Is Frenchy a prostitute?


Been a while since Ive seen this film and i genuinely cant remember if shes a prostitute or if she used to be but now 'belongs' to Kent?

reply

Most likely, Frenchy had been on the 19th Century equivalent of "the casting couch" many times but was probably never a prostitute by profession.

She's obviously a European immigrant with a genuine talent to entertain crowds of rowdy, lusty men with her burlesque stage antics and throaty, bawdy singing. Most prostitutes are "good" at only one thing and I don't know of many who can sing, dance and have the kind of show-biz presence of either Frenchy or her portrayer, Marlene Deitrich herself!

Secret Message, HERE!-->CONGRATULATIONS!!! You've discovered the Secret Message!

reply

Well, yes [to what vinidici says]. She was mostly the Wild West equivalent of a geisha .

there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above his shoulder

reply


I remember the very early Gunsmoke episodes. You would see Miss Kitty's girls go up the stairs with cowboys and were obviously prostittues on the side. And a time or two you saw Mat Dilion had spent the night with Kitty.

When they got a lot older she would just sit at a table drinking beer with Mat and Doc. I guess they settled into old age as if they had married.

One of the funniest movies around was a parody called "Rustler's Rhapsody" with a saloon girl (Mary Lou Henner) who charged $200 for what turned out to be talk instead of sex. Watch it sometime.

reply

She certainly would be a good time girl.

It's that man again!!

reply

Admittedly, this film is no more a reflection of reality in the Old West than any other western of its day. But considering Dietrich's nationality and singing talent, I think she most closely resembles a rather slutty (or late) version of a Hurdy Gurdy Girl:

http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2011/06/entertainers-hurdy-gurdy-girls.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/history/article40683693.html

Hurdy Gurdy Girls were of German descent. They were not prostitutes, at least early on. They sold dances, not sex, and were strictly chaperoned. They were able to go on to marry reasonably well, since the men considered them "good girls," though other women in the area did not.

The Historical Meow http://thesnowleopard.net

reply