The film is loosely based on the life and career of actress, producer, entrepreneur and nightclub hostess Texas Guinan, who was dubbed during the prohibition era as "The Queen of the Nightclubs". Hutton stars as Guinan and de Córdova as her fictional lover.
At the funeral of Texas Guinan, her father Michael "Mike" Guinan laments to friend Tim Callahan the day Texas met her lover, Bill Romero Kilgannon.
In rural Texas, 1909, Tomboy Texas Guinan and her family attend Cherokee Jim’s Wild West Show. Cherokee Jim offers any audience member $50 if they can ride a bucking bronco. Texas sneaks away and takes part in the competition. In the audience, Bill Romero Kilgannon, the owner of the Wild West Show, bets $1500 on Texas. Texas wins and Bill invites her to join the Wild West Show.
Mike Guinan reveals he has taken out several loans to buy potato fields. That night, Mike discovers the temperature has rapidly dropped, leaving his potato farms useless. Against the wishes of her family, Texas runs away to join the Wild West Show to get money for her penniless family.
Texas becomes a massive success for the show and rises to the top billing. Texas falls for Bill and confesses her love to him, however, he reveals he’s already married. The show’s press manager, Tim Callahan, convinces a heartbroken Texas to go to Broadway with him.
On Broadway, Texas steadily rises through the billings until she gets her own show. After her show, Texas is approached by Cherokee Jim, who is now a Hollywood director. He informs Texas that Bill has also entered the picture business and that his wife has been in a sanatorium for years. Texas leaves Broadway to return to Bill.
Texas travels to Hollywood to reunite with Bill, after they kiss, Bill gets her cast in a movie, with Texas becoming an instant star. Together, Bill, Mike and Texas own stocks in the picture company. Mike accidentally gets mixed up in shady stock dealings. Subsequently, he, Mike and Texas are given subpoenas. Bill also discovers his wife has passed. To save Texas’s career and to prevent her from going to jail, Bill forces her and Mike to sell their stocks to him. Texas, unaware of the subpoena, assumes Bill never loved her and was using her for money. Outraged, Texas leaves him. As Bill prepares to flee the country, he’s convinced by bootlegger Joe Cadden to be his partner in New York City.
Texas returns to Broadway, but is unable to find a job. Texas, to help herself and Nick the Greek’s struggling nightclub, uses her influence to host a party for Louella Parsons. This brings celebrity patrons to Nick's. The plan is a success, with Texas regaining her previous fame. Joe Cadden forces Nick to sell the club. Texas demands Cadden pay her $3,000 a week, which Cadden reluctantly agrees to. Upon learning that Bill works for Cadden, Texas refuses to have anything to do with him.
Rival bootleggers, the Vettori Brothers, send a hitman to murder Texas. Texas survives, thanks to Bill, and Mike reveals that Bill forcibly bought her stocks to save her career. Texas and Bill repair their relationship. The Vettori Brothers assassinate Cadden and attempt to intimidate Bill and Texas into selling the nightclub, but they refuse.
After an x-ray, Texas discovers that a heart problem leaves her with two years to live. Texas rushes to get married, deliberately avoiding telling Bill about her condition. The night before she and Bill are to be married, the Vettori Brothers ambush Bill but he kills them both. Bill is charged with murdering the Vitteori brothers, instead of in self defense. He refuses to marry Texas until he has served his time in prison, a minimum of five years. Texas, realising she’ll die before he gets out, mourns her life.
This was the final film for character actorBud Jamison. Jamison, best known for his work with slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Disorder in the Court), died suddenly in September 1944. Jamison played the Head bartender, however, he did not receive credit for his work.
Soundtrack
The film features the following songs, many of which were popular in the 1910s and 1920s when most of the film is set.
The film was announced in 1942 and was originally to have co-starred Hutton and Alan Ladd. Ladd withdrew after he enlisted in the army in January, 1943. The film's production was halted while a new male lead was sought and Hutton was reassigned to the screwballmusicalcomedyLet's Face It (1943) with Bob Hope.
Barry Sullivan was named as the male lead after Ladd's withdrawal, but he was assigned to another film and also withdrew. In September, 1943, Brian Donlevy was offered the male lead but refused. Paramount subsequently suspended Donlevy's contract as a result of his refusal to star in Incendiary Blonde. Mexican actor Arturo de Córdova, who had been recruited to Paramount a few years prior from Mexico where he was a major star, was selected as the male lead after Donlevy's withdrawal.
Production on the film was slated to begin in September, 1943. The film was originally meant to be filmed in black and white, but Paramount increased the budget of the film so that it could be produced in Technicolour. In November, 1943, production commenced on Incendiary Blonde and continued until March, 1944. Hutton broke three ribs while filming the circus scene with the acrobatic trio the Maxellos. Paramount spent $250,000 on marketing for Incendiary Blonde.
The New York Times gave a positive review, writing: "The lusty prohibition era in New York, during a decade of which Texas Guinan presided as Night Club Queen, is fitfully recreated and with an elegance that is more imaginative than historical, in "Incendiary Blonde," which opened yesterday at the Paramount. As a biography of the blonde bombshell from the Lone Star State, the picture recounts a story of heartache and success that probably will strike most movie-goers as a tale twice told, to say the least. But for all that, "Incendiary Blonde" is a sprightly and entertaining show for most of its nearly two hours running time."
Variety Magazine wrote that: "Incendiary Blonde is a sound musical drama based on the life of Broadway's Texas Guinan. Colorful incidents in the "hello sucker" girl's career lend themselves to film treatment, and added value of Techincolor, music, marquee strength indicate healthy business in all situations. Screen story is packed with so much color, music, comedy and drama that its tragedy never becomes heavy."
Photoplay ranked the film as one of the best films of September, 1945, writing that: "The story of Texas Guinan comes to the screen with more or less authenticity and more or less capability in the acting department. Betty Hutton, who plays Texas, certainly gives it wim, wigor and witality, as Sam Weller would say, and sells Texas as we feel she’d like to be sold—solidly."
Photoplay awarded Betty Hutton the best performance of the month of September, 1945, for her performance in Incendiary Blonde.
At the 18th Academy Awards in 1946, Robert Emmett Dolan was nominated for "Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture" for his work on Incendiary Blonde.
References
↑Variety (1943). Variety (December 1943). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company. p.160.
↑"SCREEN: Hedda Hopper's HOLLYWOOD". Los Angeles Times. November 23, 1942. p.14.
12Hutton, Betty (2009). Backstage, You Can Have (3rded.). United States: Betty Hutton Estate. pp.214. ISBN978-1-5009-1622-0.
↑Variety (1943). Variety (September 1943). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company. p.98.
