The Bamboo Blonde: Anthony Mann

Well, this was an interesting experience. I had always been aware that Anthony Mann had directed musicals, but I had never seen one of them. The Bamboo Blonde isn't so much a musical as it is a film with a lot of musical numbers, if you catch my drift. But it still was fascinating to see a director that I have always associated with gritty Westerns and hard-boiled film noir directing such an upbeat film. It follows a love triangle involving Captain Patrick Ransom, Jr., a pilot of a B-29 bomber from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, his fiancée Eileen Sawyer, and a blonde nightclub singer that he meets on his last night before shipping out to the Pacific named Louise Anderson. Unfortunately, he never actually learns Louise's name, but he does spend an evening with her after Eileen stood him up. He gets her picture taken and carries it with him to the Pacific where it is discovered by his crew and painted onto their fuselage. She becomes known as the "Bamboo Blonde" and is deemed responsible for the plane's incredible luck in surviving several dangerous missions. The "Bamboo Blonde" becomes a hero to the war effort. Meanwhile, Louise's manager has taken advantage of the situation by turning her into an overnight star, billing her as the original "Bamboo Blonde." When Ransom and his crew return home from their tour of duty, the press leaps at the reunion of the "two lovers." The military uses the opportunity to make Ransom and Louise public speakers at war bond rallies. Of course, the two fall in love. But Ransom was previously engaged to Eileen, a gold-digger who will move hell and high water to keep her man. The Bamboo Blonde is a charming film with some great musical numbers provided by Frances Langford who played Louise. There isn't much to the film, really. But The Bamboo Blonde is a decent way to spend an extra hour.

6/10