Although we know Lucille Ball is primarily a TV star, we also knew that she had been a movie actress before she hit it big on TV. Although none of her films are particularly well known, I really wanted to include something from Lucy in the festival and thought this one sounded good.
Specs:
Not quite an hour and a half, black and white.
Might be available on dvd somewhere, but we couldn't locate a copy. We were glad that Amazon instant video had it available. It was worth the $2.99 rental.
Our family's average rating:
7.0
More about the film and our reaction to it:
The Fuller Brush Girl is a movie where Lucille Ball plays a woman who wants to work for the Fuller Brush Company, selling makeup door to door. I hadn't done much research on the film but picked it because it had Lucy in 1950, right on the threshold of her big TV career. So... I was expecting... I don't know, some light silly mediocre comedy about Lucy selling items door to door. In fact, this was a murder mystery/comedy that was much better than and also very different from what I'd expected.
The film also stars Eddie Albert, who, like Lucy, was also more famous for his TV career (notably Green Acres) than his film career. But both made suitable film stars. They were funny and fearless and had a nice chemistry as an engaged couple that stumbles into their employer's illegal activity.
I really enjoyed this pre-I-Love-Lucy version of Ball. She is just as funny and there's a lot less whiney crying. She does a great deal of physical comedy that is really funny. The plot is interesting, not fantastic, and does a great job of giving us opportunities to enjoy Lucy's talent.
Content warnings:
Parents should note that there are some questionable scenes involving a burlesque show. Luckily, the dancing is not too bawdy and the idea of this type of performance will probably go over kids' heads. Lucy does a suggestive, but very funny, dance routine where she appears in just a slip. The whole scene is played for laughs and not for sensuality. Lucy also wears what would be considered a very short skirt for 1950) throughout the last part of the film and performs many stunts in it that reveal a great deal of leg (for 1950). (I also just gotta say this here, Lucy has fabulous legs!) A final content caution would be about the murder/crime part. Although this movie is played for laughs, there's no question that there are darker themes of shady crime and gang activity that ends with two characters being shot. (The murders are not shown, but the bodies are). And there are some tense, scary moments when our heros are evading bad guys who would like to kill them. By modern standards this stuff is tame, but worth mentioning.
Other than those parent cautions (which you'll have to decide on how troublesome for your family), this was an awesome film that we'd highly recommend.
Iconic shot:
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