How To Succeed with Brunettes (1967)
Success with brunettes or blondes or anyone is built upon respect. And being a gentleman is about commanding respect. How to succeed with brunettes? Be a gentleman!
Bridget and Mary Jo could not agree more! Join them as they forget the cares of the tumultuous 60’s and help you learn the proper and improper etiquette on a movie date, and at a formal dance with a receiving line.
The narrator opens each scene by facetiously explaining how it’s great that the man is doing things like walking in front of his date and not opening the car door for her. We see each scenario a second time with the “proper” way of doing things, that clears up the dos and don’ts of dating in 1967, like letting the woman go first. The advice given to her would-be suitors, while outdated in one or two places, like ordering food for her, is still mostly applicable.
It provides 10 approaches for how to deal with brunettes:
1. Do show up on time. A good looking brunette won’t wait around forever.
2. Do treat her as an equal; she likes that.
3. Do order her food for her.
4. Do open doors for her.
5. Do offer her assistance when walking to the car, or into a restaurant.
6. Don’t be late.
7. Don’t hold her coat up too high when you assist her with putting it on.
8. Don’t force her to shake anyone’s hand, let her offer her hand.
9. Don’t walk on the inside of the sidewalk, instead walk curb side.
10. Don’t forget, ladies go first — she must always precede you.
A 1967 short military educational romance documentary film produced by the U.S. Navy, born out of America's desire to teach our men in uniform how to conduct themselves by demonstrating and instructing its officers on proper dating etiquette. Featuring music evocative of its era, and a fair bit of comedy, both intentional and unintentional.This U.S. Navy film, a sequel to companion film “Blondes Prefer Gentlemen" (1965), were both made during the Vietnam War.
The Defense Visual Information Center (DVIC) accession contained films that provided training or education that directly related to the work of the armed forces, and also for a handful of films that were intended to contribute to overall health and well-being of military personnel. This film is one of thousands of U.S. military training films on topics including STDs, “good hygiene” and proper etiquette.
The Defense Visual Information Center (DVIC) is a division of the Defense Media Activity (formerly the American Forces Information Service) situated in March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, California. It was established in 1994 after a consolidation of the Air Force Aerospace Audiovisual Service (AAVS) and the Navy's Still Records Media Center at Anacostia (SMRC).
DVIC stores and preserves visual information records (VI) of the Military of the United States and provides unrestricted information to the public. Products and Services include Still Media, CD-ROM Still Photo Collections, Motion Media, Pre-1982 DoD VI records and Air and Space VI Records. The still media database consists of 167,000 images dating back to 1982.
Brown hair is the second most common human hair color, after black hair. It varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment pheomelanin. People with brown hair are often referred to as brunette, which in French is the feminine form of brunet, the diminutive of brun (brown, brown-haired or dark-haired).
Brown hair is common among populations in the Western world, especially among those from Central Europe, Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Cone, the United States, and also some populations in the Middle East where it transitions smoothly into black hair. Additionally, brown hair is common among Australian Aborigines and Melanesians.
The term brunette is the feminine form of the French word brunet, which is a diminutive form of brun meaning "brown/brown-haired", the feminine of which is brune. All of these terms ultimately derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhrūn- "brown, grey". The form "brun" (pronounced /bruːn/) is still commonly used in Scotland, particularly in rural areas, and is also the word for "brown" in the Scandinavian languages. In modern English usage, however, it has lost the diminutive meaning and usually refers to any brown- or black-haired girl or woman, or the associated hair color. Merriam-Webster defines "brunet" as "a person having brown or black hair".
This film, along with its companion film Blondes Prefer Gentlemen, was awarded the 60 Minutes “Oscar” for most unnecessary and wasteful film. 60 Minutes premiered in 1968, the year after the film was produced.
By today’s standards, these dating tips are chauvinistic. If you take the advice, you'll probably be slapped in the face. The camp music and voice of paternalistic authority in this quirky, charming oddity add to the sense of watching a well-played joke wrapped about a firm moral message.