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Clip description
The gala reopening of Cecille’s dress shop is threatened by an unpaid debt of £1,000. As Jill (Shirley Ann Richards) introduces her fabulous new fashions, Dave (Fred MacDonald) and his new sweetheart Myrtle (Muriel Flood) mount a guerrilla campaign against hired thugs in the shop’s lobby. Mr Entwhistle (Alec Kellaway) puts his body on the line to stop the pillaging.
Curator’s notes
The idea of feminine allure runs throughout the film, and it’s well integrated into the script. The country folk initially seem to find the feminine form confronting, even on a naked mannequin (see clip two), but by the end, Jill’s fashion parade is able to satirise the city view of the country cousins, by her modernising designs. This scene is ambitious because of the way it balances action in two locations – the high comedy in the foyer and the high fashion in the 'saloon’ – which is presumably Dad Rudd’s version of the 'salon’. The fashion parade is a huge publicity stunt to relaunch the store. The design makes clever use of Cinesound’s relatively newly acquired back projection equipment, to give the fashion parade a witty, not to mention sporty, appeal.
