22 thoughts on “TBT: Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)

  1. I LOVE old Hollywood. So glamour, so over the top… So bling!

    “May Daly’s big stage show as “Du Barry” has her wearing this pannier outfit.”
    Outfit? What outfit?

    That’s not our old friend the head necklace Lucille is sporting, it’s the head jeweler shop window!
    And the satin shorts trumpeters! And that pearl necklace! ROFL!

    One thing, though: The great hairpin shortage had not stricken yet, so neat dos and wigs. (out of period, but hey, let’s not be picky!)

      1. That was my first reaction — hey, that’s just like Singing in the Rain! Now I know where they got the idea. The fact that Gene Kelly is in both films is just too much of a coincidence for me.

  2. The woman with the era-crossing hair in the Pied Pipers is Jo Stafford. She became a pretty major music star in her own right, and I can listen to her for hours.

    1. Stafford had perfect pitch—to the point where she could deliberately sharp or flat a pitch by as close as an eighth off. She and her jazz-pianist husband used that talent to create Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, probably the worst entertainers in music. They originally performed as Jonathan and Darlene at friends’ parties, but they eventually made recordings and even won a Comedy Grammy.

      Here’s their version of “Stayin’ Alive”:

  3. Proof that Lucille Ball could actually handle a heavy headdress, despite the show girl falling down the stairs bit in I Love Lucy.

  4. I forgot about Ms Ball in this. I’ll try to see it later. I remember watching her in Stage Door with the incomparable Katherine Hepburn and realized she could snark with the best of them.

  5. I adore Lucille Ball. Yes, she was beautiful, smart as a whip, and absolutely fearless in the pursuit of what was funny.

  6. I must have seen this movie very closely to Singin’ In the Rain because I grew up mixing them together. i was very surprise when I watched Singin In the Rain as an adult and realised it wasn’t set in the 18th century, as I remembered it. And then I spent 15 years wondering where all those extra scenes I remembered came from. it all fell into place when I stumbled over this one…

  7. I’ve seen photos of Lucille glammed up and I was surprised at how smokin’ hot she was. But I think she was smart to focus on comedy which probably resulted in a much longer career.

    And these screen shots are pretty hilarious — those wigs! The jewelry! Tommy Dorsey in costume — I might have to watch this just for laughs. But I would pay good money for that fabulous blue hat with the pink and blue ostrich feathers.

  8. Fun article and website. I love the photograph of Lucille Ball in Du Barry Was A Lady in the 18th Century gown. Where did you get it? I’d love to get an 8×10 print of it made, but the image quality is too low. Do you have a higher resolution copy you could share, or refer me to your source? Thanks!

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