cbr16bingo vintage
So the forties were boom years in Hollywood, and everybody was looking for a break. Starlets were a dime a dozen, so when an ad appeared offering a job to young ladies of a certain appearance and some very specific measurements, stating that if they would hang around various street corners for an hour, wearing specified clothes, they might pick up a job. What can it hurt, right?
Mason just happens to pick up on the observation, as he and Della are tooling down Adams Street one afternoon, that there happens to be a young brunette, dressed in dark clothes and a fur, casually window shopping, on every street corner for several blocks. Of course, he must investigate, and several of them show him the same ad. Weird indeed, and he and Della befriend a couple of the young women to find out more. Nothing illegal thus far, but Mason’s bat senses are tingling. But it’s all legit, because anyone who is selected for this golden opportunity may have a chaperone of her choice with her at all times. Enter Adelle Winters, landlady and practical nurse, who Is more than up to the job.
Well of course, the job in question is to unknowingly impersonate someone, at least from a distance. So we end up with all sorts of shady shenanigans in the range of murder-not murder-maybe murder, and Perry nearly getting trapped in the mess. But I loved the nonchalant acknowledgement that, yes, this was a totally normal casting call with plenty of takers. Old school Hollywood was a weird world.