Lady in a Jam is a 1941 film I first learned about from one of Mark Kelly's Wamtec lists (thanks Mark) and then found on youtube.
In tthe movie Irene Dunne inherits a run-down gold mine. Visiting the mine she decides to go down inside to look for gold despite being warned that it's muddy at the bottom. We see her disappear down the shaft wearing a smart dress and high heels, a clothing choice that will make perfect sense to people on this forum, if not to anyone else. Just as she's warned that the bottom step is slippery we hear a cry and a splash as she falls and she tells us she's covered in mud from head to toe. This happens off screen and we dont see her until she climbs back up.
Given the date of the movie, and the fact that Irene Dunne was a big star at the time, I wasnt expecting the coverage to be more than a few splashes but when she emerges she is totally covered, including her now-bedraggled hair. Then, rather than run off to clean up, she stays to help out at the pit head giving us some good, clear views of her still very muddy state.
The only down side for me, apart from not seeing her floundering around in the mud, is that her hair is piinned up rather than loose as in the previous scene.
As far as I know this is Irene Dunne's only wam scene, unless others know better.
I've attached a link to the full film on youtube - the scene starts at 42min (it's the only wam scene in the movie). I also captured a few stills.
For me No Time For Love is less good because it has no hair coverage. I can understand others preferring it if hair coverage is less important to them but I just find the scene in that movie intensely frustrating, so much mud yet her hair stays clean.
What I like about Lady in a Jam is that it has a big Hollywood star, which is what Irene Dunne was at the time, willing to have her hair caked in mud, and that was a real rarity in the 30s and 40s (it's not exactly common now). Of course the scene would have been far better if she'd been filmed falling face first into the mud but what we have is pretty good for the time it was made, in my view.
You can also imagine the action behind the scenes where someone had the fun job of covering her in all that mud (and maybe washing it off after).
Love you, too
