A Bombshell for the Ages: Pam Grier - A Whole 'Lotta Bombshell

If you were to look up amazonian beauty in the dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Pam Grier.  The first lady of seventies blaxploitation films and one of cinema's all-time badasses, Ms. Grier has led a remarkable life and has left an indelible legacy on the world of film.

An army brat, born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on May 26, 1949, Pamela Suzette Grier spent most of her childhood on the move, living in various locales in the United States and spending some time in England.  At the age of 6 she was raped by two boys while left unattended at her aunt's house.  She spent many years dealing with the pain and it could be argued that her anger this experience helped her to form the take no-prisoners attitude that many of the characters she would go on to play in her films exhibit.  Her family finally settled in Denver, Colorado during her high school years, and she spent much of this time taking part in various stage productions.  She also took part in a beauty pageant to help raise tuition money for college.

In 1967, Pam decided to try her luck in Hollywood.  She found a job as a receptionist at American International Pictures (AIP), a production company that focused primarily on the production of low budget drive-in movies, B-movies, and exploitation films.  While working for AIP, she was soon discovered by director Jack Hill, who cast Grier in his women-in-prison flicks, The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972).  With the emergence of blaxploitation films, Ms. Grier soon became of staple of the genre.  Her larger-than-life statuesque beauty combined with her bold, assertive persona made her a natural for the titular role in Coffy (1973) where she played a vengeful nurse trying to take out a crew of drug dealers.  She would go on to play similar roles in Foxy Brown (1974), Friday Foster (1975), and Sheba Baby (1975).

With the demise of the blaxploitation genre in the second half of the seventies, Ms. Grier moved on to play a number of one-off character roles in various films (such as 1981's Fort Apache the Bronx, 1988's Above the Law, and 1991's Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure) and television series (The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air to name a few).

It was Quentin Tarantino who launched Pam Grier back into the spotlight when he cast her as the lead in his low-key (for Tarantino) crime thriller Jackie Brown (1997).  Since this resurgence Ms. Grier has worked steadily in film and television.  Though she has had dalliances with many notable men including Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Richard Pryor, she never married and has no children.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a Pretty Awesome Film!

With the recent death of Jane Russell, I decided to revisit her best film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and was struck by the charm of this screwball comedy/musical.  Not that I have ever had any ill-will towards the film, but I forgot how genuinely entertaining it is, and what a great portrayal of female camaraderie it demonstrates.

Directed by Howard Hawkes and released in 1953, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Russell and Marilyn Monroe as Dorothy Shaw and Lorelei Lee, two showgirls who are best friends with very different preferences in men.  Lorelei (Monroe) plays her typical ditzy blonde who is obsessed with millionaires and diamonds, while Russell's Dorothy despises men with money and is basically out to find a guy who can show her a good time.  Lorelei has captured the heart of a nerdy millionaire whose father disapproves of their union, and is going abroad to France to elope with her intended; Dorothy tags along to play chaperon and have a good time with the men's Olympic team who are travelling on the same ocean liner.

Their trip hits a snag when Lorelei's fiance's father hires a private eye to get some dirt on the blonde man-trap.  While trying to get to Lorelei he starts romancing Dorothy, and soon he and Dorothy fall of each other.  Meanwhile, Lorelei discovers that diamond mine owner Sir Frances "Piggy" Beekman (played by the always wonderful Charles Coburn) is on the ocean liner and starts plotting to seduce the old man into giving her his wife's diamond tiara.  The private dick gets the dirt on Lorelei and the girls have to hatch a plot to get it back from him.  Several misadventures and misunderstandings follow before the girls get their men and the happy ending they desire.

As mentioned before, the film really is all about the relationship between these two women and the way they constantly put their heads on the line for each other in difficult times.  The chemistry between Russell and Monroe is undeniable and the film is at its best when the two are playing off each other.  Other than Piggy, the male characters are pretty unremarkable and serve more as plot devices to explain the hijinks these girls get into.

As with the plot of the film, the musical numbers that work best are also the ones where both Monroe and Russell are together.  To most people who are familiar with the film, the number that immediately comes to mind is Monroe's often imitated, indelible  Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend.   Russell does a similar number with the Olympic team dancing along in flesh coloured shorts when she performs Ain't There Anyone Here For Love, and both numbers are great but together the ladies bring down the house.  Unlike many other musicals every song works in the film and pretty much every number is memorable.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ranks pretty high on my list of favourite movie musicals.  It's light, doesn't take itself too seriously, and is a lot of fun to watch.  I really recommend that people who have never seen it take a look.  Here's a sample of the Russell/Monroe magic.

RIP: Dame Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011

More sad news to report.  Mythic Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Taylor passed away last night at the age of 79.  Her health had been failing for quite sometime now due to congestive heart failure.  

As previously mentioned she was a legend of the highest order in Hollywood appearing in films since the age of nine.  She appeared in seventy films and television roles during a career that spanned seven decades,  winning two Oscars for best actress (for 1960's BUtterfield 8 and 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf).  In spite of her prolific career, Dame Elizabeth became known for her erratic love life which saw her marry seven different men, her most famous and passionate union being her affair and two marriages to celebrated Welsh actor Richard Burton.  In her twilight years she spent most of her time championing several for humanitarian causes, most notably HIV/AIDS related charities.

I don't want to say too much more about Dame Elizabeth at this point, because I would like to give her the full Bombshell for the Ages treatment sometime in the near future.  Her death is particularly shocking, because of her history of cheating death throughout her long life.  Looks like the lives of Maggie the cat have finally run out.  Rest in Peace Ms. Taylor, your beauty, talent, and generosity of spirit were truly inspiring.  

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A Bombshell for the Ages: Maureen O'Hara

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day we turn our eyes to the Emerald Isle to find a classic Irish bombshell: Ms. Maureen O'Hara.  Born Maureen FitzSimons in Dublin Ireland in 1920, Maureen always had aspirations towards the stage and screen.  As a child she trained in dance, drama, and music at the Abbey Theatre.  At the age of 10 she joined Rathmines Theatre Company for further training and took part in amateur theatre productions in evenings after her studies.  In spite of her determination to become a working actress her father insisted that she learn some practical skill in case her performing career did not take off, so she enrolled in business school and became a proficient typist and book keeper.  

Fortunately, her business school training turned out to be unnecessary when a London studio asked her to film a screen test.  Though the test was initially dismissed by studio heads, famed British actor Charles Laughton saw something in it and encouraged the studio to sign Maureen.  She was soon signed to a seven year contract, with her first screen appearance starring opposite Laughton in Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn (1938).  Laughton was so impressed by Maureen that they co-starred in a second picture, The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1939, which was filmed in Hollywood.  This and the outbreak of the second world war was the turning point in bringing and keeping her in the United States.  

Because it was unsafe to shoot films in London, Maureen's London contract was sold to RKO studios soon after shooting on the Hunchback was completed.  She spent her first few years in Hollywood starring in low budget films and would have kept doing so had she not caught the attention of director John Ford, who cast her in his Academy Award winning film, How Green Was My Valley (1941).  She would go on to partner with John Ford and one of his favourite actors John Wayne in Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), and The Wings of Eagles (1957).  Her chemistry with Wayne offscreen was indicative of the easy friendship between the two in real life.  While her work with Ford and Wayne were important milestones for Maureen, her two most recognizable roles playing firry independent mothers in family favourites Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and The Parent Trap (1961).  

Though best known for her acting, Ms. O'Hara has often said that singing is her first love, a talent she displayed in film and television appearances during the late fifties and sixties.  She has released two albums of music.  

She married three times, her third husband transatlantic aviator Charles F. Blair Jr. passing away in an air accident in 1978.  Though she retired a few years after her 1968 marriage to Blair, she made a small comeback in 1991's Only The Lonely, starring as John Candy's domineering mother.  She went on to make several small appearances in made-for-tv movies during the nineties.  She has since slowed down her acting again and now splits her time between homes in Arizona, The Virgin Islands, and Cork Ireland.  

RIP: Jane Russell 1921 - 2011

Yet another sad passing to report.  Famed actress and classic Hollywood sex symbol. Jane Russel passed away on February 28 at the age of 89. 

Russell first rose to fame as the star of Howard Hughes' western The Outlaw (1943), in which the films entire marketing campaign revolved around Ms. Russell's ample cleavage.  If you've ever seen Martin Scorcese's The Aviator (2004), you're probably familiar with the scene in which Howard Hughes defends featuring Russell's breast so gratuitously in The Outlaw, at a moral decency hearing when it was believed that her assets violated the Hayes code. In spite of her controversial introduction to the world she went on to a successful film career, highlighted by staring roles opposite Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra.  Her most iconic role was in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1952), starring opposite Marilyn Monroe. 

Although Hollywood cast her as the sultry sexpot, in real life Jane Russell was a devout Christian.  As her film career declined she went on to headline various nightclub and musical acts.  She also became a Playtex bra spokeswoman during the seventies.  She married three times, staying happily married to her third husband until his death in 1999.  She was very active in the Christan community and was also passionate about helping orphaned children find homes, fonding the World Adoption International Fund in 1955.