Seeing Stars in Screwball Comedy ‘Out of the Blue’ 1947

 

Virginia Mayo, George Brent, and Turhan Bey--just three of the stars of 1947's
silly but fun slapstick comedy, "Out of the Blue."

Out of the Blue is a post-war, B+ budget comedy that I had never heard of until I stumbled across it recently online. I watched this 1947 screwball farce for the stars: George Brent, Virginia Mayo, Turhan Bey, Ann Dvorak, and Carole Landis, billed in that order. They all do their best and seem to be having great fun.

George Brent's harried hubby can't even catch a break at breakfast with his
bossy wife, played by Carole Landis. From 1947's "Out of the Blue."

While re-watching Out of the Blue for this review, I realized that the comedy was sort of a preview for the coming decades of TV sitcoms. George Brent, usually a dull romantic lead to high-powered movie divas, is henpecked husband Arthur here. Carole Landis is his nagging wife, Mae. Of course, he utters the classic line to his bossy spouse: “Yes, dear.” Their neighbor is playboy artist David, played by Turhan Bey, who has a parade of models coming through his apartment. Virginia Mayo is Deborah, who visits Bey about breeding his dog, a problem pooch for neighbors Arthur and Mae. However, Bey is more interested in breeding with Mayo! And when Landis visits her sister for an overnight trip, Brent wants to get off his leash, too. 

Virginia Mayo inquires about Turhan Bey's stud fee--for his dog! He has other ideas,
 from 1947's "Out of the Blue."

This is when Brent's harried hubby meets interior designer Olive, played by Ann Dvorak, in a swanky bar. Brent should have realized that Olive is off her nut just by her getup—which is a cross between Carmen Miranda off-stage and Joan Crawford's Straitjacket character in her hoochie mama moments! Don Loper also designs a gaudy, on the nose opening costume for dog breeder Virginia Mayo, as well! The post-war prosperity inspired some fanciful design in Hollywood and beyond.

Ann Dvorak's costume is as over the top as her comedic performance, as
George Brent's fatuous attraction, in 1947's "Out of the Blue."

And here's Don Loper's first costume for Virginia Mayo's dog breeder 
in 1947's farce, "Out of the Blue."

When Brent's Arthur meekly flirts with over the top Olive, whose fatuous attraction will not be ignored for the rest of the movie, he soon regrets leading her on. The bespectacled, handsome nerd is a nod to Cary Grant's character in Bringing Up Baby, who gets stuck with Kate Hepburn's daft character. This would later be repeated in What's Up, Doc? with Ryan O' Neal and Barbra Streisand, and Madonna's Who's That Girl, where she comically bedeviled Griffin Dunne. I personally don't find the trope of mild-mannered man tormented by a crazy lady all that humorous. And if you switched the roles, where the man is the wacky one, and the woman the target, it wouldn't be considered at all funny.

Ann Dvorak as the overtly flirtatious Olive, in 1947's "Out of the Blue."

I didn't know whether to admire or be appalled by Ann Dvorak's audacious performance. She was obviously a talented actress, but she goes really BIG here. Perhaps she goes for broke because it was near the end of her film career. But When Olive is thought to be dead after a fall, I was relieved. But oh no, she soon comes to, and starts yammering again! 

Ann Dvorak is down for the count, but not totally out, in 1947's "Out of the Blue."

George Brent plays broadly, too, mainly in reacting to overt Olive and Carole Landis as controlling Mae, the sitcom nag. She's quite good too, in this atypical role. I wonder if her hair was darkened so that she wouldn't be competing with the star blonde, Virginia Mayo. Virginia is comfortable in comedy, from all those Danny Kaye movies? And she looks utterly delicious here, especially modeling a swim suit in one scene. Creamy blonde Mayo and her love interest, Turhan Bey, certainly make a pretty pair. Bey gets to show off his physique in a couple of scenes and seems game for all this comical nonsense. Elizabeth Patterson and Julia Dean play the old biddy busybodies who add to the confusion, reminding me of the old ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace, with a touch of Bewitched's nosy Gladys Kravitz.

No, George Brent isn't reading the reviews for 1947's "Out of the Blue."

Carole Landis, at right, finally gets told off by meek hubby George Brent,
in 1947's "Out of the Blue." With Ann Dvorak beside Landis.

Despite less than two years in age difference, Landis' career was nearly over, even before her untimely death the following year at 29, compared to Virginia Mayo hitting her peak. Mayo had become a decorative comedic leading lady during the war years with Bob Hope and Danny Kaye. While Mayo's career was often based on her looks, Virginia had a full decade of stardom, before the inevitable decline. Still, Mayo appeared in two bonafide classics, The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat, plus a lot of popular favorites. Brent was nearing the end of his leading man days as was much younger Bey. It might surprise you to know that Bey, of Turkish and Czech descent, was born in and retired to Vienna, Austria. Ann Dvorak had one more scene stealing role, as the washed up model in Lana Turner's A Life of Her Own, before she retired from film in '51, and happily lived her days in Hawaii. Singer/pianist Hadda Brooks, who later performed in In a Lonely Place and The Bad and the Beautiful, performs the title tune here and it’s quite lovely.

Virginia Mayo is very fetching, especially opposite Turhan Bey, in 1947's farce
"Out of the Blue."

The plot is utterly silly but also quite watchable, if you like star watching and stylish lifestyles, as depicted by Hollywood from a bygone era. I noticed some behind the scenes credits from Warner Brothers talent, which Out of the Blue is reminiscent of, with their frantic farces. Of course, Brent, Dvorak, and Mayo appeared in many WB movies. Out of the Blue is no masterpiece, far from it, but fun fluff when your brain needs a night off!

Vocalist/pianist Hadda Brooks performs the lovely title tune, in 1947's
romantic comedy, "Out of the Blue."