The Fuller Brush Girl
| The Fuller Brush Girl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Lloyd Bacon |
| Written by | Frank Tashlin |
| Produced by | S. Sylvan Simon |
| Starring | Lucille Ball |
| Cinematography | Charles Lawton Jr. |
| Edited by | William Lyon |
| Music by | Heinz Roemheld |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Fuller Brush Girl is a 1950 slapstick comedy starring Lucille Ball and directed by Lloyd Bacon. Animator Frank Tashlin wrote the script. Ball plays a quirky door-to-door cosmetics saleswoman for the Fuller Brush Company. The film also stars Eddie Albert and has an uncredited cameo by Red Skelton (who had starred in the Tashlin-scripted The Fuller Brush Man two years earlier).
Plot synopsis
Sally and Humphrey have just put a down payment on a house, when Sally loses her receptionist job after accidentally destroying the switchboard. She applies for a Fuller Brush franchise, but needs a reference from her former employer, Harvey Simpson. Meanwhile, Harvey is in trouble with his wife because he's come home with a suit coat smelling of Fuller Brush powder. Mrs. Simpson thinks her husband is having an affair, so Harvey calls Humphrey to have Sally go to Harvey's house and explain everything to his wife. With her reference letter depending on it, Sally goes to the house to find a bogus Mrs. Simpson, a dead body, and missing diamonds. Afraid the police will suspect her of foul play, Sally and Humphrey identify the real culprit and pursue her to her job dancing at a burlesque theater, and then onto a departing ocean liner. Hilarity ensues as the pair are chased around the ship by a criminal gang trying to silence them, while they hide variously in rooms filled with leaky wine barrels, bunches of bananas, and a talking parrot who nearly gives them away.
Cast
- Lucille Ball as Sally Elliot
- Eddie Albert as Humphrey Briggs
- Carl Benton Reid as Mr. Christy
- Gale Robbins as Ruby Rawlings
- Jeff Donnell as Jane Bixby
- Jerome Cowan as Harvey Simpson
- John Litel as Mr. Watkins
- Fred Graham as Rocky Mitchell
- Lee Patrick as Claire Simpson
- Arthur Space as Insp. Rodgers
- Mel Blanc as two parrots (voice only)
External links
- The Fuller Brush Girl at IMDb
- The Fuller Brush Girl at AllMovie
- The Fuller Brush Girl at the TCM Movie Database
- The Fuller Brush Girl at Rotten Tomatoes
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