Shirley Chambers, the First "Dumb Blonde"

Was in the mood for something fun Wednesday night, so I popped in "The Half-Naked Truth", with Lee Tracy and Sofia Vegara Lupe Velez.   A fast-talking bit of fluff: Tracy plays a carnival barker/publicity hound  who, after a narrow escape from some trouble, decides to turn Velez into a "Turkish princess" (and manage her all the way to the bank).  Many twists and turns befall them (as you can imagine), none the least when the Ziegfeld-like Farrell (Frank Morgan) and his stage show get roped into the whole mess.  Silly and sparkling and very, very funny!  Good luck getting "Oh! Mr Carpenter" out of your head after it -- thanks again, Cliff Aliperti, for getting it even more firmly jammed in there!

She's got a big job for you.

Those of you who read FF + SS know my weakness for pre-Code platinum blondes, so of course I sat up and took notice when Ella Beebee (Shirley Chambers) entered the fray:

image borrowed from Immortal Ephemera

She was the perfect early-30s loveable ditz!  I just had to look her up and see what else she'd done.  No surprise then, when I discovered she was crowned "Hollywood's First Dumb Blonde".  Shirley began as a model in the late 20s, then became a Goldwyn Girl along with Toby Wing, Lucille Ball, and Betty Grable.  From there she garnered small, often uncredited parts in some pretty big-ticket films: Diplomaniacs, Dancing Lady, Viva Villa!, The Merry Widow, Nothing Sacred, The Women, and the role for which she was probably best known, "Belle's Girl" in Gone With the Wind.

She toured for a while in the early 40s with the USO, did some Broadway, and moved to television roles after returning to California in the late 40s.   Shirley Chambers died on September 11, 2011, at the age of 97.  

Hollywood Blondes (that have nothing to do with wrestling)

I have a thing for 1930s peroxide blondes.  Hardboiled little things with vanilla-colored hair, tough and fiery and sure of themselves.  They turn up in every pre-Code movie, forever Party Guest #3 or Telephone Operator.  Even though I know they're a Hollywood invention, they've come to represent the Depression for me: women who know a thing or two about struggling and are willing to fight to survive.  Here are three I love:

Jean Harlow is the quintessential example, the Platinum Blonde who started it all.   Sure, she was sexy, but she was also smart as a whip and quick with a comeback.  (She was also very intelligent off-screen, too; one day I'll devote more time to the Baby, one of my favorites.)

Another favorite of mine is Toby Wing, the world's most famous chorus girl.  She never rose to the heights of stardom, but she was in quite a few important films -- yup, that's her getting serenaded by Dick Powell in 42nd Street -- and even though she was usually uncredited, she managed to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I absolutely adore Polly Walters and squeal when she shows up in a movie!  Her career was short, and mostly spent playing telephone operators, but her nasal honk and sweet little face is immensely endearing.  She did very well in Broadway, starring in a hit 1933 show called She Loves Me Not.

Almost everyone tried to go super-blonde when it was popular, with mixed results.  Here's Bette Davis early in her career: 

And here's Joan Crawford, looking, well...let's just say brunette suited her much better. 

(screencap courtesy The Crowd Roars)

Regardless if they're in the lead or only on-screen for a moment, these "broads" with a heart of gold are just one of the things I find so irresistable about the pre-Code era. 


(p.s.  I know I didn't mention Joan Blondell.  Shame on me!  She's fantastic!  Oh - and how could I forget Thelma Todd?  Yikes!)