La estatua raptada

JANE RUSSELL, wearing the worst looking blonde wig since Barbara Stanwyck went blonde for "Double Indemnity", does nothing to enhance the reputation she had after "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", wherein she sometimes stole scenes from Marilyn Monroe and Charles Coburn. Here she plays a ditsy actress supposedly a blonde bombshell whose latest film is about a kidnapped bride.

Here she's not exactly a scene-stealer--in fact, her performance is rather strained and only improves after she takes off that horrendous wig. Then, it improves considerably.

No help is the script, a tiresome thing that is silly from the start and wastes some talented people--like ADOLPHE MENJOU, RALPH MEEKER and KEENAN WYNN. Meeker seems so uninterested in his role that it shows. Badly.

Meeker and Wynn are partners in a kidnapping scheme that fails to go smoothly because Russell is a regular spitfire who proves hard to handle, until she decides the kidnapping would be good publicity for her latest film. The script only gets worse as it goes along, with only FRED CLARK able to put some laughs into a brief supporting role.

Summing up: A really clumsy script, it does nothing for the careers of Russell, Meeker or Wynn who have all done better elsewhere.

Just watched this on Netflix streaming. It has Jane Russell as a blonde movie star who, on the day her movie about a kidnapped woman premieres, actually gets nabbed by Keenan Wynn and Ralph Meeker! But because of her latest movie, not many people believe she's not just doing a publicity stunt. I'll stop there and just say that while there could have been a hilarious farce with what I just mentioned, there just wasn't enough funny lines or scenes to make a consistently guffaw-inducing movie for me. In fact, the only time I felt something was truly leaning toward comedy gold was when Meeker's parole officer played by Fred Clark came by their hideout and was questioning them about what they did on their free time and the kinds of situations that resulted. Still, The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown is worth a look for anyone curious about this now-obscure movie.

The general consensus seems to be that the movie is watchable, but not wonderful. I would have to agree.

It plays like an extended episode of a smart 1950's sit-com, something like "Love that Bob" (Robert Cummings).

Jane Russell is fine as a tough but vulnerable sexy Hollywood star (is there any other kind?). It is terribly sad that at age 36, this was her last real starring vehicle.

She's surrounded by a lot of fine actors, including Adolf Menjou, Ralph Meeker, Keenan Wynne, Una Merkel, and Fred Clarke. Unfortunately, they all just walk through their roles without much enthusiasm. It seems just another day at the office for all of them. Menjou and Meeker starred in Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" that same year, both giving extraordinary performances.

Norman Taurog started off directing silent films, made some excellent movies in the 1930's ("Boys Town", "Big Broadcast of 1936"), did good work with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1950's, and ended his career in the 1960's by directing nine (good to mediocre) Elvis Presley movies. He knows how to keep things moving and get some laughs, but he doesn't involve the audience enough in his stories or characters to make himself a great director.

One problem in script is that the good guys are lovable kidnappers. It is hard to accept Meeker or Wynn as lovable kidnappers, lovable, yes, but kidnappers, no. The script intimates that Meeker has turned kidnapper to get revenge for an unjust manslaughter conviction for which he spent four years in jail. Yet, this seems just a plot device as Meeker does not seem vengeful, but only taciturn over his four lost years.

In one scene Russell mention the fact that Meeker smokes a pipe instead of a cigar and attributes it to him not knowing his part (a kidnapper) very well). It is really the script that doesn't know how to bring the romance in, after the kidnapping. It really is a problem that the acting and direction doesn't solve. Giving Meeker's character a real and specific need for the kidnapping - raising money to save his dying child, for example - could have explained the action better.

The movie could also have been better if Jane had acted more sexy in more scenes. She does in a few scenes in the first half only and they are the funniest in the movie.

There's a lot of talk in the opening scenes about the cutting of a bathtub scene in the movie that Laurel Stevens (Jane Russell) is starring in. She demands that the censored too sexy scene be put back in or she's quitting. "The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown" needed that bathtub scene. If I ever get a chance to remake this movie, I will put it in.

Haughty blonde movie star, about to premiere her latest picture "The Kidnapped Bride", is kidnapped herself by two would-be ruffians who are actually just a couple of nice guys out to catch a break. United Artists comedy-drama, produced on the cheap and with perplexing changes in tone. Jane Russell, Ralph Meeker, and Keenan Wynn are an engaging trio, but turning this kidnap into a joshing love-triangle doesn't convince for a second. The script, based on Sylvia Tate's book, seems to know very little about how Hollywood works (the opening scene has the star and her handlers in the projection room viewing THE TRAILER to her new movie!). Russell, looking fabulous with or without her wig, is a great drawing card and is very amusing working her way through this sarcasm-laden script with the cynical airs of a seasoned pro. It's quite understandable why both Meeker and Wynn fall for her but, as a screwball romance, the movie certainly comes up short. **1/2 from ****

Jane Russell plays a blonde bombshell movie star in the cute comedy The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown. When she plays a kidnapped character in her latest movie, small-time thugs, Kennan Wynn and Ralph Meeker, think it would be a good idea to kidnap her in real life!

Of course, since this is a comedy, things don't go as planned. While the kidnappers are hoping for lots of publicity and ransom money, Jane's manager, Adolph Menjou, tries to keep the scandal quiet. Meanwhile, there just might be a healthy dose of Stockholm Syndrome setting in for Jane. If you don't have an issue with making dramatic situations into funny ones, this '50s movie is pretty cute. Jane picks up on her funny blonde impersonation at the end of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and gets to channel her inner blonde for the entire duration of this movie. And as they say, blondes have more fun!