Cult Flops - The Shocking Miss Pilgrim

20th Century Fox, 1947
Starring Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Anne Revere, and Gene Lockhart
Directed by George Seaton
Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

We end Women's History Month with this unusual story of a female typist determined to make it in the man's world of business just as typewriters debuted. The movie didn't do well at the time, but does it have something to say to us now, in a world where more women are taking over men's jobs and pushing for equal rights? Let's head to the Packard Business College in New York City to see their first graduating typist (typwriter) class and find out...

The Story: Cynthia Pilgrim (Grable) graduates at the top of her class and is delighted to take a job at a shipping firm in Boston. The head of the firm, John Prichard (Haymes), believes that the world of business is for men only and turns her away. His Aunt Alice (Revere), however, is an ardent supporter of women's suffrage and tells her nephew to hire Cynthia or else. The men, including office manager Mr. Saxon (Lockhart), make fun of her until she gives them a curt answer back, earning their respect.

Cynthia has less luck winning over the rest of Boston. No boarding house will accept a woman typewriter...except the one owned by Catherine Dennison (Elizabeth Patterson). Dennison specializes in lodgings for "outcasts," artists and musicians whose work gets them turned away by stuffy Bostonites. Cynthia quickly befriends artist Michel Michel (Arthur Shields), poet Leander (Allyn Joslyn), and music teacher Herbert (Charles Kemper), all of whom share her feelings about the stuffy citizens of Boston.

John Prichard, however, has become smitten with her after seeing her attractive legs. He tries to get her out on a date, but she refuses at first, until he agrees to go to a Women's Suffrage meeting. The women, including Alice Prichard, want her to speak for them as a representative of women in the workforce. John continues to press his point, but he can't deter Cynthia from her cause, not even when he takes her to a ball and introduces her to his equally independent mother (Elizabeth Risdon). They get engaged, but call it off when she won't give up her job. Now John has to find a new secretary...and has begun to realize just how much The Shocking Miss Pilgrim's efficiency and common sense has come to mean to him and his buisness.

The Song and Dance: I've never seen a Grable musical quite like this one. For all the comedy with Cynthia's artist buddies, it actually has some fairly serious discussions of what a women is capable of and whether or not they belong in jobs normally held by men. In fact, with women pushing for greater representation in the workplace once again in the news, it may be more relevant now than it was in the late 40's. Grable actually does quite well as the very determined Cynthia, and Elizabeth Patterson and the artist gentlemen are hilarious as her greatest supporters. The Technicolor production and gorgeous costumes add to the lush feel.

I also appreciate that this one ends with Grable running her own business. It doesn't take the obvious route of her giving everything up for him.

Favorite Number: Grable gets the best song from this one, the sprightly "Changing My Tune" after she gets her room and makes her first friends in Boston. The ladies of Boston prove that they're not the frustrated spinsters John thinks they are in the rousing "Stand Up and Fight." Grable and Haymes share three nice duets, "Waltzing Sitting Down" when John's pursuing Cynthia at the ball, "Aren't You Kind of Glad We Did?" after the women's suffrage rally, and "For You, For Me, Forevermore" when he asks her to marry him.

Trivia: This started out as a far-more serious story about a suffragist secretary who kills her boss when she shoves him downstairs and goes on trial for murder. The original author was furious that they turned it into a boy-meets-girl musical and criticized the music and the results.

And yes, you read the songwriters correctly. George Gershwin died in 1939, but his brother Ira chose songs they'd written but never used and tailored them to the film.

What I Don't Like: First of all, Haymes is stiff, smarmy, has no chemistry with Grable, and is less believable as a tough sexist businessman than Grable is as a "typewriter." The costumes are lovely but historically inaccurate - bustles were a lot bigger than that in 1874. The movie occasionally waffles on it's premise and whether or not women actually should be in the workplace or not. The Gershwin songs are lovely - the Gershwins couldn't write a bad one - but not as memorable as some of their earlier ones.

Also, if you're looking for one of Grable's more typical legs-and-laughs tropical vehicles, you'll likely be as disappointed as many audiences were in 1947.

The Big Finale: Unique and interesting Grable vehicle is a nice find for fans of her, the Gershwins, or 40's musicals.

Home Media: Alas, this one is out of print on DVD. Streaming is your best bet.

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