films American war films Films about music and musicians Films about the United States Army Air Forces Films directed by Anthony Mann Films set in New York City Films set in the 1940s Pacific War films RKO Pictures films American World War II films 1946 war films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films