the exploitation filmsthe exploitation films
With: Julie Bishop (Ruth Waldron), Richard Denning (John Waldron), Ginger Prince (Ginger Waldron), Myrna Dell (Kaye Joyce), Larry J. Blake (Uncle Marty), Virginia Herrick (Betty Westmore)
and as themselves:
Kroger Babb
Mildred Horn
Jo-Carroll Dennison
Ern Westmore, "Dean of Hollywood Make-Up Artists"
Jonnie Lee Macfadden, "Physical Culturist"
Norma Gilchrist, "Hollywood Stylist"
Arthur Lee Simpkins, "First Screen Appearance"
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PLOT OUTLINE:
by Virginia Herrick
Julie Bishop plays a dowdy housewife whose husband, (Richard Denning), leaves her. Ginger Prince plays the young daughter of this unhappy couple. She wants to see her parents back together again and contacts makeup guru, Ern Westmore! Ern and his wife, (Virginia Herrick), visit this unattractive lady to see if they can help by using the wonderful products and talents of the House of Westmore. After some trials and tribulations, the Westmores turn the ugly duckling into the charmer she was meant to be. The group throw a fancy dinner party and invite the unsuspecting husband. When he discovers the marvelous change in his wife, he decides to return home, and everybody lives happily ever after!
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SYNOPSIS (added June 2005):
The front-page headline of the Lakeheart, Indiana newspaper shouts, "Local Girl Wins State Contest!" Yes, ten year-old Ginger Waldron has won a chance to go to Hollywood for a screen test in the movies!
The next day, after school, Ginger rides her bike home, but sadly, she hears her loving parents, John and Ruth, fighting in the living room. John is bemoaning the fact that Ruth has done everything homemaker and mother, but never a wife. She counters that this is exactly what she was supposed to do. They reminisce about the early years, and posit how things went awry. John feels that Ruth has become too fastidious and efficient; she has replaced passion with frugality. The romantic John, however, still wants to live it up a little. The two part, angry.
Ginger is late arriving for her lesson at Miss Turner's Dancing School; she tries to dance along with the others, but she is too upset, and she runs out of class, sobbing. Ginger runs to see her favorite uncle, Marty, who runs the local dream palace, the Hoosier Theatre. She tries to explain to him the trouble her parents are having, but Marty thinks it's nothing to worry about.
Later, Marty visits John at his office, and tells his brother-in-law his concerns about Ginger, and her accusations. John confesses that he and his wife were indeed fighting, and it was serious. John's complaint is that Ruth has let herself go, and no longer excites him physically!
Although Marty is concerned for Ginger's well-being, the two men agree that the upcoming trip by Ruth and Ginger to Hollywood for the screen test will be a good break for both parties. Marty next visits his sister, and pleads with her to do whatever it takes to keep the marriage together, for Ginger's sake. However, Ruth is still in denial, and Marty leaves angry.
That night, John speaks with his beloved daughter about her pending trip, but Ginger asks her father to tell her the story of how he and her mother met. Ginger has heard the story many times before, but always loves to hear it again.
John then tries to get romantic with his wife, but Ruth ignores him, as she obliviously prepares for her trip. John goes to bed, dejected and angry. Soon, Ginger and her mother are on a plane to Hollywood! Their first stop is the studios of Hallmark Productions, run by the revered movie mogul, Kroger Babb!
Inside Hallmark, producer Babb asks his secretary to send in the "Dean of Hollywood Make-Up Artists", Ern Westmore! As they wait, Babb and his associate look out the window at the assembled winners of Hallmark's recent National Talent Contest; 48 of the cutest and smartest kids in the land! The associate wonders how they will handle all those children, but Babb coos, "Children don't worry me -- I Love 'em!"
When Westmore arrives, Babb has a challenge for him. His next picture, "Delinquent Angel" will star Jo-Carroll Dennison, a popular young actress in her twenties. Her role, as "the Little Judge", requires her to age during the course of the picture to a 60 year-old woman! Westmore insists he can do the job via his legendary make-up techniques, as he did for Irene Dunn in "Cimarron".
Westmore makes up Ginger Waldron, and she is ready for her screen test. Next, Westmore plies his facial magic on Ms. Dennison, and soon, she is transferred from a young beauty into a dignified elderly woman. Meanwhile, on the giant Hallmark sound stage, director Erle C. Kenton introduces himself to the talent contest winners, and starts shooting the screen tests. Various acts perform for the camera, and soon its little Ginger's turn. Ginger does a precious little number called "The Big Parade".
Back in the dressing room, Westmore is joined by his glamorous wife, Betty. The Westmores invite Ruth and Ginger to dinner at their home the next evening. Later, at the Hollywood R??? Hotel, after putting Ginger to bed, Ruth begins to compose a letter to her husband, but she cannot think of the right words to say.
The next evening, the Westmores entertain Ruth and Ginger at a sumptuous dinner party, along with celebrity guests Jonnie Lee Macfadden, Physical Culturist, and Norma Gilchrist, Hollywood Stylist. The Westmore's son Bobby entertains Ginger while Miss Macfadden regales the dinner guests with her theory on woman's beauty: a lifelong regimen of discipline and self-denial to maintain a youthful look and mindset. Macfadden then demonstrates some simple abdominal exercises to maintain a shapely figure.
Even better, Norma Gilchrist has brought a film to show the dinner party. While Westmore sets up the 16mm movie projector, Betty shows Ruth Ern's valuable collection of movie star drawings by Volpe, depicting some of the many stars which Westmore has made up in classic films: Emil Jennings in "The Way of All Flesh", George Arliss in "Disraeli", and Fredric March in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde."
The phone rings, and Westmore conveys some terrific news: Ginger passed her screen test with flying colors, and she is to be offered a long-term movie contract! Ruth and Ginger are thrilled, and immediately try to call John to tell him the news. However, Ruth can't reach the good doctor either at home or the office. Ruth then calls her brother, who informs Ruth that John is in Rockchester, tending to a patient. Ruth calls the Blackburn Hotel to reach John, but the person who picks up the phone is Kaye Joyce, his nurse!
Ruth is horrified at this turn of events, and grabs Ginger; they return home that very evening. Back at home, Ruth paces anxiously until John arrives home in the early morning.
John is of course shocked to see Ginger and Ruth back so soon. Ruth accuses John of infidelity with Kaye, but John insists that Kaye's presence was for professional reasons only. The two argue bitterly, and finally John leaves the house, threatening to divorce Ruth is she doesn't change her ways.
Ginger, listening at the door, is horrified at this revelation. The next morning, she runs to see Uncle Marty, and tells him the whole sad tale about her parents. Marty tries to calm her fears, but secretly, he is concerned. He asks Ginger to join him in prayer, for her family's well-being. That night, as Ginger prays to God, she gets an idea...
Next day, Ruth visits Kaye at John's office; she accuses Kaye of upsetting their marriage. Kaye responds by defending her position as John's assistant, but warns Ruth that if she continues to neglect John, he could find in Kaye a potential lover. Ruth leaves, crushed.
Back in Hollywood, the Westmores are just about to leave for Chicago, where Ern is to be the keynote speaker at a cosmetologists convention. A postal worker arrives with a special delivery letter for Westmore. It is from Ginger, who begs Ern and Betty to come to Lakeheart, to fix her parents' marriage!
The kindhearted Westmores agree that they must help Ginger out, so they change their plans to make a detour to Indiana on their way to Chicago. They send Ginger a telegram, which she receives with glee. She then thanks God for the fine service!
Soon, the Westmores are at Ginger's doorstep. Ruth is shocked to see them, and invites them to stay for lunch; she tells the couple about her current problems with John. Before long, the three of them are at the Stevens Hotel in Chicago, to attend the convention of the National Hairdressers & Cosmetologists Association, which meets there yearly.
The master of ceremonies enthusiastically introduces their guest speaker, Ern Westmore. Westmore promises to demonstrate his credo, that "there isn't a woman in the world who can't be made more beautiful."
Westmore describes the five basic shape faces (oval, round, square, oblong and triangular), as five representative models ascend the stage to illustrate. Hollywood Stylist Norma Gilchrist joins Ern. Starting with Ruth, who has the ideal, oval face, Westmore begins to work his magic. As Westmore shows the proper application of make-up, Gilchrist asks him questions submitted from all over the nation on beauty tips.
Meanwhile, back in Indiana, John is finishing up for the day. He asks nurse Kaye out to dinner, and she readily accepts. John watches as Kaye changes clothes, and steals a kiss. Back in Chicago, Westmore has dazzled the audience with five miraculous makeovers.
Later, as Ruth looks in the mirror, she can hardly believe the marvelous transformation Ern has manifested, but she wonders if it is too late to save her marriage. Westmore enters the room, and orders Ruth to take off all her make-up. Ruth resists, but is powerless against Ern's machinations.
Soon, we are at the Fall Dinner Dance, where John is entertaining nurse Kaye. Marty, as master of ceremonies, introduces local crooner Arthur Lee Simpkins, who thrills the audience with a sweet rendition of "I Don't Why I Love You", accompanied by Will Osborn and his Band.
Soon, the Westmores arrive at the dance, with Ruth. John doesn't even recognize his wife in her new, beautiful incarnation! The two exchange meaningful glances at each other, to Kaye's chagrin.
Later that evening, John arrives back at home. Ruth lets him in, John throws his belongings on the floor, and the reunited lovebirds embrace. Ginger looks on from her bedroom, beaming with joy.
THE END
"A guaranteed Hallmark Roadshow Attraction"
COMMENTS:
UPDATE: 02-01-04
* We were recently contacted by Dick Madigan regarding this most obscure motion picture. He is working with Virginia Herrick, an actress who appeared in SECRETS OF BEAUTY. The information they share with us here is priceless, changing completely our original assessment of this hard-to-locate film.
First, let us make one thing clear; although producer Kroger Babb (and later Murray) may have re-released the film with exploitation in mind, the original SECRETS OF BEAUTY was in no way a "sexploitation" film. It was intended solely to promote the beauty products and services of Hollywood make-up giants, The House of Westmore! It was a narrative film with a plot and legitimate characters.
Of course, the House of Westmore is a name familiar to anyone even vaguely aware of the Golden Age of Hollywood. George Westmore and his wife, Ada Savage, opened a wildly successful hair salon in Cleveland Ohio in 1913. Before long, brothers Mont, Perc, Ern Wally and Frank joined the booming business, changed their emphasis from hair to make-up, and moved to Hollywood.
Within a decade, the "House of Westmore" was synonymous with the very look of Hollywood. Virtually every major studio emplyed the talents of Westmore in their productions, and Ern Westmore is credited with changing the look of the female Hollywood star forever when he tackled Bette Davis' lips!
Working on SECRETS OF BEAUTY, Virginia did remember one thing about Ern Westmore. He was a perfectionist when it came to makeup. He even used to pluck her eyebrows himself to make sure they were what he wanted.
Dick Madigan continues: "We both wondered how an obvious exploiter such as Kroger Babb, whose films were intentionally made to capitalize on the lack of sex in the tightly-controlled Hollywood movie industry, got involved with Ern Westmore. I did some research and came up with the following conclusions: Ern Westmore did makeup and also appeared in Babb's 1950 effort, ONE TOO MANY, an exploiter on the problem of alcoholism using a big-name cast. (Ern was an alcoholic.) Somewhere during their association, one of them proposed doing a feature film promoting the Westmore cosmetic line also using a big name cast. Who initiated this idea is unknown. And why, if the Westmores were so big in the movie industry, didn't they take the proposal to a major studio?"
"My background helped me to evolve an answer to that one. I started out at the age of 14 as an usher for Loews, Inc. in 1944 in Columbus, Ohio and later worked in in California for Fox West Coast Theatres, Universal and Fox film exchanges, Jennifer Jones' father, Phil Isley, and finally, in the still department at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, CA. From my experiences at Roach, I found out how difficult it was, even for the Westmores, to buck the major film producers. If they or their staffs didn't think of the idea, it was unacceptable! They were doing quite well, thank you, and controlled the distrubution. So, when Ern Westmore found a producer who could circumvent the system, he went with him! That, in my opinion, is how the big-time makeup man got involved with the small-time exploitation producer. It was a way to plug the Westmore products, nothing more. No sex! No drugs! Just cremes and lipsticks! And Ern Westmore had contacts to assemble a top-notch group of actors."
As for the delightful Ms. Herrick, Mr. Madigan offers the following: "Virginia was the director's dream... showed up on time, knew her lines, had no ego, and went home when her stint was finished for the day. The reason for this was that she really had no aspirations to make it in films, she wanted to be an operatic coloratura soprano and worked in movies because it was a job that paid money. She did not even attend the showing of SECRETS OF BEAUTY at the Monica Theatre in Santa Monica because by that time she had married Dr. Garrison and headed for Italy to further her studies in opera."
"Virginia was trained as a classical pianist; was a Conover model in New York during World War II; returned to California and worked in movies for about three years, and then married author Omar V. Garrison and went to Italy to study voice. She became a well known coloratura soprano in Europe and the US in the early 1960's."
Finally, Virginia says that her impression of Kroger Babb was positive. To her he was a nice older gentleman.
Many thanks to Virginia Herrick and Dick Madigan for sharing this important information with us, as well as the great photographs. If anyone knows of the whereabouts of a print of SECRETS OF BEAUTY, please contact us post haste!
For more exciting information about the wonderful Ms. Herrick, please visit the following Western Cinema Websites:
The Gene Autry Oklahoma Cowboy Museum
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WHY MEN LEAVE HOME: Lost and Found!!!
The recent discovery of a 16mm print of this most obscure and sought-after exploitation legend, by film collector Patrick Roberts in the U.K., is indeed a cause for celebration. The film, at its original 86-minute length, is an exploitation classic, a treasure trove of pop culture luminaries and references.
First and foremost, we have the film’s producer, exploitation film legend and self-made celebrity H. Kroger Babb (aka “Kroger Babb”), in a most rare capacity; playing himself as a big-time, altruistic movie producer! Indeed, the onscreen Babb is a kind-hearted purveyor of light family entertainment, a far cry from his notorious career as sleazy huckster of raunchy sex-education films! The film’s script would have you believe that his “Hallmark Productions” has recently sponsored a nation-wide children’s talent contest, to offer Hollywood screen tests to the country’s best and brightest!
Producer Babb placing himself squarely at the center of the picture, as a character, is not merely an act of bravado, it is an aesthetic stroke of some genius. Hitchcock was a filmmaker who knew this; the artist who wants to be remembered inserts himself into his narratives, as a character, however minor. This makes the artist an iconographic (and if he's lucky, mythic) figure.
Babb in real life was infamous for selling himself as the ultimate filmic entrepreneur; he often referred to himself as “Mr. Showman”. As Babb was a bonafide marketing genius, he wasn’t that far off the mark. However, his penchant for self-oriented hyperbole reached epic proportions later in life, resulting in some sad anecdotes which suggest that he eventually suffered from runaway delusions of grandeur.
Although WHY MEN LEAVE HOME is a fairly big-budget affair, and has the look of any well-scrubbed studio B-movie of the day, it was still strictly a regionally-released curiosity relegated to the “film ghetto”. Thus, an early establishing shot in the film of the “Hallmark Productions” studios, featuring a huge sign placed atop a sprawling Southern-style mansion, looks suspiciously like a pasted-up photograph, and might reflect not reality, but Babb’s dreams of how big he wanted to be.
Other shameless self-references include a theatre owner who has a poster from Babb’s booze opus ONE TOO MANY tacked to his wall. Still, Kroger Babb had a long and lucrative career, and WHY MEN LEAVE HOME shows his empire at the height of its success. The film also features a rare glimpse of Babb’s long-time associate and screenwriter, Mildred Horn, in a cameo, also as herself!
Yet Babb’s crowning achievement, at least in his own biography, is his one bonafide “star”, little Ginger Prince, in an acting role that has to be her finest performance, in addition to an incredible song number that looks like it could have been lifted from any number of Shirley Temple films. Ginger Prince “starred” in three Hallmark productions in a short time span: THE PRINCE OF PEACE, ONE TOO MANY and WHY MEN LEAVE HOME. Prince did little after this, so Babb’s attempt to catapult her to B-movie stardom seemed an insular act, at best. Still, Prince is a scruffy yet affable actress, who does her chores well, including treacly emoting, passable singing and adequate dancing.
Of course, the real star of WHY MEN LEAVE HOME is famed Hollywood make-up maven Ern Westmore, playing himself as the quintessential movie make-up icon. The “Westmores of Hollywood” are the legendary family of seven brothers who completely revolutionized the beauty and make-up departments in Tinsel-Town, and their off-screen antics and political intrigues are as notorious as their on-screen victories.
Ern seems to have been the black sheep of the large Westmore clan, due to fierce sibling rivalries as well as a notorious drinking problem, so WHY MEAN LEAVE HOME, although a showcase for his formidable talents, was likely a comedown for one who was used to favoring the halls of the big studios. Still, the jovial craftsman gives it his all in a bravura performance that shows his significant acting as well as artistic talents. We also get a thrilling look at what may well have been Westmore’s actual Hollywood mansion, a palatial affair complete with an ultra-modern 16mm screening room. We are also treated to a leisurely look at Westmore’s amazing gallery of celebrity sketches by Volpe, including before and after pictures of such tinsel town luminaries as Fredric March as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".
The centerpiece of WHY MEAN LEAVE HOME is an amazing 20-minute lecture by Westmore on “The Secrets of Beauty”. This amazing time capsule, although perhaps overshadowed by current fashion philosophy, and containing more than a hint of sexism, is an extraordinary catalog of beauty tips of the day, and features several truly revelatory “makeovers”.
Thanks to the terrific biography of the Westmore clan, "The Westmores of Hollywood" by Frank Westmore and Muriel Davidson (1976, J.B.Lippincott & Co.), we have formulated a most interesting theory on this "Beauty Lecture" centerpiece of WHY MEN LEAVE HOME, and Ern Westmore himself:
"Still, (Ern's) reputation as a makeup wizard remained, and at least one entrepreneur thought Ern was salvageable. Sol Dolgin, a businessman involved in the movie industry, approached Ern and asked him if he would be interested in making a pilot television show loosely predicated on the Westmores' seven basic face shapes. Ern not only was interested in anything that would bring in some money, he was genuinely fascinated with the new medium and leaped at the opportunity. Dolgin warned him that if he got drunk and blew the deal, no one would ever hire him again in any industry. Ern solemnly promised that he wouldn't touch a drop. Reassured, Dolgin put up $100,000 of his own money and got two other backers to furnish the rest of the $250,000 of the pilot's cost.
"On the last day of filming, Ern got drunk and disappeared. He was gone for more than two weeks. Dolgin tried to fake the ending of the film by photographing the back of another man similar in build to Ern, but it didn't work. The project was a disaster, and it didn't sell to any of the three networks. Everyone involved lost a small fortune."
As Sol Dolgrin is listed, somewhat enigmatically, as "Co-Ordinator" on WHY MEN LEAVE HOME's credits, we believe that the centerpiece of the film is none other than Ern and Sol Dolgrin's failed TV pilot!
As if Westmore wasn’t enough, Babb throws in two more “experts” of the day, to add as much clout as possible to his epic. First, we have Hollywood fitness guru Jonnie Lee Macfadden, who preaches about the proper regimen for a woman who wants to retain her youth, and gives a demonstration of aerobic exercises at a dinner party, wearing her evening gown! Adding her two cents is obscure culture expert Norma Gilchrist, who mumbles some half-hearted mumbo-jumbo about fashion sense.
To round out our celebrity cavalcade, actress Jo-Carroll Dennison is featured as the ingénue in Babb’s latest faux-production, “DELIQUENT ANGELS”. Babb asks Westmore if he can turn the 21-year-old into a 60 year-old woman, and Westmore chirps, “I did it for Irene Dunn in CIMMARRON”! Dennison played Anne Murray in THE JOLSON STORY (1946), was Miss America in 1942, and was married for a time to funnyman Phil Silvers.
As for the narrative proper, B-movie stalwart Richard Denning does fine as the long-suffering “everyman”, in love with a wife who refuses to beautify herself for him! What can he do but shack up with his nurse? Denning would soon go on to hit big time as the lead in TV’s “Mr. & Mrs. North”.
Julie Bishop (RHAPSODY IN BLUE) is terrific as he wife who turns from hag to fox in short order, thanks to Ern Westmore’s magic touch. And we have sexy B-Western icon Virginia Herrick (MONTANA DESPERADO) as Westmore’s adoring beauty of a wife.
The always-surprising film also offers us some amazing novelty acts, including black crooner Arthur Lee Simpkins (who also appeared on TV’s “You Asked For It” the same year), and two chubby singing teenagers, billed as “The Fat Twins”. Even stranger, in a scene about the screen testing of the talent contest winners, an actor plays the film’s actual director, Earle C. Kenton! It also gives us a brief look at the making of motion pictures, with the talented child stars giving their all for their one and only screen test. In fact, this film is rife with fake scenes, phony sets and doppelganger personages, creating an alternative universe both fascinating and unnerving.
Yet another surprise, in a movie chock-full of them, is an early score by Albert Glasser, one of the most prolific and popular composers of the 1950's. Glasser's brassy, emphatic cues have the signature sound which would grace so many of the great B-movies of the 1950's, including the fantastic sci-fi thrillers of filmmaker Bert I. Gordon, such as THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN.
Finally, WHY MEN LEAVE HOME is a surprisingly insightful look at small-town America (Lakeheart, Indiana, to be exact), suffering the growing pains of the postwar era, complete with false hopes and shattered dreams and the marital tension that would soon define an entire decade. The sexual politics of the nuclear family is sketched well here, albeit with the expected gloss of male chauvinism, in a blueprint that could easily have been lifted for any number of subsequent television series about family life, both comedic and dramatic.
This dizzying omnibus of a film ends with a delightful fourth-wall coda, in which little Ginger Prince peeks out of her bedroom door and says to the audience, “Folks, you must be in the wrong theatre – this picture’s over!” We fade into “Another Fine HALLMARK Roadshow Attraction”, and thus ends one of the true gems of the latter exploitation era.
According to several accounts, Babb’s main interest in WHY MEN LEAVE HOME was as an infomercial, to sell audience members a high-priced make-up set. As history tells it, this traditional huckstering ploy was disastrous, causing Babb to re-edit and re-title the film several times in order to recoup his original investment.
Babb was eventually sued by several of the film’s investors, and WHY MEN LEAVE HOME was one of Babb’s last original productions. However, it may be seen as his highest achievement in terms of “high concept”, and is assuredly a most important and fascinating example of postwar independent cinema.
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NEWS FLASH!!!
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(all photographs courtesy of Virginia Herrick)
