The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)

Set in the late 19th century, a liberated female typist (Betty Grable) shocks Boston society with her outspoken views on women's rights. Matters get complicated when she falls in love with her boss (Dick Haymes) who doesn't share her feminist viewpoint. Based on the story MISS PILGRIM'S PROGRESS by by Ernest Maas and Frederica Sagor and directed by George Seaton (AIRPORT). Originally a more serious tale involving a murder trial and Susan B. Anthony, 20th Century Fox bought it as a vehicle for Jeanne Crain but that was jettisoned when Daryl F. Zanuck had it tailored to the talents of Betty Grable and turned it into a romantic semi-musical (songs by George and Ira Gershwin) with a feminist backdrop. Grable's blonde hair is darkened, so you know this isn't your ordinary Grable vehicle. She doesn't dance (unless you count a ballroom waltz) and there are too few songs to make it a full fledged musical. This being the 1940s, I was worried Grable's suffragette would abandon her ideals by the end of the film and opt for love and marriage but she remains true to her ideology. I like Grable and although this isn't a dramatic role, it still requires a strong actress. Grable is fine in light musical comedy but she never quite convinces us as an ardent feminist. It needs a young Kate Hepburn or Rosalind Russell. George Gershwin died in 1937 so they used songs that the Gershwin brothers had written but never published and it shows. By the lot here, you'd never guess how talented the Gershwins were. Grable was queen of the box office in the 1940s but this was one of her rare flops. With Dick Haymes, Anne Revere, Gene Lockhart, Elisabeth Risdon and Allyn Joslyn.