This Day in History, 1954: Hollywood director predicts end of 'glamour girls' in movies

Richard Fleischer’s entrée into Hollywood was that he was the son of animation legend and studio boss Max Fleischer, whose studio produced cartoons like Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor.

But Richard went on to have a successful career as a film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including the sci-fi of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in 1954, the musical Doctor Doolittle in 1967, and the sword and sorcery epic Conan the Destroyer in 1984.

In a Province story that ran on Aug. 14, 1954, he made a bold statement: that movie fans were “shelving” Hollywood’s “glamour girls” in favour of religion, adventure and fantasy.

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According to Fleischer, the public had indicated it prefers the Bible to Rita Hayworth, Robinson Crusoe to Terry Moore and weird science-fiction to Jane Russell.

“People want to escape and the ones who don’t want escape want information,” said Fleischer. “They want to learn about the unknown. They’re not curious about sex because they feel they know all there is to know about that.”

That is not the kind of thing you’d normally hear from Hollywood, particularly in the 1950s. The anonymous writer said Fleischer “had found it necessary to turn to squids, sharks, submarines and bearded heroes to keep up with current public taste.”

It noted that the only female in his film of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was a seal named Esmerelda.

“This is the ideal fare for the present-day audience,” said Fleischer.

“We have passed through the phase of social themes, new musicals, 3D, widescreen and historical sex appeal. Now we are entering the realm of informative — but exciting — feature length-film.”

The Province chose to illustrate the story on the end of glamour girls with a photo of Hollywood star Esther Williams. There was also a cheesecake pic of “Miss Portland of 1949,” Colleen Miller, who was starring in a movie called Playgirl.