While the cons start working on their ruse, they send Crabbe on a global tour to find the most beautiful bodies in the world. In reality though, they’re looking to market a beefcake and cheesecake rag. The cons get the idea to recruit the athletes as their magazine editors to give their new “health” publication credibility. Crabbe is delightfully innocent as Don Jackson, who makes a plea to the audience cheering the receipt of his gold medal, “You guys in the seats! Get out of the stands and exercise!” The cons attend an Olympics competition and are inspired by the bodies beautiful of Ida Lupino, a champion diver, almost unrecognizable with bleached blonde and Harlow eyebrows, and hottie Buster Crabbe, U.S. The story follows three hapless ex-cons (brilliantly played by James Gleason, Robert Armstrong, and Gertrude Michael) who are looking to get into something “legit.” They buy a defunct business operation that includes a health magazine and a spa facility, referencing the notoriety of real-life health guru/pulp publisher Bernarr MacFadden (who is a full story in himself). And while not every “pre-code” film is a winner, SEARCH FOR BEAUTY (1934) is a stunner, complete with laugh-out loud lines…and even naked butts! Before the creation of censorship guidelines, Hollywood loved its lascivious stories.
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