Thursday, March 26, 2020

No Questions Asked

Stana Goes to the Movies



Regular readers are familiar with the daily Femulator spot at the bottom of each blog post. In that spot, I feature images of femulators that I have found hither and yon.

Often, the source of those images are theatrical films and television shows. It seems to be a bottomless source for guys dressing up as gals.

Years ago, while I was searching for femulator images, I came across the photo above from a 1951 film titled No Questions Asked. The photo showed an actor in 1950’s high glam fashion and he looked so good that I thought “he” might have been an actress playing a man impersonating a woman. But, in fact, the high glam gal was actor William Reynolds.

I was so impressed with his femulation that I sought out more information about the film, as well as more images of his femulation in that film. Turned out that there was not much on the Internet beyond the film’s entry in IMDb.

I even sought out the film itself, but I could not find a copy on VHS or DVD. Evidently, TCM had the film and had shown it a couple of times, but of course, I missed it whenever it was shown. So I kept it in mind while I continued searching for other femulations.

Some time later, I learned that the film had been released on DVD, so I ordered a copy and after the mailman dropped it off, I dropped everything to watch the film.

Here is the plot summary from IMDb:

“Steve Keiver, young lawyer working for an insurance company, hears his boss remark that he'd pay a large sum ‘no questions asked’ for return of stolen property to avoid paying a much larger claim. On his own initiative, Steve arranges such a deal, earning a nice commission. But he catches the eye of gangsters who think he’s the ideal middleman for future similar deals...many of them. As Steve is drawn in deeper, the police take an interest in him, and he’s ripe for a doublecross.”

IMDb does not mention the femulation, so I will fill in that part of the plot:. The gangsters hire two guys, who dress as gals and go to the “Ladies’ Lounge” of a Broadway theater to rob the female patrons of their jewelry.


The blond femulator, actor William Phipps, enters the Ladie’s Lounge of the Broadway theater as if he owns it. (You go, girl!)



The brunette femulator, actor William Reynolds, follows brandishing a handgun and a dainty purse. Don’t you just love the outfits the boys put together for their caper?



Blondie relieves the ladies of their jewelry. The ladies were completely fooled by the boys’ femulations and during questioning by the police, one victim remarked that the lady robbers were very pretty.



Sans jewelry, the ladies are forced into the back room of the lounge.



With the ladies safely stashed away in the back room, the femulators prepare to exit the premises.



The femulators sashay out of the theater to their getaway car.



Inside the car, the femulators switch from girl mode to boy mode. How they managed to accomplish this in the cramped back seat of the getaway car is not revealed.



Using descriptions given by the ladies in the lounge, the police produced composite drawings of the perps.



The blonde and brunette femulators in boy mode.

The hero of the film identified the boys as female impersonators from the burlesque. The blonde femulator corrected our hero and said they were “artists” from vaudeville.



By the way, I found it interesting how the “good girl” in the film, played by Jean Hagen (left), resembled William Reynolds en femme. They could be sisters!

Anyway, in addition to the excellent femulations, I enjoyed the film in its entirety. It is great film noir.





Source: Cynthia Rowley
Wearing Cynthia Rowley




William Phipps
William Phipps’ test shot en femme for the 1951 film No Questions Asked

8 comments:

  1. Do note the clothing worn by the femulators while in 'boy mode'. Their coats seem oversize, particularly across the shoulders and breast plate and seem to appear dated, and 'out of style' as if the two are (using a politically incorrect term) 'not man enough' for the task at hand...

    OTOH, what femulator seeing the photos above, would NOT want to be wearing the gowns, furs, wigs and jewelry, fitted and matched so well for the occasion?
    BTW, Stana, your college level 'film project' deserves an 'A+'?
    Velma posted 05:24Z

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  2. Great post. I would hope that the makeup and wardrobe artists for that film were at least nominated for an Oscar.
    You may recall that back seats in cars from that era were huge but even so that would have been a lot of ladies clothing to get out of.

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  3. What a great job by the team in that movie. I wonder how the actors found it given attitudes of the day?

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  4. Gee, I remember doing a complete change -both ways- from the driver's seat of a Mustang. Between the deep bucket seat and the steering wheel, I was so cramped that I really don't know how I did it. I was much younger then, however.;-)

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  5. I saw this movie about a year ago I really enjoyed it

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  6. I saw this movie about a year ago I really enjoyed it

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  7. Interesting insurance scam in the movie. I recall reading that William Reynolds was, in fact, a female impersonator. The illusion was flawless!I have to location of the robbery noted on my DVD so I can fast forward tocheck out the femulators when I don't have time or inclination to watch the film.

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    1. Maybe, but I cannot find anything online indicating he was a female impersonator except for his impersonation in “No Questions Asked.” His career spanned the 1950s and the 1960s acting in many films and television shows including a long run as Special Agent Colby on "The F.B.I." television series.

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