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Ooh-La-La - Spoiler Alert


I’m surprised at all the sexual innuendo in this movie. I assume it went mostly unnoticed since people aren’t commenting about it. Much of it is fairly subtle by today’s standards so it’s easy to miss but for its time, wow. Everything starts off innocently enough but then the bandit carries the virgin away into the woods. The scenes and the dialogue throughout the movie reveal there's a lot more going on than what meets the eye.

In the woods they have a very sexually charged conversation with him basically letting her know he intends to have his way with her and if she wants to live her dreams she will happily consent and accept what comes her way; she does. Hilda had told him her mother gave up her dream to marry so if Hilda wants her dream she needs to take another path. Meanwhile at the Clarkson home Mrs. Clarkson tells Sir Julian even a bandit wouldn't take a woman’s virginity. Sir Julian tells her there's a difference between virginity and chastity. Mrs. Clarkson is a little shocked but she gets it. Virginity is a state of being while chastity is a choice one either makes or does not make.

Upon returning to the Clarkson home, Hilda sings the song, Tonight is mine. It’s Hilda and Stingaree's recurring theme; the song tells their story. Later after she runs to her lover who has been shot, Mrs. Clarkson berates Hilda for being a loose, shameful, immoral woman. She says she took the criminal into the woods and oh, oh, oh… It’s how Mrs. Clarkson says it that really gives her words meaning. Hilda makes no attempt to defend herself. Naturally, she would have had it not been true. In fact she stands there with a look on her face that says it is all true. She asks where she should go to which Mrs. Clarkson says go back to the woods. It’s important to note, prior to this Mrs. Clarkson had said Hilda was a good girl. It’s not like she had been saying these things all along.

Sir Julian, having just heard she’s a loose, immoral woman, offers to take her to London. Mrs. Clarkson understands it’s not just for music and says oh, oh, oh… again. This is a time when respectable young women would not leave town with a man especially one they did not know and were not related to. By the same token a respectable man wouldn’t be caught with a woman of ill-repute; music or no music. Annie is tagging along but not as a chaperon.

Hilda goes off with Sir Julian but also appears to have various other male 'sponsors' along the way. In one scene a French lover is adorning her with clothes and an expensive fur coat as Stingaree once did with the dresses. When the French lover tells her how beautiful she is she thinks back to that night in the woods with Stingaree. She remembers their song, and suddenly freaks out over what seems to be about a dress she doesn't like when really it's the guilt over all the men with whom she's been. Annie, the maid, even at one point, makes a wise crack about not trusting ANY of her many men and not having any more room for all the gifts all the men have lavished upon her.

That loose lifestyle is what Stingaree 'taught' her to embrace so she's often reminded of him by something her lovers do or say. Having been the first, and having given up his freedom to help her, he holds a special place in her heart. Whatever went on in the woods also must have made a huge impression. That Stingaree must be some lover!

Finally she's decided to marry one of her lovers, Sir Julian, but once she hears Tonight is Mine coming from the music box Stingaree's gave her (the first gift from her first lover), she realizes he's the only man she wants and must go back to Australia. Julian tries to convince her not to go; she's not the same person anymore and so much has changed but she insists. She then wonders aloud, what if Stingaree doesn't want her anymore. Obviously, the only reason she thinks that is because she's been sleeping her way across Europe. He, of course, would know that and may not want her because of it.

When Stingaree doesn't show up she thinks he really doesn't want her so her performance suffers at first. When he does arrive, they see each other but it's rather awkward, each not knowing how the other feels. She has the orchestra play their song, Tonight is mine. He immediately responds favorably. At least they'll have that night assuming he’s not caught but he's still not aware she plans to stay.

As Stingaree attempts to escape, he’s shot at so Hilda's worried he might be hurt or dead. As she anxiously awaits Julian’s return with the news, Annie says perhaps Stingaree has him in a ditch with his pants down. This, of course, refers to when Stingaree stole the Governor's clothes but it’s also a veiled reference to when Hilda was in a ditch as well. Finally, they come full circle. He is about to ask her back to the woods before she leaves but she tells him she plans to stay. She says the Governor will grant her the favor of pardoning him so they really had no need to rush off except he wants her to go with him to their spot in the woods again. They head off on yet another blush-worthy ride on horseback as they are pursued into the woods.

There were many more examples which I did not mention here specifically. If anyone missed the subtext, I’d suggest paying closer attention the next time the movie comes on. It makes the movie a lot more interesting to see and relevant.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

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