''The Petty Girl'' (1950), known in the UK as ''Girl of the Year'', is a musical romantic comedy

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

film starring

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as '' The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in ...

and

Joan Caulfield Beatrice Joan Caulfield (June 1, 1922 – June 18, 1991) was an American actress and model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures. In th ...

. Cummings portrays painter

George Petty George Brown Petty IV (April 27, 1894 – July 21, 1975) was an American pin-up artist. His pin-up art appeared primarily in ''Esquire'' and Fawcett Publications's ''True'' but was also in calendars marketed by ''Esquire'', ''True'' and Ridgid T ...

who falls for Victoria Braymore (Caulfield), the youngest professor at Braymore College who eventually becomes "The Petty Girl".

Plot

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(

) tries to convince car manufacturer B. J. Manton to use pretty women to help advertise his dreary new car model. He is not succeeding when Manton's daughter, the often-married Mrs. Connie Manton Dezlow (

Audrey Long Audrey Gwendoline Long (April 14, 1922 – September 19, 2014) was an American stage and screen actress of English descent, who performed mainly in low-budget films in the 1940s and early 1950s. Some of her more notable film performances are in '' ...

), interrupts the business meeting, takes a liking to the handsome young artist, and makes herself his patron. Soon, she has furnished him with a lavish apartment, complete with a butler named Beardsley (

Melville Cooper George Melville Cooper (15 October 1896 – 13 March 1973) was an English actor. His many notable screen roles include the High Sheriff of Nottingham in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), Mr. Collins in ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) and ...

). She also talks him into abandoning his

cheesecake Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, it m ...

paintings in favor of more respectable portraits. Meanwhile, Victoria Braymore (

), the youngest professor at Braymore College, attends a conference in New York to defend the school against charges that it is outdated and old-fashioned. She has led a sheltered life, raised by the older professors after the death of her parents (the founders of the college), and is only allowed to go with a chaperone, her friend Dr. Crutcher (

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British-American actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary ''Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the Fir ...

). George meets Victoria in an art museum. She resists his attempts to become better acquainted, but finally agrees to dinner, provided he finds a date for Dr. Crutcher. Desperate, he gets Beardsley to pretend to be his uncle Ben. The dinner is a disaster; Beardsley gets drunk, Dr. Crutcher thinks ''she'' is George's date, and Victoria is distant. Finally, George decides to leave, when Victoria surprises him by accompanying him to a nightclub frequented by artists. When a drink is spilled on her dress, she goes to the powder room, where the attendant offers to iron it. However, the police raid the establishment; in the rush of escaping people, Victoria ends up getting arrested dressed only in her slip. Her picture is published on the front page of the newspaper. An almost identical scene occurred in the movie Together Again (1944). When she gets out of jail, she cuts short her trip and returns to Braymore. George follows her and gets a job as a busboy at the faculty residence. Using the newspaper photograph, he blackmails her into going out with him. Their first two "dates" end badly. Then, when he has her sneak out to pose for a painting in his room, she is seen by nosy Professor Whitman (

Mary Wickes Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...

), who misinterprets the situation. Though the other professors are inclined to leniency, Victoria cheerfully quits, finally agreeing with George's view that she is being stifled there. Victoria goes to George's apartment, where she meets her rival for his affections, Mrs. Dezlow. She tries to persuade George that Mrs. Dezlow is doing the same thing to him that the professors did to her, namely molding him to satisfy her wishes and expectations, but he does not agree. Victoria then sneaks into the art museum and replaces one of the paintings with the one George painted of her in a bathing suit. The resulting publicity lands her a starring role in the

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

. Embarrassed, George gets an injunction preventing her from performing as the "Petty Girl". Since the injunction only applies to public places, Victoria crashes the stuffy private party being given by Mrs. Dezlow to promote George. There, she, a male quartet, and twelve beautiful women (including an uncredited

Tippi Hedren Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress, animal rights activist, and former fashion model. A successful fashion model who appeared on the front covers of ''Life'' and '' Glamour'' magazines, among others, Hed ...

in her film debut), each representing a month, perform a musical number, much to the appreciation of B. J. Manton. The businessman changes his mind about George's initial proposal. George realizes Victoria is right, and they kiss and make up.

Cast

as George Petty *

as Professor Victoria Braymore *

as Dr. Crutcher *

as Beardsley *

as Mrs. Connie Manton Dezlow *

as Professor Whitman *

Frank Orth Frank Orth (February 21, 1880 – March 17, 1962) was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series '' Boston Blackie''. Career By 1897, Ort ...

as Moody,

process server Service of process is the procedure by which a party to a lawsuit gives an appropriate notice of initial legal action to another party (such as a defendant), court, or administrative body in an effort to exercise jurisdiction over that person ...

John Ridgely John Ridgely (born John Huntington Rea, September 6, 1909 – January 18, 1968) was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits. Early years Ridgely was born in Chicago, Illinois,Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: T ...

as Patrolman *

Dorothy Abbott Dorothy Abbott (December 16, 1920 – December 15, 1968) was an American actress. Career Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Abbott acted in Little Theater productions to gain experience before she ventured into films. She appeared in many fi ...

as December Petty Girl *

Joan Larkin Joan Larkin (born April 16, 1939 in Boston) is an American poet and playwright. She was active in the small press lesbian feminist publishing explosion in the 1970s, co-founding the independent publishing company Out & Out Books. She is now ...

as July Petty Girl *

as Ice Box Petty Girl (uncredited) * Vivian Mason as Lovey

Production

RKO

In October 1942 RKO studios signed an agreement with

to make a film called ''The Petty Girl''. In real life Petty's daughter was the model for ''The Petty Girl'' but RKO wanted an unknown to play this role and were going to undertake a nationwide search. Bert Gannet was working on a script. In November Anne Shirley was announced for a lead role. Betty Wells was also signed. In March 1943 Rosemay La Plance was assigned to a lead role. In June Amelita Ward was assigned to the film. In October

Virginia Mayo Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...

was announced for the film.

Columbia

RKO ended up not making the film and the rights were bought by Columbia. In September 1946 Al Bloomingdale was going to produce the film for Columbia. By January 1947 Ann Miller was going to play the title role and Devery Freeman had written the script. Production kept being delayed but then Columbia officially reactivated the project in March 1949. Nat Perrin was to produce and Charles Vidor would direct. In July Robert Cummings signed to star, meaning ''It's a Man's World'', for which he was previously announced at Columbia, was postponed. Edward Hope was working on the script. Joan Caulfield lobbied to star in the film because it was a sexier sort of role than she had played in the past. She joined the film in July. In early August 1949 Charles Vidor went to Lake Arrowhead to scout locations. Filming was to begin 21 August. On August 5 Vidor was suspended by Columbia under his $3000 a week contract for refusing to make the movie. Henry Levin took over. Vidor denied he refused to direct ''Petty Girl''. Columbia then said Vidor had objected to the story and made no attempt to prepare for the movie. Vidor said he turned up willing to work. The case settled out of court.

worked on the film as a consultant. Filming started September 6, 1949. The success of the film led to Cummings having a three-picture contract at Columbia.

Musical numbers

For all songs, the music was composed by

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

, with lyrics by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

. * "Fancy Free", performed by

(dubbed by an uncredited

Carol Richards Carol Swiedler (stage name Carol Richards or Carole Richards) (June 6, 1922 – March 16, 2007) was an American singer, radio and television performer, best remembered for her duets with Bing Crosby on the hit single " Silver Bells" and the song ...

) * "Calypso Song", performed at the beginning by

Movita Maria Luisa "Movita" Castaneda (April 12, 1916 – February 12, 2015) was an American actress best known for having been the second wife of actor Marlon Brando. In films, she played exotic women/singers, such as in ''Flying Down to Rio'' (1933 ...

, segueing to Caulfield in a daydream sequence (both dubbed by Richards) * "I Loves Ya", performed by

(dubbed by Hal Derwin) and Caulfield (Richards) * "The Petty Girl", performed by Caulfield (Richards), the Petty Girls, and a male quartet

Release

Janis Carter Janis Carter (born Janis Elinore Dremann, October 10, 1913 – July 30, 1994) was an American stage and film actress who performed throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s. During the mid-1950s, she began working regularly on television, co-ho ...

did a 26 city appearance tour to promote the film. The ''New York Times'' said the film "may not make you ache with laughter but neither will it bore you." The ''Los Angeles Times'' said "its comedy is diverting, never painful."'Petty Girl' Decorative and Amusing P K S. Los Angeles Times (2 Sep 1950: 9.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petty Girl, The 1950 films 1950 musical comedy films 1950 romantic comedy films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Henry Levin 1950s English-language films 1950s American films