Gentlemen Marry Brunettes

Anita Loos was the author of the novel and play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which served the basis for the smash film with Jane Russell and Marilyan Monroe. It was hoped that Loos' sequel to the novel, "But They Marry Brunettes" would repeat that success. Russell returned with Jeanne Crain stepping in for a presumably otherwise engaged Monroe. Both women played new characters, if memory serves correct they were supposedly the daughters of one of the original two characters, Broadway showgirls, sick and tired of New York and not getting anywhere. Quitting Broadway, they decided to travel to Paris to become famous, unaware that the follies required more disrobing than they were comfortable with. The two wholesome mid-westerners were further discomforted by the realization that their fore bearers may have bee digging gold when last in the city of light. The film co-stars Alan Young (later the star of TV's Mr. Ed), and Scott Brady (brother of Lawrence Tierney), with Rudy Vallee as well. The Sequel film was not as well received as it's predecessor and thus not as well known.

R.I.P.

Jane Russell Dies at 89.

Jane Russell, one of Hollywood’s most memorable sex symbols from the 1940s and 1950s who starred in films such as the The Outlaw and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, died today at her home in Santa Maria, Calif., of a respiratory illness, the Associated Press has confirmed. She was 89 years old.

The Minnesota-born actress was originally discovered by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes when he cast her in Outlaw, which rocketed her to overnight fame and caused controversy because of the cleavage she showed in the film. Over the years, Russell starred alongside a bevy of Hollywood stars, notably Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx (1951′s Double Dynamite), Bob Hope (1948′s The Paleface), Clark Gable (1955′s The Tall Men), and Marilyn Monroe (1953′s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).

While Russell’s career began to slow in the 1960s and her last film role came in 1970’s Darker Than Amber, she made a return to prominence in the 1970s, doing commercials for Playtex’s line of full-figured bras.

Happy Valentine's Day!