A Pat of Appreciation

[Bounci]

This week's Pat of Appreciation comes from the Pre-Code era of cinema, and from Gold Diggers of 1933, no less (made in 1933, coincidentally!). It involves a group of out of work showgirls during the Depression taking a chance with Ned Sparks' broke theatre director in trying to get a show on stage to make it a success just so they can pay the bills. It's very prevalent in today's climate, and has a cast of ladies that include Ginger Rogers, Ruby Keeler, Aline McMahon and Joan Blondell (who seems to of been in everything back then). As well as being a superb film, it has two scenes where ladies' bottoms get due attention: one by a man, and another by a woman! The first scene in the video comes around 28 mins into the actual film and appears AFTER the 2nd scene in the video, which appears first in the film. It's not as confusing as it sounds, but I shall explain.

In the first scene in the video, a casting director calls out the girls to go on stage ready for a first performance, and as they all come out to get ready, the director moves behind a lagging showgirl late for her call and gives her bum several pats to encourage her to get a move on and not be late again. The reason I put this scene first in the video is because the 2nd (main) scene involves no less than Ginger Rogers! In this scene (which has some interesting dialogue back then), Ginger has turned up to tell the girls that their old boss Barney (Ned Sparks) is planning to put on a new show, but Joan Blondell has nothing to wear to impress that might persuade him to give them a part in his show. After looking out of a window to attract cab drivers going past, Ginger grumbles "Ah, I look much better in clothes than any of you. If Barney could see ME in clothes..." "He wouldn't recognize you," replies Aline, cutting her short. Then she notices Ginger's dress and tells her to take it off, but Ginger complains that it belongs to a drug store where she's a hostess there, and tries to resist. That's when Aline slaps Ginger's backside, telling her to stand still, before taking the dress off of her. When she and Joan Blondell leave the flat, Ginger tells her to watch herself in the clinches due to the dress, and Joan replies "I'd like to meet that druggist!" What that might mean is anyone's guess, but it sure is suggestive!

[Bounci]

Another Pre Code film, and another bum patting/ass slapping scene that would likely face an edit in today's version of the Hayes Code, this is from 42nd Street, and the one that started the popularity of the 1930's musicals. It shot Ruby Keeler to stardom, while also featuring Ginger Rogers as a character called Anytime Annie (the joke being that the only time she ever said no was when she didn't understand the question!). Nice trivia as it is, the scene in this video doesn't feature either, but involves Guy Kibbee and an actress whose name I do not know. It's the scene at a party where a drunk Kibbee attempts to convince said girl to jump into his arms as he used to be the "hop-skipping jumper of his town." Needless to say he drops her, leading to her giving him a light slap across his chops. He in turn waits until she turns her back before giving her a healthy slap across her backside, before then attempting to show off his strength to her by tearing a phone book in half. The lady watching unimpressed from the sidelines, by the way, is Bebe Daniels.

[Bounci]

Yet another Pre-Code film, this is from the film Rain (1932), starring Joan Crawford as Sadie Thompson, a prostitute who finds herself stranded on the island of Pago Pago after the ship comes down with cholera, based on a short story of the same name by W Somerset Maugham. Here Joan gets goosed by the hotel proprietor (and General Store manager) Guy Kibbee (yep, him again) before 'introducing herself' to a gang of happy sailors with a bottle of booze. When someone starts up the gramophone, she starts to dance with one of the sailors, but her tight skirt grabs another's attention, who cries "Hotdog! A birds eye bull!" and gives her bum a playful slap as she goes past, rubbing her bottom. This also brings to the attention the wife (Belulah Bondi) of a missionary, who was also on the ship forced to dock, and makes her displeasure at them dancing on the Sabbath known. "Mr Horn," she demands of Kibbee. "Is this sort of thing general in your store?" "Well, it IS a General Store," is his laidback reply.

[Bounci]

Another video of a Pre-Code Joan Crawford, who must of had one of the most patted bottoms during the 1930's. She certainly had a fine backside on her, and here in another of her big roles she has a (edited) scene with John Barrymore in Grand Hotel (1932). She played a stenographer to Wallace Beery's businessman, looking to 'work her way up' for financial security (and yes, in Pre-Code language, it is exactly how it sounds). She is chatted up by John Barrymore, whose advances she originally rebuffs until she hears Lionel Barrymore refer to him as a Baron, then she suddenly becomes much more compliant to his overtures. His pat of her bottom when she has to leave them is more an acceptance on her part that she is willing to do whatever is called upon to maintain her financial security, though Barrymore's character is more decent than he originally seems. It was a big film for both these stars, and is the film where Greta Garbo gets to say her famous "I want to be alone" line.

[Bounci]

In a change to Technicolor this week to battle the February blues, this week's Pat of Appreciation comes from the Swinging 60's - more exactly, from the film Don't Bother To Knock (known as Why Bother To Knock in the USA) from 1961. The film involved Richard Todd as a womanising estate agent who falls out with his girlfriend and ends up attracting a number of women during a business trip on the continent - including a teenage girl (played by Dawn Beret, actually 20 when she did the film). And it is Dawn who features in this video in two scenes.

First she comes to say goodnight to Richard Todd in bed (sharing a room with Scott Finch, whose character is in love with Dawn), lingering at his bed hoping for a kiss, only for Todd to playfully tug her pigtail and then pat her backside to encourage her on her way out. Then she appears in a bikini with Todd on the beach, trying to get his attention. He pats her bum absent mindedly, which annoys her as she tells him it makes her "feel like a sheepdog at a show." However, she continues to try and woo him, and convinces herself that he has actually proposed to her - which proves awkward as at that moment Todd's fiancée June Thorburn (who died tragically young in a plane crash in 1967 aged 36) turns up to make amends. I've left the beach scenes on the end of the video, just because some people might appreciate seeing Dawn Beret in her bikini. Dawn herself had a active career in the 1960's, but her biggest role was in TV's Compact (1962-64), and after 1971 she disappeared from acting.

[Bounci]

Back to B&W and for this week it is the classic elevator scene from The Apartment (1960), involving Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon. Shirley has never been more adorable on screen than here, and the interchange between the two stars is lovely. But what I wasn't expecting when she starts to let people out was Shirley getting her bum slapped by one of the executives (David Lewis), and it clearly surprises her! "Watch your step," she starts to say as they disembark from the elevator before being goosed. "And watch your hands, Mr Kirkeby" she adds to Lewis. "One of these days I'm gonna shut these doors out here and...(signifies missing hand)." It doesn't faze Kirkeby, who tells Lemmon. "That cutelick! Boy, would I like to get her on the slow elevator to China!"

[Bounci]

Shirley MacLaine again, this time in colour and in the film The Yellow Rolls Royce (1964), playing a gangster's moll to George C Scott's mobster on holiday in Italy. Not that Shirley is impressed with the country, where all they seem to sing is O Solo Mia. Scott's gangster is a forceful character, showing it in this clip by slapping her bum - whether it is to admonish her for criticizing "O Solo Mia", or later when going to buy a Rolls Royce for her in the car showroom when he slaps her bum to show the salesman that she is his property, and that nothing is too expensive for 'his' woman. "If my loved one wants a Royce Rolls, she gets a Royce Rolls," he growls before slapping her bum (and boy, does he slap it!). "Gorilla," mutters Shirley after his 'show of affection.' She must have one durable backside!

[Bounci]

A day later than originally planned, but with the video format back up, here is a clip from the TV series Riders from 1993. It features Sienna Guillory (then 18) as a stable girl who is given the chance to be a champion show jumper, which was an adaptation of Jilly Cooper's best selling bonkbuster. In the main scene in the video she has just left the show arena having failed in her bid for a show prize after being "drunk while in charge of a horse", and encounters the lecherous Marcus Gilbert, a rival show jumper. He is quick to point out that she has split the seat of her pants, before leading her away, much to the chagrin of her boss Michael Praed. And Praed is less than happy later on in the beer tent when he sees Gilbert taking full advantage of Sienna's tipsy state as he gives her bum a little pat as he hopes to take things further (and no, he doesn't get the chance). What a cheek!

[Bounci]

This week's clip comes (surprisingly) from the UK TV series Jeeves & Wooster from 1991. It was a wonderful period comedy starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry as the titular characters, ending up in one escapade or another among the upper classes of the 1920's & 30's. This particular clip comes from Series 2, Episode 4, where Bertie Wooster (Laurie) ends up in a house in the country nearby old pal Chuffy (Matthew Solon), who is in love with Wooster's ex (Sharon Holm) Pauline but can't bring himself to ask her out. Typically, Bertie decides to woo Pauline himself to force Chuffy out of his shyness, but naturally it backfires and he ends up being engaged (this happens a lot to poor old Bertie).

Anyway, the actual scene in this video is the climax to the episode, and involves Pauline (Holm) being rescued from Bertie's burning cottage by Chuffy. (I shan't explain the details, as it'll take too long and is better if you watch the actual episode on You tube, as they are hugely enjoyable). But what surprised me is when Chuffy is hugging Pauline after rescuing her, with her dad patting him on the back, Chuffy puts his hand firmly on her bum! I wasn't expecting this in this series, and I do wonder if this was in the actual script! I very much doubt it, but he sure looks to be enjoying himself. As for Holm, she is probably best known for playing Batman's mother in Batman (1989), and Jeeves seems to of been the last acting job she did, as after that she ended doing voice work for video games!

[Bounci]

Another clip from Jeeves and Wooster, this is from Series 3, Episode 1 and sees Bertie now in America and lumbered with having to look after the son of a friend of Aunt Agatha, who she insists is "very delicate" and therefore not to have any excitement. However, what none of them know is that once she is gone, Wilmot (the "delicate" son, played by Ronan Vibert) is a party animal. In this clip Bertie is woken up by Jeeves to the sound of music, only to find that Wilmot is having a rowdy party. Indeed, Wilmot fully throws himself into party life, drinking and womanizing, and setting his sights on a blonde and her backside, with a couple of playful slaps at her bottom. Sadly I do not know the name of the actress, but the series itself is a joy from start to finish, and worth checking out just for the theme tune alone!