Justin here with a quick look at the excellent Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe movie, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Unfortunately, we lost Jane Russell yesterday, but we still have her excellent musical/buddy movie with Marilyn Monroe. I watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for the first time at our last 24 hour movie fest a couple of years ago (another excellent Beth pick). It's a fun romp about a couple of hard-luck gold digging showgirls. The movie boasts some fantastic songs and fun musical numbers. The best known is Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.
While this is my favorite Marilyn Monroe movie, I liked Jane Russell's performance much more. Marilyn plays her standard sultry character as seen in Some Like it Hot and The Seven Year Itch. Russel though is her sharp, witty friend; A great foil to Marilyn. Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but I prefer smart curvy brunettes.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is one of those rare movies that's light as air and doesn't take itself seriously. From word go, you know everything is going to turn out OK but you can't help but be involved with the characters because they're all so likable and relatable on an archetypal level. As much as Monroe's character is a shameless gold digger, Russell's is a shameless man-eater. Check out this excellent Russell musical number, "Ain't there Anyone Here for Love."
In addition to the awesome performances, the movie was directed by the Great Howard Hawks also responsible for Bringing up Baby, Red River, and El Dorado. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is required viewing, and unlike a lot of movies with that distinction, this one is a blast.
One last thing I want to add about Jane Russell is a note about her awesome performance in The Born Losers, the first Billy Jack movie. While I really didn't like that movie a whole lot, the most enjoyable parts of it belonged to Russell. She plays the mother of female lead Elizabeth James, a girl who gets caught up with a biker gang. This is one of Russell's last performances. Seeing her go from the beautifully costumed diva in Blondes to essentially a trailer-trash concerned mom with an alcohol problem is really amazing and shows that she was probably a better actor than she was given credit for.