Harriet Blossom (Shirley MacLaine) is a secondary antagonist in the 1968 British comedy film, "The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom".
Harriet is the wife of a workaholic brassiere manufacturer. One day, Harriet breaks her sewing machine and calls her husband Robert Blossom (Richard Attenborough) to come fix it. Robert, who doesn't have time to be bothered, sends a mysterious mechanic as a repairman to his house to help out. The man, Ambrose Tuttle (James Booth), after fixing the machine, hides out in the families attic. Harriet ends up being infatuated with him, and they become lovers. He lives in their attic for years, managing to keep himself hidden and a secret from her husband, and the detectives that investigate his sudden disappearance. The mysterious noises that Robert hears coming from the attic leads him to a nervous breakdown. However, the arrangement benefits all three members of the triad. The housewife finds sexual fulfillment that her husband has failed to give her. The underachieving lover becomes accomplished and responsible, and the husband becomes rich with the investment tips that Ambrose provides him without him knowing.
Mr. Blossom continues to slave away trying to find the perfect brassiere. He is convinced, that in doing so, it will provide everlasting world peace. There will be no need for wars.
The climax of the film is when Mr. Blossom is about to have a huge unveiling of his wonder bra creation, which he has termed the Universal Brasierre. The premise of this creation is that you can inflate the bra with a gaseous substance to just about any dimension you desire, to give yourself a better or fuller figure. Ambrose and Harriet plan to scuttle this unveiling, since the results of its success will change the setup that they have going on. Harriet would be forced to travel with Robert to Geneva, Switzerland, which means they would have to sell the home they have in London. Furthermore, the houses in Switzerland are flat and do not have attics. Harriet begins to panic, since she knows that the bra works. Ambrose asks her to give him a copy of it, and he will do what he can to alter its construction.
During the launch a large crowd has gathered in an enormous hall located at the Alexandra Palace in North London, which was built in 1875. This launch is part of the International Convention that Robert has organized, in which every nation has been invited. The Convention opens up with a Scottish bagpipe band marching across the stage followed by beautiful female models wearing white miniskirts and white stockings and waving their countries flags. The delegates dressed in white form the first few rows of the audience.
As this is taking place, we see Ambrose outside the great hall signing a delivery of three dozen boxes of the Universal Brassiere that will be worn by the actual models momentarily. We then see the models downstairs in the dressing room frantically scurrying around to get their brassiere on and the rest of the glorious costumes. As the audience will soon see, some of the nations represented here have been chosen in a sort of beauty pageant with 30 models as delegates representing their countries colors in the bathing suits they wear. Robert announces from atop a hundred foot giant girl wearing a brassiere, that the inflation of the bra can be "worn by any woman, anywhere, and at anytime". He then pushes a button which begins the inflation sound, and the large brassiere on the statue of the woman begins to fill up. He continues that the "gaseous substance fills up automatically and immediately. The material then adjusts itself to the shape of its wearer, and grows onward, outward, and upward. To whatever shape, size, or conformation she desires".
The models begin to parade down an elaborate circular staircase surrounding the giant girl as the world press snaps photos capturing this huge landmark event. All the while, a rock band is playing a song about free love, and the crowd is going ballistic. After much fanfare, Robert announces to the crowd that his invention will change the world, and he proposes to donate to the underdeveloped nations of the word.
Mr. Blossom begins a short countdown, and suddenly, you hear inflation noises going on, and the girls brassieres begin to grow out. The camera spans the delegates, and they are extremely pleased with the results, you can see their confidence grow as their assets become more and more impressive. The crowd is also very excited for this new product. However, something goes greatly awry, when the gas keeps inflating the girls bosoms. It doesn't stop, and many of the girls have panicked looks on their faces. The crowd begins to gasp, as they too understand that this is unintended.
The girls quickly go from 36C cups to 44dd cups in seconds, and it still does not stop. Many of the models become frightened and begin grabbing their breasts, thinking they can somehow keep them from growing. The crowd begins to snicker, especially the jealous women in the audience. It seems many of the female persuasion enjoy watching the demise of a beautiful woman. Robert announces that they are having a small technical mishap. You see Harriet and Ambrose in the crowd begin to feel very smug, especially Ambrose, who has specifically orchestrated the tampering and sabotage of the brassieres.
Then without warning, the girls begin to float upward, at first this is just a little bit. Robert quickly grabs onto two of the models trying to hold them down. This has little effect, and all of the women begin to float upward to the ceiling, waving their hands and legs in the arm in total distress. However, there is nothing they can do, and the crowd begins to take more and more pleasure in their humiliation. The scene fades to black as Robert is screaming "get me down".
We do not find out the fate of these lovely ladies. Whether they were successfully rescued without incident. The viewer was left with many unanswered questions, such as were any of them harmed. Did their brassieres pop after getting to a certain extended position in which it could hold no more or when the material in their bathing suit ripped open; Were they harnessed with ropes to pull them back down; Were they shot with pellets or arrows to pop their gas filled brassieres; Did they end up floating all the way to the ceiling before the glass prevented them from going any further. All these questions I'm sure were contemplated by the audience long after watching this film. I am certain that this scene had altering effects on young boys minds throughout the late 60's and 70's who were lucky enough to watch this. I know it was responsible for the breast and inflation fetish in many men today.
Obviously, it destroyed Robert's business opportunity and his company at large. Harriet took comfort in the fact that this kept her husband from being too successful. He was already spending too much time at the office and his business. He had neglected her, which had driven her to have the affair with Ambrose.
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Gallery[]
Gallery of Pageant Models[]
