The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend

Sporting the mildly suggestive tagline “she had the biggest six-shooters in the West,” director Preston Sturges's 1949 classic is not one of the comic master's best, but it's still fitfully entertaining. Betty Grable is the titular character, a saloon singer/dancer named Freddie who accidentally puts a slug into the buttocks of the local judge while trying to plug her possibly two-timing boyfriend (Cesar Romero). Pleading her case before the judge in a hotel room, the situation goes south when boyfriend and female companion show up—resulting in a second plug to the justice's butt cheeks and a quick escape by Freddie. Arriving in Bashful Bend disguised as a schoolteacher, Freddie tries to keep a low profile while garnering the attention of a local mine owner (Rudy Vallee). Eventually, however, all of the interested parties will converge on the isolated burg, where they engage in an extended (and quite funny) shootout. Not as snappy as Sturges's The Palm Beach Story, The Lady Eve, or Sullivan's Travels, this is a good-natured farce that will still appeal to fans of classic Hollywood, although viewers should be warned that there are some tiresome jokes aimed at Native Americans. A strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)