The age of Carmen Miranda movies and music had begun. Chica Chica Boom Chic!
“LEARN
BETTY’S SECRET FOR BEAUTIFUL EYES,” the ad read.
This way, Tom Lyle reasoned, even if the movie tanked, the ad would still work since it didn’t play up the film’s title. In the ad, Betty was quoted as saying, “It’s easy to have lovely alluring eyes…The magic secret is Maybelline eye make-up.” Emery’s copy gave step by step application instructions, ending with: “Then, the joyful climax…when you form your brows in graceful, classic lines with Maybelline smooth-marking Eyebrow Pencil.”
box office power to help solve their financial woes. Would a goofy, light-hearted romp, set in Argentina appeal to Americans in a year when dramatic films like The Philadelphia Story and The Grapes of Wrath would take most of the credits? A few westerns had done well, and Ginger and
Fred were still dancing. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour had starred in the popular Road to Singapore—which had nothing to do with Singapore and was oblivious to Japanese imperialism in the Pacific.
Fox wanted something fresh, and if they couldn’t cavort in Europe or the Pacific, they’d take their fun and games elsewhere. South America seemed like a pretty safe bet. With that lively Brazilian music, movie-goers could transport themselves to a place where war didn’t exist.
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| Carmen Miranda |
“I have said this before, and I’ll say it again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” The film opened that same month, and the public adored Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda
in her outrageous costumes. Revelers everywhere, like Evelyn’s crowd at the Biltmore, learned to samba to tunes like “Bambu Bambu.” The age of
Carmen Miranda movies and music had begun. Chica Chica Boom Chic!
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| Alice Faye |
At the same time, teens and young women in their twenties identified with
Grable’s saucy blond beauty and lively spirit. In droves and busloads they crowded into dime stores to buy Maybelline. Tom Lyle immediately parlayed his new bombshell into another full-page color ad. Alice Faye had worked out her contract differences with Zanuck and signed along with Betty Grable to do Tin Pan Alley,
another light-hearted musical, but Alice didn’t want to do business with friends, including Tom Lyle. Arnold got around this by developing an ambiguous photo-illustration that resembled both Alice and Betty. The caption read, “Adorable with Maybelline,” and audiences weren’t sure if the model was Faye or Grable–which was exactly what Tom Lyle wanted.
Maybe She’s Born With It
The next chapter of the Maybelline family story. Get a text the day it’s out.
Where it began: The Maybelline Story — Amazon · Ebook · Signed copy