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Beauty for the Asking
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Wikipedia article
'Beauty for the Asking' is a 1939 film drama produced by RKO Pictures, and starring Lucille Ball and Patric Knowles.
It tells the story of Jean Russell (Ball), a beautician who is jilted by her boyfriend (Knowles) so he can marry an older but wealthy woman. Russell invents a new facial cream, and with the financial backing of her former boyfriend's wife (Frieda Inescort), starts a business that makes her a millionaire.
Reception
RKO's pre-release publicity claimed that the film was to be an "expos of the beauty racket" but reviewers of the day concluded that it was a standard "romantic love triangle".Jewell and Harbin, p. 128
Recently Leonard Maltin has written favorably of the film, suggesting that the film offered an unusual feminist viewpoint for its time, and acknowledging that Ball delivered a strong performance.Maltin, p. 93
Cast
*Lucille Ball as Jean Russell
*Patric Knowles as Denny Williams
*Donald Woods as Jeffrey Martin
*Frieda Inescort as Flora Barton-Williams
*Inez Courtney as Gwen Morrison
*Leona Maricle as Eve Harrington
*Frances Mercer as Patricia Wharton
*Whitney Bourne as Peggy Ponsby
*George Beranger as Cyril (as George Andre Beranger)
*Kay Sutton as Miss Whitman, Jean's Secretary
*Ann Evers as Lois Peabody
Notes
References
*Jewell, Richard B. and Harbin, Vernon, 'The RKO Story', Octopus Books, London, 1982.
*Maltin, Leonard, 'Leonard Maltin's 1998 Movie & Video Guide', Signet Books, 1997.
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