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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 ****

Ralph Meeker looks great. He tended toward puffiness in the all too few movies he made after the great "Kiss Me Deadly." Here he is trim and does a good job (with little to work with.) Keenan Wynn is all right. He played sidekicks -- sort of the Tony Randall of the 1950s.

Jane Russell wears the title outfit. She got a bad rap as an actress. She was hilarious in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and very convincing in her adventure/thrillers with Robert Mitchum.

Here she is OK. Her acting is OK, that is. But she's supposed to be a movie star at her peak and this is a little hard to buy. I remember her TV ads in which she spoke of "us full-figured gals." These came a couple decades after "The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown." But the nightgown, and everything she wears, looks like a maternity frock. She looks big here. In the beginning of the film she wears a long blonde wig. It is monumentally unbecoming. She looks better when she takes it off.

Still, the movie is a disappointment. It's always a treat to see Meeker. And the supporting cast comprises familiar faces and is amusing. But the movie is a misfire. Russell and Meeker have no particular chemistry. It isn't touching. And it isn't really very funny, director Taurog notwithstanding.

A popular movie star is kidnapped,and everyone thinks,it's a publicity gag for her new picture "The Kidnapped Bride" - it isn't,but nobody cares,because everybody thinks it is! The diva falls in love with one of her kidnappers - that was clear from the beginning,of course,but that doesn't matter. A nice idea,transpositioned in a delightful,amusing comedy full of funny and also sarcastic gags and dialogues,with terrific actors(Jane Russell - who wears a blonde wig in the first part - is nearly as good as in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes",if not better)and a good story...it is a pity that this movie is almost forgotten today!I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece-but I liked it very much!

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!

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.

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.

Laurel Stevens (Jane Russell) is a demanding movie star. Her new movie is The Kidnapped Bride and she's demanding to have her sexy bathtub scene back in before the premier tonight. She gets kidnapped by petty criminals, Mike and Dandy. At first, she thinks that it's a publicity stunt and then she keeps trying to use her feminine wilds. The studio thinks that she's being a diva. With public doubts, the kidnapping settles into a long running affair.

I really like the first half and how Jane Russell is playing up her character. I don't like as much the second half. It is not quite the fun that I expected. Maybe if the kidnapping didn't last as long as it does. The fun start fades in the second half.

A generation before Patty Hearst embraced her kidnappers and joined in their criminal enterprises, Jane Russell in The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown feels kind of sorry for kidnappers Ralph Meeker and Keenan Wynn and actually falls for Meeker. Totally outrageous but these two are such schlepps you can feel sorry for them. And God knows as movie star playing a movie star Russell knew what it was like to be trapped in that plastic bubble.

Given what Wynn's straight job is in the film their scheme wasn't a bad one. Of course that would have meant killing Russell to keep her quiet or keeping Wynn from her. You'll have to watch the film to see what I mean.

The title is the rather ridiculous looking feminine nightgown they have for Russell to wear while they are holding her. For myself when you use a color in a title it's almost a necessity to shoot in color. You will see no Fuzzy Pink Nightgown on the screen in this black and white film.

The cast also includes Adolphe Menjou as the studio head, Robert Harris as Jane's agent, Una Merkel as her secretary, and Fred Clark as the cop assigned to the case. All filling out their type cast parts.

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown, this film about the Stockholm syndrome years before it was called that has a few laughs, but generally is kind of flat.

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.

Even though I gave this a 7, it's not quite that good, but it is better than a 6. It's cute, has some sweet moments in it. Jane Russell is cute in it. I mostly knew Jane Russell from Playtex bra commercials and I really wanted to get a better sense of her acting, so when TCM had some of her movies on, I took the opportunity to record them. Most are not rated very high on IMDB, but I decided to give this one a try anyway. I'm glad I did.

This won't be confused with high art, but it enjoyable, and the acting is good for this type of movie. Just sit back and enjoy this cute bit of fluff, and try not to think about it too much.

Please tell me why? Why did the alluring, charismatic and talented Jane Russell do this film? Was she contractually obligated?

The only good thing about this film was coming here to review it and see the great, clever reviewer who likened her character's motivation to Patty Hearst and Stockholm Syndrome. THAT was funny. This film is NOT.

In late 1956, actress Marie (The Body) McDonald faked a kidnapping that got a ton of press but did little to help her sagging career. Fuzzy Pink is clearly capitalizing on that unfortunate episode. Also looks like the movie was rushed into production, released in Dec., 1957, by a first-time production company headed by Russell's husband, football great Bob Waterfield. I mention this background since it likely accounts for the film's uneven results.

The biggest stretch is having Laurel (Russell) fall for her kidnapper Mike (Meeker). It may have worked on paper, but it fails on screen. Too bad Meeker couldn't muster up some romantic emotion; instead he basically walks through the role in indifferent fashion. Then too, Russell's nightgown is hardly revealing, let alone titillating. Moreover, we have only the b&w movie's word that it's actually pink. Nonetheless she and Wynn do inject some needed spark.

Arguably, the movie's best part is its cynical take on the movie industry, from greedy studio honcho Martin (Menjou) to conniving agent Baylies (Harris) to waspish gossip columnist Parker (Venuta). Had the script played up this aspect, the results would have been more compelling. But, of course, that would have cut down on Russell's celebrity screen time. Anyway, there're some good shots of a Malibu beach house, a chic 50's parlor room, and a studio lot.

Despite Russell's spirited performance, the movie remains a jumbled disappointment.

Jane Russell is a movie star who has just finished a film about a star being kidnapped. Two men abduct her and after a couple of days the press begins to speculate that it is a publicity stunt by the studio and actress. This is a light comedy and Russell proves to have good comedic timing with co-stars Keenan Wynn and Ralph Meeker. I had never seen Russell before and was impressed by her screen presence.

I recently saw this film for the first time, and thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm a big Ralph Meeker fan, so that's what motivated me to watch it, since I can't find many films in which he played leads. I liked how Jane Russell's movie star character who is in control of her career (who happens to be a smart business "girl") interacted with his angry man character! It's not the best movie ever made, but it is very entertaining...I can't believe it 'flopped' when it came out! Maybe it was ahead of its time, or maybe the idea of kidnapping isn't funny to moviegoers! Anyhoo, it's great fun, has a great score by Billy May (who worked with Frank Sinatra). One of my favorite scenes in the movie is towards the beginning, when "Laurel Stevens" (Jane Russell) is trying to charm/seduce the Ralph Meeker/"Mike" character: While they are talking to each other, he avoids looking at her the whole time, and he turns his body away from her every time she gets closer - through the entire scene! All the while, she is using every feminine wile she can on him to get her way! Very funny!

Jane Russell is a movie star kidnapped by good/bad guys Ralph Meeker and Keenan Wynn in this mild comedy from Norman Taurog. It's pretty thin on laughs and the dramatic undertones don't really gel, but Russell tries hard.

Oct 10, 2014

The moment Jane Russell appears with short dark hair in this movie

I saw her as an actress who could marvelously play in any picture in the last 50 years

Jane Russell looks and acts as good as it gets.

Just seeing her as a real girl with a contemporary hair cut is worth the price of admission.

Jane Russell as a real woman will capture your heart.

She is charming, adorable and so beautiful as a real woman.

I love her so much after seeing her in this picture

John Longenecker / Academy Award Winner