''The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown'' is a 1957 American
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film made by Russ-Field Productions and released by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
. It was directed by
Norman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...
from a screenplay by
Richard Alan Simmons
Richard Alan Simmons (October 11, 1924 – November 13, 2004) was a Canadian-American screenwriter.
Simmons was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. After the war, he graduated from the ...
, based on a novel of the same name by
Sylvia Tate
Sylvia may refer to:
People
*Sylvia (given name)
*Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter
*Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive
*Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer credi ...
and the jazzy music was composed and conducted by
Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...
.
The film stars
Jane Russell
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films.
Russell moved from th ...
,
Keenan Wynn
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...
and
Ralph Meeker
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...
.
Plot
Movie star Laurel Stevens (
Jane Russell
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films.
Russell moved from th ...
) has made a new film. It is called ''The Kidnapped Bride'' and gives a brainstorm to a couple of small-time crooks, Mike (
Ralph Meeker
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...
) and Dandy (
Keenan Wynn
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...
), to kidnap Laurel.
While they take her to a
Malibu beachfront hideout, agent Barney Baylies (
Robert H. Harris
Robert H. Harris (born Robert H. Hurwitz; July 15, 1911 – November 30, 1981) was an American character actor.
Stage
A veteran of the Yiddish Art Theater from his teens, Harris made his first Broadway appearance in 1937 in ''Schoolhouse on the ...
) and studio chief Martin (
Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley Ku ...
) can't figure out why Laurel's a no-show at the premiere. Gossip columnist Daisy Parker (
Benay Venuta
Benay Venuta (born Benvenuta Rose Crooke, January 27, 1910 – September 1, 1995) was an American actress, singer and dancer.
Early life
Born in San Francisco, Venuta was a graduate of Hollywood High School. She attended finishing school in ...
) is dying to know, too, so a decision is made to avoid a scandal at all costs and not report Laurel missing to the police. Mike and Dandy want a $50,000 ransom. Laurel is insulted, feeling she's worth ten times that.
Laurel also fears this thing could hurt her career by looking like a publicity stunt. When Los Angeles police sergeant McBride (
Fred Clark
Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor.
Early years
Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to becom ...
), who once sent Mike to prison, comes to Malibu to do a routine check on him, Laurel alters her appearance and pretends to be Mike's girl. The studio finally goes to the cops and also offers a $100,000 reward. The ransom money is taken to the airport, which is where the not-too-bright Dandy has a job. McBride notices a portrait of Laurel at the studio and suddenly realizes where he's just seen her.
Laurel has begun to fall for Mike for real. This time when McBride shows up, Laurel knocks him cold. She and Mike steal the cop's car and race to the airport. They get nabbed by the cops, but dim Dandy has picked up the wrong suitcase. There is no crime so there are no arrests, particularly since Laurel and Mike are now in love.
Cast
*
Jane Russell
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films.
Russell moved from th ...
as Laurel Stevens
*
Keenan Wynn
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...
as Dandy
*
Ralph Meeker
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...
as Mike Peterson
*
Fred Clark
Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor.
Early years
Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to becom ...
as Sergeant McBride
*
Una Merkel
Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress.
Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...
as Bertha
*
Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley Ku ...
as Arthur Martin
*
Robert H. Harris
Robert H. Harris (born Robert H. Hurwitz; July 15, 1911 – November 30, 1981) was an American character actor.
Stage
A veteran of the Yiddish Art Theater from his teens, Harris made his first Broadway appearance in 1937 in ''Schoolhouse on the ...
as Barney Baylies
*
Benay Venuta
Benay Venuta (born Benvenuta Rose Crooke, January 27, 1910 – September 1, 1995) was an American actress, singer and dancer.
Early life
Born in San Francisco, Venuta was a graduate of Hollywood High School. She attended finishing school in ...
as Daisy Parker
*
Bob Kelley
Robert J. Kelley (May 17, 1917 – September 9, 1966) was an American sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play announcer for the Rams pro football team from that NFL franchise's inception in 1937 in Cleveland, after its move to Los Ang ...
as TV Announcer
*
Dick Haynes
Dick Haynes (January 9, 1911 – November 24, 1980) was an American actor and radio personality. He had minor roles in films and television that began with an uncredited appearance as a reporter in the 1954 MGM film, '' Tennessee Champ''. His ...
as D.J.
* John Truax as Flack
*
Milton Frome
Milton Frome (February 24, 1909 – March 21, 1989) was an American character actor.
Career
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Frome landed his first acting job in the short subject ''Daredevil O'Dare'' in 1934. He did not act again until 1939 ...
as Lieutenant Dempsey
Reception
At the time of its release, ''The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown'' received mixed reviews, ''The Mirror News'' wrote "...a belabored attempt at comedy which never comes off. The pace is slow. While both Miss Russell and Mr. Wynn gallantly try for laughs, Meeker labors in a heavy-handed tough-guy fashion, completely at odds with the work of the others." Ruth Waterbury of the ''L.A. Examiner'' wrote that although "''The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown'' is no classic among comedies...It's just a good natured romp, which treats nothing with reverence and it will do you nicely for a summer's day amusement." Waterbury praised Russell’s performance, "Miss Russell spoofs the glamour type she herself has been. She spoofs Hollywood, press agentry, even love. What's more she makes you thoroughly enjoy it," but called Meeker the biggest weakness of the movie, ".. a fine stage actor though he is...he is too 'straight' in his work, and screen comedy appears not to be his forte." ''The Hollywood Reporter'' called it an "amusing farce
utthe farce is not sustained; it is occasionally abandoned altogether for some semi-serious romantic scenes that tend to break and confuse the mood. However, applauded Russell, "
heis responsible for the greater part of the picture's success, both in comedy and romance."
Director,
Norman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...
agreed with the critics about Jane's performance. During an interview with
Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...
magazine, Taurog exclaimed: "Talent! The girl has a great flair for comedy. She has a fine talent. At first I thought she was aloof, but after a few days, I discovered, my to my amazement, that Jane was shy. When she warms up she’s wonderful. Her depth is wonderful, as an actress and as a woman. Now that I know her as well as I do, I'd love to work with her again. With the right script she could be out of this world. She's got a whole new career ahead of her. When they hung that sex tag on her, she started with two strikes. But she's overcome that and more. Do I sound excited? I am. I'd like to see Jane do the old Eve Arden part in 'Stage Door.' She'd do a beautiful job. Jane is really something special."
Production
In 1954, Jane Russell formed a production company with her husband
Bob Waterfield
Robert Stanton Waterfield (July 26, 1920 – March 25, 1983) was an American professional football player and coach. He played quarterback for the UCLA Bruins and Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame ...
named Russ-Field. They signed with United Artist for a six-picture deal and for tax purposes, Jane could only appear in half of them. Their first production in association with Voyager Productions was ''
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
''Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'' is a 1955 American Technicolor musical romantic comedy film directed by Richard Sale, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mary Loos, based on the 1927 novel ''But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'' by Anita Loos, aunt of Mary ...
''—a film Jane Russell did not want to make, but United Artist insisted that she star in the production as part of the Russ-Field deal. ''Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'' fared poorly at the box office. Their next two productions, ''
Run for the Sun
''Run for the Sun'' is a 1956 Technicolor thriller (genre), thriller adventure film released by United Artists, the third film to officially be based on Richard Connell's classic 1924 suspense story, "The Most Dangerous Game", after both RKO's ''T ...
'' (1956) and ''
The King and Four Queens
''The King and Four Queens'' is a 1956 DeLuxe Color American Western adventure comedy/mystery film starring Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker and filmed in CinemaScope. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the film is based on a story written by Margaret Fit ...
'' (1957), both made money. For Jane's next film, she chose ''The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown''.
Director
Norman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...
wanted
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
in the role of Mike but the role went to
Ray Danton
Ray Danton (born Raymond Caplan; September 19, 1931 – February 11, 1992) was a radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous roles were in the screen biographies ''The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond'' (1960 ...
. However, Danton suddenly was let go from the picture. As reported by columnist Harrison Carroll" "...troubles have come up on the picture, Ray Danton playing opposite Jane, came down with a severe attack of laryngitis. He has worked only two and a half days. The company doesn't want to wait, so they are getting a new actor for the role." In early 1957, Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson reported: "The 'laryngitis' announced for Ray Danton's bow-out as Jane Russell's leading man in ''Fuzzy Pink Nightgown'' turned out to be the fuzziest announcement of the year. The real reason Ray's out of the cast: After looking at the rushes, Producer Waterfield decided he was too young for Jane. Ralph Meeker is now playing the role." Danton was born in 1931, Russell in 1921, and Meeker in 1920.
About the movie, Russell wrote in her autobiography: "Norman
aurogsaw the picture as strictly a Technicolor camp, while I had the mystery and romance of it in mind, in black and white. It should have been one way or the other, but as it turned out, it was neither. That was one time the star should have had nothing to say, I guess, because Norman would have made a comedy in color with Dean Martin in his first semi-serious role, which he's done fabulously since, and the publicity alone would have pulled it off, or we should have had another director. Norman still got his slapstick ending, but it just seemed old fashioned without color. The picture was neither fish nor fowl, but I still liked it.". Despite her honest assessment of the movie, Jane considered ''The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown'', along with ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1953) as the two favorite films of her career .
Boxoffice
''Fuzzy Pink Nightgown'' bombed when it was released in the fall of 1957 and its failure marked the end of Russ-Field Productions. The movie didn't post a profit until the early 1960s due to frequent television airings.
[The RKO Gals by James Robert Parish – Encore Film Books, 2014]
Home Video
In 2001
Amazon (company)
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
issued a VHS of "The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown" in the 1.37 format. Subsequently the movie has been available to stream on various apps and
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
offers it as a purchase or rental. As of 2021, there has been no physical media release.
Soundtrack
Imperial records released an LP soundtrack recording of
Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...
's jazzy score at the time of the film's release, and it later became a collector's item. In 2012, Kritzerland Records released May's soundtrack on CD along with Alessandro Cicogini's score of ''
A Breath of Scandal
''A Breath of Scandal'' (released as ''Olympia'' in Italy) is a 1960 American/Italian international co-production romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on the stage play ''Olympia'' by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Sophia Lore ...
''.
See also
*
List of American films of 1957
A list of American films released in 1957. ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-H
I-N
O-Q
R-T
U-Z
See also
* 1957 in the United States
References
External links
1957 filmsat the Interne ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuzzy Pink Nightgown, The
1957 comedy films
1957 films
American black-and-white films
American comedy films
1950s English-language films
Films about kidnapping
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Norman Taurog
Films scored by Billy May
Films set in Malibu, California
United Artists films
1950s American films