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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 231451" data-attributes="member: 5079">Harry Wild&#039;s cinematography in BLONDES is great, but I think some of the hairstyles and clothes Jane had in the film were not particularly flattering to her.&nbsp; In a biography of Marilyn I read some years back, designer Travilla made some disparaging remarks about Jane; something to the effect that, compared to Marilyn, Jane looked like a Teamster in drag.&nbsp; He may not have liked designing for her.&nbsp; Jane said in her autobiography that she demanded an entirely re-designed wardrobe for the film, so Travilla may have been resentful that she rejected his initial designs.Pulled in from the Lana thread ...It&#039;s not easy being a fan; there&#039;s not much worthwhile in her filmography.&nbsp; It&#039;s not so much that she had a high ratio of bad films.&nbsp; Crawford and Davis also have far more bad movies than good to their credit, but Jane&#039;s filmography is skimpy to boot.&nbsp; But, still, 3 great films, a few good and a couple oddities balances out the rest of the mediocrities.I think she had more box office success than you give her credit for, though.&nbsp; THE OUTLAW, both PALEFACE films, HIS KIND OF WOMAN, BLONDES of course, THE FRENCH LINE and THE TALL MEN were all hits at the box office.&nbsp; I suppose it could be argued that most of these were carried by her co-stars, but it&#039;s worth noting that Fox considered her a potent enough draw for them to give her top billing and a significantly higher salary to bolster Marilyn&#039;s yet unproven box office appeal.&nbsp; Also, some RKO shareholders sued Hughes in the early 50s, claiming Jane&#039;s salary wasn&#039;t warranted by her box office success; the judge ruled against them.Her features were rather angular and I&#039;ve seen photos from bad angles where she was nearly unrecognizable.&nbsp; As her main film career was winding down, she adopted one of those close-cropped hairstyles that were inexplicably popular in the late 50s and which made even young, beautiful women look like dowdy matrons.&nbsp; It suited her even less-well than many others.Ahh, THE FRENCH LINE; Hughes&#039; attempt at re-creating GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES but with the giddy vulgarity replaced with tacky vulgarity.&nbsp; And don&#039;t forget, the movie was in 3D.&nbsp;&nbsp; (&quot;J.R. in 3D!&nbsp; It&#039;ll knock BOTH your eyes out!&quot;)&nbsp; It&#039;s probably a good thing the 3D fad faded before Jayne Mansfield came along; she might have given people concussions.But that movie wasn&#039;t nearly as ill-conceived as GENTLEMAN MARRY BRUNETTES.&nbsp; For years, I was curious to see that film, but it remained elusive.&nbsp; When I finally was able to watch it, I didn&#039;t last more than 30 minutes.&nbsp; It&#039;s her worst film, and that&#039;s saying something since she started with the awful THE OUTLAW.That&#039;s an excellent documentary; the entire thing is on Youtube.&nbsp; There&#039;s a comparable one on MGM made maybe a decade later.&nbsp; It&#039;s a shame all of the classic film studios didn&#039;t get similar documentaries while most of the major stars were still alive.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 231451, member: 5079"] Harry Wild's cinematography in BLONDES is great, but I think some of the hairstyles and clothes Jane had in the film were not particularly flattering to her. In a biography of Marilyn I read some years back, designer Travilla made some disparaging remarks about Jane; something to the effect that, compared to Marilyn, Jane looked like a Teamster in drag. He may not have liked designing for her. Jane said in her autobiography that she demanded an entirely re-designed wardrobe for the film, so Travilla may have been resentful that she rejected his initial designs. Pulled in from the Lana thread ... It's not easy being a fan; there's not much worthwhile in her filmography. It's not so much that she had a high ratio of bad films. Crawford and Davis also have far more bad movies than good to their credit, but Jane's filmography is skimpy to boot. But, still, 3 great films, a few good and a couple oddities balances out the rest of the mediocrities. I think she had more box office success than you give her credit for, though. THE OUTLAW, both PALEFACE films, HIS KIND OF WOMAN, BLONDES of course, THE FRENCH LINE and THE TALL MEN were all hits at the box office. I suppose it could be argued that most of these were carried by her co-stars, but it's worth noting that Fox considered her a potent enough draw for them to give her top billing and a significantly higher salary to bolster Marilyn's yet unproven box office appeal. Also, some RKO shareholders sued Hughes in the early 50s, claiming Jane's salary wasn't warranted by her box office success; the judge ruled against them. Her features were rather angular and I've seen photos from bad angles where she was nearly unrecognizable. As her main film career was winding down, she adopted one of those close-cropped hairstyles that were inexplicably popular in the late 50s and which made even young, beautiful women look like dowdy matrons. It suited her even less-well than many others. Ahh, THE FRENCH LINE; Hughes' attempt at re-creating GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES but with the giddy vulgarity replaced with tacky vulgarity. And don't forget, the movie was in 3D. ("J.R. in 3D! It'll knock BOTH your eyes out!") It's probably a good thing the 3D fad faded before Jayne Mansfield came along; she might have given people concussions. But that movie wasn't nearly as ill-conceived as GENTLEMAN MARRY BRUNETTES. For years, I was curious to see that film, but it remained elusive. When I finally was able to watch it, I didn't last more than 30 minutes. It's her worst film, and that's saying something since she started with the awful THE OUTLAW. That's an excellent documentary; the entire thing is on Youtube. There's a comparable one on MGM made maybe a decade later. It's a shame all of the classic film studios didn't get similar documentaries while most of the major stars were still alive. [/QUOTE]

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