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Year of Jane Russell: Day 28

Even though Jane joined the cast and crew of The Outlaw in Arizona, she didn’t film a single scene. Before she had the chance to do so, Howard Hawks clashed with producer Howard Hughes, causing the director to quit. Production was ordered back home.

During the scant weeks she was on location, Jane instead appeared before the still cameras. A small brigade of photographers had been dispatched by publicist Russell Birdwell to capture the “assets” of the new Hawks/Hughes discovery and Jane being young and naive, posed in any position they asked, not realizing what they were up to when they requested she bend over and pick up buckets.

This February 1941 issue of Pic, an oversized pictorial publication, is how Jane was launched onto the international stage. The 16-photo layout inside, showing Jane naively posing in ways that showed a lot of cleavage sparked a great deal of controversy. It also caused Jane to wise up about what she had gotten herself into in Hollywood.