Focus Features

Jane Russell has a place in film history - not for one of her performances, but for a poster.

She was introduced to the world by Howard Hughes in a film called The Outlaw.  The poster displayed Russell lounging in a mess of straw with a gun in her hand. Godard once said: "All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun."

The poster announced “Howard Hughes' Daring Production...Introducing Jane Russell” and underneath Russell were the words “Mean...Moody...Magnificent.” What was magnificent was Russell's body and the special bra Hughes invented whose uplift was designed to emphasize her full figure. Looking at that poster today, one wonders at the misogyny that demands of contemporary female stars that they have the figures of adolescent boys.

Russell was one of the few female stars with dark hair in a decade dominated by peroxide blondes like Marilyn Monroe. Howard Hawks made the point by pairing Russell with Monroe in Gentleman Prefer Blondes. The film is best known for Monroe's incandescent rendition of “Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend” but, in its own camp way, what is equally impressive is the scene in the gym where Russell sings “Ain't There Anyone Here for Love” surrounded by a team bare-chested Olympic athletes.

What is interesting about Russell is how well she paired with other stars, especially those deemed to be difficult. Hawks talked about how much help he got from Russell in dealing with Monroe. And she fared well with Bob Hope in the two films she did with him, Paleface and Son of Paleface. But her most iconic pairing was with Robert Mitchum in His Kind of Woman and Macao.

His Kind of Woman was directed by John Farrow (father of Mia Farrow and an unjustly neglected film-maker, especially of film noirs.) The pairing of Russell and Mitchum was trumpeted by Louella Parsons as “the hottest combination that ever hit the screen.” How accurate that description was – there's a scene in the film where Mitchum is ironing his pants, but the iron is left burning a hole in the pants as he and Russell move into a final clinch.

Russell with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes

Macao was a much less happy experience. The director, Josef Von Sternberg, was fired and Nicolas Ray was hired in his place.

Russell had this to say about the film:

“Von Sternberg was an ogre on the set.  He was rude to the crew; he would try to divide and conquer. But we had all worked together before and we were all good friends. So when he'd go up to Bob Mitchum and say something rude about me, thinking he was building up Mitch's ego, Mitch would blast him.

Nobody was allowed to eat and drink on the set, but finally Mitch just brought out a picnic basket and a blanket, sat down on it, and out came all the food and drink. I think Von Sternberg finally said to Mitch, “You'd better be careful because they'll take you off the picture.” And Mitch said, “If anybody's going to be taken off, it'll be you.” And he was right.

They said the scenes Von Sternberg had shot were uncuttable.  His thing was lighting and setting a certain mood, but that was very old-fashioned at the time.  So then Nick Ray came along, and he and Mitch had to write extra scenes and try and tie it together.  Those scenes are probably the most fun because the rest of the picture was very stilted.

Mitchum puts you at your ease because he's very casual and yet he knows exactly what he's doing. He's always very helpful, and he's lots of fun to be around because he's a character.”

Extract from “Jane Russell, interviewed by Graham Fuller,” from Projections 7 (Faber & Faber, 1997).

Essential Viewing:

Jane Russell: The Outlaw [Buy], The Paleface [Buy], His Kind of Woman [Buy], Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [Buy]

Robert Mitchum: Out of the Past [Buy], Pursued [Buy], Crossfire [Buy], Angel Face [Buy], The Lusty Men [Buy], Home from the Hill [Buy], The Night of the Hunter [Buy], Cape Fear [Buy], El Dorado [Buy], The Friends of Eddie Coyle [Buy], Farewell, My Lovely [Buy]

John Farrow: His Kind of Woman [Buy], The Big Clock [Buy], Hondo [Buy]

Jane Russell has a place in film history - not for one of her performances, but for a poster.

She was introduced to the world by Howard Hughes in a film called The Outlaw.  The poster displayed Russell lounging in a mess of straw with a gun in her hand. Godard once said: "All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun."

The poster announced “Howard Hughes' Daring Production...Introducing Jane Russell” and underneath Russell were the words “Mean...Moody...Magnificent.” What was magnificent was Russell's body and the special bra Hughes invented whose uplift was designed to emphasize her full figure. Looking at that poster today, one wonders at the misogyny that demands of contemporary female stars that they have the figures of adolescent boys.

Russell was one of the few female stars with dark hair in a decade dominated by peroxide blondes like Marilyn Monroe. Howard Hawks made the point by pairing Russell with Monroe in Gentleman Prefer Blondes. The film is best known for Monroe's incandescent rendition of “Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend” but, in its own camp way, what is equally impressive is the scene in the gym where Russell sings “Ain't There Anyone Here for Love” surrounded by a team bare-chested Olympic athletes.

What is interesting about Russell is how well she paired with other stars, especially those deemed to be difficult. Hawks talked about how much help he got from Russell in dealing with Monroe. And she fared well with Bob Hope in the two films she did with him, Paleface and Son of Paleface. But her most iconic pairing was with Robert Mitchum in His Kind of Woman and Macao.

His Kind of Woman was directed by John Farrow (father of Mia Farrow and an unjustly neglected film-maker, especially of film noirs.) The pairing of Russell and Mitchum was trumpeted by Louella Parsons as “the hottest combination that ever hit the screen.” How accurate that description was – there's a scene in the film where Mitchum is ironing his pants, but the iron is left burning a hole in the pants as he and Russell move into a final clinch.

Russell with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes

Macao was a much less happy experience. The director, Josef Von Sternberg, was fired and Nicolas Ray was hired in his place.

Russell had this to say about the film:

“Von Sternberg was an ogre on the set.  He was rude to the crew; he would try to divide and conquer. But we had all worked together before and we were all good friends. So when he'd go up to Bob Mitchum and say something rude about me, thinking he was building up Mitch's ego, Mitch would blast him.

Nobody was allowed to eat and drink on the set, but finally Mitch just brought out a picnic basket and a blanket, sat down on it, and out came all the food and drink. I think Von Sternberg finally said to Mitch, “You'd better be careful because they'll take you off the picture.” And Mitch said, “If anybody's going to be taken off, it'll be you.” And he was right.

They said the scenes Von Sternberg had shot were uncuttable.  His thing was lighting and setting a certain mood, but that was very old-fashioned at the time.  So then Nick Ray came along, and he and Mitch had to write extra scenes and try and tie it together.  Those scenes are probably the most fun because the rest of the picture was very stilted.

Mitchum puts you at your ease because he's very casual and yet he knows exactly what he's doing. He's always very helpful, and he's lots of fun to be around because he's a character.”

Extract from “Jane Russell, interviewed by Graham Fuller,” from Projections 7 (Faber & Faber, 1997).

Essential Viewing:

Jane Russell: The Outlaw [Buy], The Paleface [Buy], His Kind of Woman [Buy], Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [Buy]

Robert Mitchum: Out of the Past [Buy], Pursued [Buy], Crossfire [Buy], Angel Face [Buy], The Lusty Men [Buy], Home from the Hill [Buy], The Night of the Hunter [Buy], Cape Fear [Buy], El Dorado [Buy], The Friends of Eddie Coyle [Buy], Farewell, My Lovely [Buy]

John Farrow: His Kind of Woman [Buy], The Big Clock [Buy], Hondo [Buy]