i'll be gloomy, but send that rainbow to me, then my shadows will fly, though you'll be gone for a while, i know that i'll be smilin' with my baby by and by

Last night, the world learned of the sad, sad news of Jane Russell's passing. Many of the memorial articles I've read about Jane have remembered her sexpot reputation, focusing on her bosomy debut performance in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw, where Hughes created the cantilever bra to further accentuate her famous chest (of Russell, Hughes once said, "There are two good reasons why men go to see her. Those are enough"). But Jane was so much more than a bombshell beauty - she was a talented actress and a lovely woman. 

Her film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was the first classic film that I truly obsessed over - I watched it practically on loop when I was younger, forcing all of my friends to watch it as well (I have a distinct memory of all of my friends and I crammed onto my queen bed, watching GPB on my sixteenth birthday).
Blondes is always a delight to watch - I have seen the film dozens and dozens of times, but it's always such a treat that it never feels old. Though Marilyn Monroe, and her legendary "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" performance, are perhaps most associated with the Fox masterpiece, I think that Jane was as much (if not more) the star of the film. The deadpanned humor she brought to Dorothy Shaw, the "hobo collector" show girl who falls in love with poor men (much to the dismay of her money-loving BFF Lorelei Lee), is glorious! Her singing and dancing abilities (as well as her ability to be shoved into a pool by hulking Olympic athletes, with grace and in heels!)  are on par with her acting abilities, and everyone seemed to agree - Jane's name was listed above Marilyn's in the credits, after all.

As an actress, Jane leaves a stunning legacy of strong-willed women with undeniable sensuality, but would never compromised their selves or their integrity to the will of men. In an age when so many other female characters in films were little more than two-dimensional femme fatales, or nondescript wives, girlfriends, daughters, and friends, Jane's list of film personas was remarkably different, and set her apart from the rest of the Hollywood crowd. 

"I've got plenty of time to daydream and I'd rather daydream than do anything in the world." - Jane Russell

Title: from "Bye Bye Baby" (Jane Russell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)

The Constant Gardner

The ultimate present to the male population, Ava Gardener was born Christmas Eve, 1922, in a rural impoverished part of North Carolina. She was a true Southern belle, but you might never guess that; her early studio home MGM sent her to a speech coach immediately after signing a contract in 1941 in order to 'correct' her Carolina drawl. She was discovered by a talent scout, who noticed a portrait of the young beauty hanging in the window of her brother's photography store. Though she signed her contract in 1941 (at just nineteen!), it wasn't until five years later that Ava had her first starring role, in the breakout noir thriller The Killers, with Burt Lancaster. The film catapulted her to stardom, but Ava found it difficult to find roles that were challenging to her. Mostly cast as a beautiful 'space-filler' in MGM productions, Ava worked a lot on films produced by other studios. MGM finally gave her the chance to shine again in the 1951 production of Show Boat, a musical in which she portrayed biracial singer Julie LaVerne. Ava fought aggressively for the role, beating out her good friend and singer Lena Horne. Despite the success of the film and the strength of her performance, Ava was hurt when she found out her vocals were redubbed for the final release of the film. In one of the That's Entertainment films, a scene containing Ava's original vocals exists - and they sound lovely! I don't know what MGM was thinking to be honest.
Two years later, Ava shined again in the lavish adventure film Mogambo, set in Africa and costarring Grace Kelly and Clark Gable. Ava was awarded an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the brash 'Honey Bear' Kelly. Playing the femme fatale was a strength of Ava's, who showed this skill yet again in arguably her most famous performance as The Barefoot Contessa, opposite Humphrey Bogart. The Spanish location shooting changed Ava, who became an avid fan of bullfighting and flamenco dancing during the production and eventually moved to Spain a few years later. She continued to give powerhouse performances in such films as Bhowani Junction and Night of the Iguana.
Ava was married three times; her husbands were Mickey Rooney (1942-1943), Artie Shaw (1945-1946), and to Frank Sinatra (1951-1957). Despite her marriage to Artie Shaw, she and fellow ex-wife of Shaw, Lana Turner, were quite good friends. Ava was said to have been the great love of Frank Sinatra's life.  She is credited with helping him turn around his career. When they were first married, Ava was the bigger star and bigger money-maker. Frank was in a career slump, and often borrowed money from Ava to afford presents for his children with Nancy Sinatra. She helped get him his role in From Here to Eternity that helped relaunch his career. Hindered by the drinking, busy schedules, and extramarital affairs on both sides, the Gardner-Sinatra marriage was tempestuous at best. Reportedly, Ava became pregnant sometime during her marriage to Sinatra, but had an abortion, causing further strain on their relationship. Though their marriage was tumultuous, he wrote some of his best music (In the Wee Small Hours, and Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely) during their marriage and eventual breakup. When she made Contessa, a statue of her was given to Frank as a gift. He kept it in her backyard for years after their divorce. It wasn't until he married Barbara Marx in 1976 that he was forced to get rid of it. Sinatra never forgot Ava in his heart; he paid for her medical expenses after her stroke in 1989. She had a famous rapport with her costars. Former On the Beach costar Gregory Peck loved Ava so, that after her death in 1990, he took in her longtime housekeeper Carmen Vargas and Ava's Welsh Corgi to live with him.
Ava was set in her convictions. She decided early on in life that there was no point for her to read books for recreation. As a result, she had professed in 1945 (when she was in her early twenties) to having read just two books: Gone With the Wind, and The Bible. This lead to a funny encounter between her and J.R.R. Tolkien, when neither of them knew why the other one was famous. This didn't keep her from making friends with other writers, such as Ernest Hemingway (whom she affectionately called 'Papa') - she starred in three film adaptations of his works and often accompanied him to bull fights.
In the end, Ava was a prime example of 'you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.' However gussied up, plucked, primped, and primed Hollywood made her, Ava herself maintained that "I have always been a country girl and still have a country girl's values." She spoke the way she wanted to and didn't censor herself for anyone, to the point that on Australian reporter  compared her foul language use to "a sailor and a truck driver having a competition." After throwing a glass of champagne in the face of another reporter who upset her, he wrote that while she was doing it "the only thing I could think of was how bloody gorgeous the woman was."

Some wonderful quotes by Ava:

• After my screen test, the director clapped his hands gleefully and yelled, "She can't talk! She can't act! She's sensational!"
• All I ever got out of any of my marriages was the two years Artie Shaw financed on an analyst's couch. 
• When I lose my temper, honey you can't find it anyplace. 
• [On acting] Nobody ever called it an intellectual profession. 
• I must have seen more sunrises than any other actress in the history of Hollywood. 
• I haven't taken an overdose of sleeping pills and called my agent. I haven't been in jail, and I don't go running to the psychiatrist every two minutes. That's something of an accomplishment these days. 
• Deep down, I'm pretty superficial. 
• I couldn't imagine a better place [than Australia] for making a film on the end of the world. 
• Maybe I just don't have the temperament for stardom. I'll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, "Miss Davis, I'm Ava Gardner and I'm a great fan of yours." And do you know, she behaved exactly as I wanted her to behave. "Of course you are, my dear," she said. "Of course you are." And she swept on. Now that's a star. 
• Some people say Liz [Taylor] and I are whores, but we are saints. We do not hide our loves hypocritically, and when in love, we are loyal and faithful to our men.
• I wish to live until 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. 
• I think the main reason my marriages failed in that I always loved too well but never wisely. 

two is a crowd, but three is a party

Just mere months after two Marilyn Monroe biopics were announced, starring Naomi Watts and Michelle Williams, respectively, news is breaking that Angelina Jolie will take a stab at the role of the late screen legend. Jolie is set to star in the film version of "The Life and Opinions of Maf the Bog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe," by Andrew O'Hagan.

O'Hagan's tale tells the story of the controversial last two years of Monroe's life, told through the eyes of her Maltese terrier Maf (short for Mafia). In real life, the pup was a gift from friend Frank Sinatra, who is to be played by George Clooney in the film. Monroe toted Maf around to the residences of her famous friends, and got his belly scratched by the Rat Pack and President Kennedy.

The 35-year-old Jolie is in the perfect age bracket to portray Monroe in her later years, as she died in August 1962 at the age of 36. But is Angelina - who allegedly beat out contenders such as Mad Men lovely Christina Hendricks (my personal swoon) and Monroe-lookalike Scarlett Johansson - best suited to play Marilyn? She will have to put on some serious curves if she wants to go from her svelte ass-kicker physique in Salt to the delicately feminine form of Monroe. And also, will a woman who made a career out of playing action heroes, assassins, and sociopaths be able to bring the charm and vulnerability to this role? Though her turn in Changeling is a good indication of her range, one has to consider that the careful direction of Clint Eastwood had to do with evoking those emotions.

And for George Clooney, whose acting empire includes his takeover of the role Danny Ocean, a role made legendary by Frank Sinatra in the original Ocean's Eleven, is an interesting choice to play the blue-eyed crooner. Though names like Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Harry Connick Jr. were danced around for the role, the charming leading man won the role of ... a charming leading man. But it's hard to form an opinion around this casting choice. First off (and perhaps most inconsequentially), George Clooney has hazel brown eyes. Frank Sinatra was known for his ice-blue eyes. Sure color contacts are no problem, but so much of Clooney's handsomeness is centered around his gently wrinkled sad brown eyes. Would color contacts change his physical appearance enough ... or too much? He's got the rough brash handsomeness that Sinatra had, but I don't know how to envision him as the late legend. I want to closely monitor Clooney's development of the Sinatra role, because Frank Sinatra is near and dear to my heart (as a six-year-old, I expected to marry him by 13. Sadly, he died before my teen years).

With the prospect of Angelina also taking on the role of Cleopatra, made famous by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 MGM megaproduction, it seems like a major 1960s redux in Angelina's career. While both Jolie and Elizabeth Taylor shot down rumors that Angie would be portraying Taylor in a biopic of her life with Richard Burton (with Liz even tweeting "No one is going to play Elizabeth Taylor, but Elizabeth Taylor. Not at least until I'm dead, and at the moment I'm having too much fun being alive"), rumors still swirl that Angie will take on one of Taylor's most famous roles. With at least 28 film depictions of Cleopatra, does the world need another Hollywood version of the life of the Egyptian queen? Producer Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men, Revolutionary Road, Julie & Julia, and all of the Wes Anderson films) has the rights for the film version of the book Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life. The book's author, Stacy Schiff, who will be involved in the film adaptation of her biography has stated that she wishes to mirror the on-and-off screen love affair present in the 1963 version between Elizabeth and Richard Burton. Her perfect Marc Anthony: Brad Pitt.

Controversy over Jolie's casting in both life stories of Marilyn and Cleopatra is blasting over the internet. Though many say that Angelina is 'too white' to play the African queen, I think that the edginess of Queen Cleo's life is better suited for the acting talents of Angelina Jolie. I could much sooner envision Angie in gold bracelets, heavy cat eye liner, ruling a country and seducing the world's most powerful men than hear her impersonate the breathy girly voice and ditzy persona of Monroe. We can already kind of envision Jolie in each of the roles: she had a Monroe-esque platinum blonde cut in the romcom Life or Something Like It, and she was picture perfect as the Greek queen Olympias in Alexander.

look at me, who am i supposed to be? who am i supposed to be?

I return to the blogosphere well-rested and well-shopped after a spontaneous road trip to visit some of America's greatest vintage shops I've always wanted to go to. The excursion freshest in my mind is New Orleans, as it was the last place we visited.

First we went to Lili Vintage Boutique, an adorable store full of pastel prom dresses, silk nightgowns, and feather pillbox hats. I scored a great Armani poet's blouse with puffy sleeves and a high collar for $43, as well as a paisley mu-mu style dress that was probably stolen from Mrs. Roper's closet.

Next we ventured over to Retroactive, probably one of the most overwhelming store I've ever visited. Every inch of the store is covered with clothes, sculptures, and gadgets that you never knew you always wanted. If you ever desired a rhinestone and marabou feather headdress and four watchman devices, but you never knew where to look, I invite you to visit this store. I bought an autographed Debbie Harry-Pat Benatar poster that mashes up their faces, and a gold leopard print sweater.

The morning after I shopped 'till I dropped, we went to Brennan's, a very well-known restaurant famed for its delicious breakfast desserts. While visiting the washroom, I made friends with the attendant, a kind 82-year-old woman who told the restaurant patrons how to ward off negative spirits. As I spoke to her, she turned to another woman in the restroom lounge, and said, "She looks just like Hayley Mills, don't she?"

I've never been likened to this former Disney princess before, but I was intrigued. I've been told I looked like everyone from Jessica Simpson, Katherine Heigl, Linda McCartney, Quinn from Glee, Christie Brinkley ... basically any gal with blonde hair and a toothy smile. The Brennan's lady got me thinking about Ms. Mills and her four-decade career. From her start as Walt Disney's go-to girl during the early 1960's to her iconic portrayal of Miss Bliss (forever changing Saturday morning television), Hayley Mills was one of the first child actors to successfully transform herself into a legitimate grown-up actress. Her inclusion in John E. Green's legendary book Birds of Britain solidified Hayley's role in the Dolly Rocker Girl universe.

Image sources for Lili and Retroactive