Beauty for the Asking | |
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Directed by | Glenn Tryon |
Produced by | B. P. Fineman |
Written by |
Doris Anderson and Paul Jarrico (screenplay) Edmund L. Hartmann (story) Grace Norton and Adele Buffington (idea) |
Starring |
Lucille Ball Patric Knowles Donald Woods Frieda Inescort |
Music by | Frank Tours |
Cinematography | Frank Redman |
Edited by | George Crone |
Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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68 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Beauty for the Asking is a 1939 film drama produced by RKO Pictures, and starring Lucille Ball and Patric Knowles.
It tells the story of Jean Russell (Ball), who becomes romantically involved with a wealthy married man (Knowles) who later spurns her. She later invents a new facial cream, and with the financial backing of her former lover's wife (Frieda Inescort), starts a business that makes her a millionaire.
RKO's pre-release publicity claimed that the film was to be an "exposé of the beauty racket" but reviewers of the day concluded that it was a standard "romantic love triangle".
Recently Leonard Maltin has written favorably of the film, suggesting that the film offered an unusual feminist viewpoint for its time, and acknowledging that Ball delivered a strong performance.