http://www.rozrussell.com/stories

Here is my new video tribute to Roz… I hope you like it because it is really special to me 🙂

“Mrs. Fowler, you’ve got the high-sterics!” Marjorie Main’s character Lucy cries as she drags Sylvia Fowler, played by Rosalind Russell, away from the scene Sylvia’s just made a mess of. This is one of a multitude of amusing exchanges that I can always easily recall from the movie “The Women.” Rosalind’s character was so unbelievably entertaining, so irrepressibly insane, it is just about impossible not to notice her. She stands out as she pushes her weight around, surrounded by the biggest film stars of the day, notably Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. And the fact that Rosalind got billed just after these two great stars was probably a feat in itself in Roz’s mind. I, for one, am very grateful for this movie and for this role. Without it, I may not have ever noticed her and started watching her filmography, realizing her true potential as an actress.

It was probably in 2008 that I had a birthday for which I received a few movies as gifts. This included a two-pack of the movies Adam’s Rib and The Women. The reason why my mother got me this was because she had The Women confused with Woman of the Year, both starring Katharine Hepburn, who was one of my first classic actress obsessions. After many months of letting The Women collect dust on my DVD shelf, I decided to break it out and watch it, since I head heard good things about it. I popped it into the DVD player. At first, I wasn’t terribly interested because I thought Norma Shearer’s part was rather dull, even though she is the star of the film (first billed anyway). Then I noticed this absolutely crazy Sylvia Fowler who did horribly disloyal things to her so-called friends, spreading fake gossip about them, and yet staying so funny, she was loveable. I have a clear memory of just seeing the scene where she confronts Miriam Aarons, played by Paulette Goddard (also ridiculously funny), and they engage in a catfight. In the end, Sylvia bit Miriam on the leg in retaliation, which is the part I clearly remember… I mean, who does that?! Sylvia Prowler (okay, Fowler), that’s who! In my honest opinion, Roz stole the movie from everyone else because she was such great comic relief. Her big personality, which I came to know through more films and books, really shined in this film for the first time.

Now, every time I see this film, whenever Sylvia is not in the scene, I’m saying, “Where’s Sylvia?!” I mean, I truly wouldn’t want her as a friend and certainly not as an enemy, but she is only there to entertain me. And I want to laugh! Not only does she deliver great, funny lines, but she made some fabulously amusing faces. Not to mention there is some great physical comedy in this film, which I have always gravitated to—ever since I Love Lucy became my favorite show when I was 12!

Needless to say, Rosalind was my favorite part of this movie (OBVIOUSLY). And once she stood out in this film to me, there was no stopping me as I started looking for more films of hers and found that she was not only a brilliant comedienne but a wonderful dramatic actress as well. The next movie I saw of hers was Auntie Mame, and once I saw this comic brilliance, Rosalind shot to the top of my list of favorite actresses. And she’s still hanging out at the top spot!

Of course, I recommend The Women to just about everyone who shows even a small interest in classic film. It’s not to be missed. Females tend to enjoy it more than males, but I have known some men who enjoy it, too, as long as they can keep up with the fast dialogue. FACT: Everyone who acted in this film was indeed a female, even the animals!

Now that I’ve shared this story, I ask you: What is the first film of Rosalind Russell’s you saw, and did it stand out to you or not?

I made a Facebook page for this site and for Roz in general… if you use Facebook, please go there and take a look and take the time to “like” it! Thank you, all! <3

https://www.facebook.com/RosalindRussellDazzlingStar

About a week ago, I visited my friend’s house so he could help me transfer my blog to this new website, and help with the automatic forwarding of the link. Well, let’s just say we got distracted. By what? Classic movies, of course! Now, I would have to say that this friend is not a classic movie lover. In fact, I had to introduce him to a couple. There is one he watched on his own (The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland), and I applaud him for that. But on this day, there were some problems with the blog and it was very uninteresting, and I said, “I really feel like watching The Thin Man,” so we got it and watched it. Then I really wanted to see His Girl Friday because, well… let’s face it, I hadn’t seen a Rosalind Russell movie in quite a while! (By the way, I had seen my favorite of hers, Auntie Mame, about a month or so ago with—yes, that’s right—the same friend!)

This always happens to me when I start watching His Girl Friday—I become absolutely enthralled and racked with giggles many times throughout. And after I watch it, I think, “Why isn’t this my favorite movie?” Well, I have to say that once I see Auntie Mame again, I know exactly why it’s my favorite. But anyway, His Girl Friday is probably my second favorite Roz movie, even though I adore her in Gypsy soo much!

Now, you may ask yourself… why is it my second favorite? Let’s start with Roz’s brilliant comic timing and even more brilliantly fast, witty repartee. We cannot give her all the credit on these lines because she didn’t write them. However, her delivery of those lines is so brilliant that I almost want to give her all of the credit.

One interesting tidbit about the making of this film is that Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell liked to work with ad libbing. The way they worked was so out of ordinary, but so comically wonderful. They would ad lib many of the lines, especially Cary Grant. For example, he uses the name “Archie Leach” at the end of the movie, which is Cary’s birth name. Another example is when a woman asks him “What does he look like?” and he describes Ralph Bellamy’s character Bruce as “looking like that Ralph Bellamy from the movies,” which makes it twice as hilarious. Probably my favorite known ad lib is in the beginning scene in which Hildy (Rosalind Russell) says, “Why, you…!” and improvised throwing her handbag at him, which caused Cary to ad lib “You used to pitch better than that!” after he suddenly ducked.

Needless to say, this marvelous piece of art that is the movie His Girl Friday purely belongs to Rosalind alone (well, almost). This is because she is in the movie from beginning to end, delivers the most lines (so many, you’d think it was longer than an hour and 30 minutes), almost to the point where you don’t even notice Cary is gone for a good part of the middle of the movie. Well, some of us who are in love with him may notice 😉 And Roz didn’t just come upon this movie by accident.

When Roz started out in the 1930s, she was brought to Hollywood as a “vamp” type, which is absurd when you think of what her body of work became. She would often play these “teddibly” rich, “teddibly” English, her-nose-high-in-the-air types. Then along came The Women in 1939. This was a part Roz wanted so badly to sink her teeth into. However, she had to audition time and time again before they realized she was perfect for the part of Sylvia Fowler, that no-good gossip hound who famously bit Paulette Goddard’s leg in the second half of the film. If it weren’t for this sudden departure into physical comedy, Roz would most likely never have done the part she is so famous for, Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday. So we have to thank The Women for a lot of what Roz has given us.

In fact, The Women was the first movie in which I really noticed Rosalind Russell for the first time. I mean, her character was the epitome of insanity (with a comic touch) and who could not notice someone like that? And the rest is history…

Please purchase (if you have not already) or watch His Girl Friday on Turner Classic Movies when you get the chance… this movie never disappoints! Take it from me. I have seen it dozens of times and you can just hear the peals of laughter down the hall…

Toodles, all! <3

P.S. This is an ad I made for the site (it’s really a PhotoShop assignment, but hey, why not?)