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Miss Grant Takes Richmond
Despite a slightly complex screenplay and fuzzy characterizations, the performances by Lucille Ball and William Holden keep viewer invested in an amusing comedy from 1949 called Miss Grant Takes Richmond.
Holden plays Dick Richmond, a bookie who is pretending to be a real estate agent. In order to front the office and make it look more legitimate, Dick hires a ditzy secretary named Ellen Grant (guess who) for the job but Miss Grant takes her job a lot more seriously than Dick planned when she initiates a low rent housing project. Dick feels he has to go along with the plan when he learns that Ellen's uncle is a judge and that her boyfriend is the ADA. Dick's hands are tied as the housing project becomes a reality, draining his personal profits. Things get even stickier for Dick when a missed bet by a lady from Dick's past (Janis Carter) creates a $50,000 debt for Dick that he has no way of covering.
Frank Tashlin was one of the screenwriters on this story that seems to be a little more complicated than necessary. but I was more bothered by the inconsistencies in Lucy's character...when the character is first glimpsed during her final day at business school, the girl can barely type or take dictation, but when she starts working for Dick, suddenly Ellen becomes the smartest character in the movie, or at least it seems that way. This is another of those movie characters whose brain gets removed and replaced several times in order for the story to work. Not to mention, this is not really the Lucy we're accustomed to, we definitely get the Lucy we learned to love at the beginning of the film where she's struggling with a typewriter ribbon and near the end of the second act where she is trying not to be run over by construction equipment, but this Ellen Grant is a lot different than the Ellen Grant in the middle of the film who has Dick and his cronies scratching their heads for most of the running time.
Despite the problems with the story and characters, I still found this film a lot of fun thanks to the surprising chemistry between Ball and Holden. I now realize why when Lucy Ricardo visited Hollywood, one of the stars she encountered was William Holden. Ball and Holden get solid support from James Gleason and Frank McHugh, who are hysterically funny as Dick's assistants. The stars have done better work, but there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes.
Despite a slightly complex screenplay and fuzzy characterizations, the performances by Lucille Ball and William Holden keep viewer invested in an amusing comedy from 1949 called Miss Grant Takes Richmond.
Holden plays Dick Richmond, a bookie who is pretending to be a real estate agent. In order to front the office and make it look more legitimate, Dick hires a ditzy secretary named Ellen Grant (guess who) for the job but Miss Grant takes her job a lot more seriously than Dick planned when she initiates a low rent housing project. Dick feels he has to go along with the plan when he learns that Ellen's uncle is a judge and that her boyfriend is the ADA. Dick's hands are tied as the housing project becomes a reality, draining his personal profits. Things get even stickier for Dick when a missed bet by a lady from Dick's past (Janis Carter) creates a $50,000 debt for Dick that he has no way of covering.
Frank Tashlin was one of the screenwriters on this story that seems to be a little more complicated than necessary. but I was more bothered by the inconsistencies in Lucy's character...when the character is first glimpsed during her final day at business school, the girl can barely type or take dictation, but when she starts working for Dick, suddenly Ellen becomes the smartest character in the movie, or at least it seems that way. This is another of those movie characters whose brain gets removed and replaced several times in order for the story to work. Not to mention, this is not really the Lucy we're accustomed to, we definitely get the Lucy we learned to love at the beginning of the film where she's struggling with a typewriter ribbon and near the end of the second act where she is trying not to be run over by construction equipment, but this Ellen Grant is a lot different than the Ellen Grant in the middle of the film who has Dick and his cronies scratching their heads for most of the running time.
Despite the problems with the story and characters, I still found this film a lot of fun thanks to the surprising chemistry between Ball and Holden. I now realize why when Lucy Ricardo visited Hollywood, one of the stars she encountered was William Holden. Ball and Holden get solid support from James Gleason and Frank McHugh, who are hysterically funny as Dick's assistants. The stars have done better work, but there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes.