Saturday, April 26, 2014

Seeing Double

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th Century Fox, 1953)

Abbey Lincoln in The Girl Can't Help It (20th Century Fox, 1956)

Sheree North in a publicity portrait, c. 1956


Travillas so nice, they used them twice.

4 comments:

  1. "Who wore it better?" I'll call it a tie!

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  2. Missing are the photos of William modelling them on himself... Jx

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  3. Watching "The Girl Can't Help It" again the other night, I noticed that a chorus girl seen waaaaay in the background of one of the last scenes is wearing the Travilla fringed showgirl costume which Jane wore for the courtroom scene of "Gentlemen...", where she impersonates MM. Yes, I notice these things.

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  4. The June 1957 cover of Ebony featured a young Abbey Lincoln in this dress , "The Girl in the Marilyn Monroe dress". Years later I heard her on NPR being asked about it. She said she felt uncomfortable being listed as the"sepia Marilyn Monroe" since the focus became about her body and sex appeal, than on her music. She said that she eventually burned the dress, as if to rid herself of its painful association. (hard to believe that she would get to keep the dress, but back in those days, studios didn't realize how important movie memorabilia would become. Ask Debbie Reynolds) She was a great singer, composer and artist.

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