R.I.P., Jane Russell

The beauty in the following photo is in the caught-by-the-camera candid feel of it.

The beauty in the following clip is its simplicity. When these two women shimmy, they make an impact, due to the simplicity of what came before.

I’ll let others be eloquent on the passing of this beloved American actress. For example, please don’t miss The Siren’s wonderful tribute.

In the meantime:

For me, I’ll miss knowing she’s still out there.

A classy dame.

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11 Responses to R.I.P., Jane Russell

  1. John Levy says:

    (Looooooooong sigh.) So good.

  2. JessicaR says:

    Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is one of my all time favorites and she’s a big reason why. She was so smart, so funny, so warm a perfect foil to Marilyn in that movie. I wouldn’t even say she “steals” it, she’s just a key part of why it works so well. I’ll miss knowing she’s around.

  3. John Levy says:

    Hawks was a genius to pair the two of them. No one could match the magnificence of this today.

  4. Kent says:

    A great lady, very down to earth and direct. Would talk movies like crazy with Ann Savage… both film lovers since childhood! A sad day, a painful loss.

  5. Charles J. Sperling says:

    “You were good, too, Dorothy.”

    Boy, was Gus Esmond a master of understatement…

    R.I.P., with buttons and bows.

  6. sheila says:

    John – agreed, in re: Hawks. They are so terrific together.

  7. sheila says:

    Kent – Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at one of the chats between Russell and Savage!

  8. Kent says:

    haha… it’s SO funny that you say exactly that in those words, Sheila!! Those are the words I’ve used to describe these moments in my life. “The happiest fly on the wall in the history of Cinema!” When I say this, people look at me strangely and don’t reply, so… THANK YOU SHEILA!!
    I swear, also witnessing the collaboration between Ann and Guy Maddin… I grew wings and instantly flew to fly on the wall HEAVEN! If I had been able to fly on the wall Lillian Gish and D.W. Griffith, or Dietrich and Von Sternberg, or Che and Castro… it wouldn’t have been more joyous!
    Ann and Jane Russell were two TOUGH as nails Texas ’40s gals, who knew how to beguile men, have a good time doing it, and grab some ice in the process! They knew many of the same guys… and 60 years later would still laugh at the creeps, and compare notes on the good guys. They were fascinated with Joe Drown, wealthy L.A. lawyer, who tried to impress girls by eating lightbulbs at the dinner table on a date. They both agreed that he smelled worse than Howard Hughes! There’s a zillion stories…

  9. sheila says:

    hahahahaha Oh I can’t even imagine what it was like to watch Guy and Ann Savage – his prologue to your book brought tears to my eyes. (I still have only read his prologue and your foreword – sorry, so so busy right now!!)

    Uhm – eating lightbulbs as a move of seduction??? You gonna kiss me later with that mouth full of broken glass, pal?

    I love these anecdotes!!

  10. Kent says:

    Slick guy, huh? It must’ve worked for somebody… but not these gals! hahaha! No worries on book, it’ll be there… you’ve certainly had enough on your mind, my god!

    It makes me so sad to see the Hollywood 40s generation disappear. Their personalities (and movies) were so unique. When I first moved to L.A. in the mid 70s, many of them were not only alive, but still employed, still hanging out. Vital, funny, FUN people. They all came up in a tight, small factory town that has truly disappeared. The vast digital universe somehow diminishes us all with its harsh look, and emphasis on “reality”. I’ll take honest fantasy any day over faked reality. Also, these people were one offs. Only one Jane Russell. Savage. Brando. Garland. Sinatra. And Gilbert Roland… “Amigo” – another topic of regular discussion LONG after he was gone, but this time positively. I think Amigo was to Hollywood females of that era as Rubirosa was to New York society of the ’40s and ’50s. Something stirred in their eyes, whenever they spoke his name.

  11. Kenneth Wright says:

    Goodbye and thank you, Jane Russell – another little twinkle quits the sky. She was the most delightfully likeable of all the Golden Age actresses whose persona involved being not only attractive but also funny, smart, big-hearted … and one of the boys. Her turn in Son of Paleface, singing Buttons and Bows (“East is East and West is West/ And the wrong one I have chose”) with Bob Hope and Roy Rogers, will always be for me the gold standard of wholesome, cheerful sex appeal.

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