Year of Jane Russell: Day 27

Here’s another photo taken on location in Moekopi, Arizona where The Outlaw initially began production in December 1940. Pros of the image? The fresh-faced and smiling 19-year-old Jane at the beginning of her career, in a shirt from Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors. Cons? Screaming infant. Production took place on a Hopi reservation, and it’s odd that the photographer not only thought that using the baby as a prop was a good idea, but stuck with it even though this was the result. Even odder, that the photo was printed and distributed! Jane actually loved children, so we’ll hope neither subject of the photo was subjected to this for too long!

Year of Jane Russell: Day 26

When Jane was cast in The Outlaw, she was only nineteen and far from being the polished movie star we’ve come to know. She also had a limited wardrobe, which would not do for an actress on a major Howard Hughes film production. So, prior to traveling to Arizona for the location shoot, director Howard Hawks paid for a new set of clothes for Jane. Hawks personally took Jane to Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors in North Hollywood to get some appropriate western wear for Jane to be seen in when she wasn’t done up as Rio. Nudie Cohn would become legendary for his embellished designs, including Elvis’s fabled gold lame suit for the cover of his album 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong.

The film shoot took place in and around a Hopi Village, which is where this image of Jane was taken. The use of local Native American children as props is a weird choice, but it’s a great shot of Jane in her shirt from Nudie’s.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 24

This is a favorite from the collection I’ve amassed while working on the Jane Russell biography. It’s an original 11×14 matte portrait of Jane wearing one of her costumes from The Outlaw, but without the heavy makeup and hair fall she wears in the film. I wasn’t able to use it in the book because I have sooooo many photos from The Outlaw, but I’m pleased to be able to share it now!

Year of Jane Russell: Day 23

Here’s another shot of Jane fully made up as Rio for The Outlaw. At one point during filming, Jane, considered a minor, had to go to the courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles to have her contract approved by a judge. He was so outraged by her movie make-up that she had to run to the bathroom and wash it off before would agree to review the case.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 22

Here’s another promotional shot of Jane and Jack Buetel for The Outlaw, which is noticeably different from the ones posted the last couple of days. In this one, the pair is officially costumed and made up as their characters Rio and Billy the Kid, and have assumed the serious countenance of their on-screen counterparts. From here on out, Jane was officially a movie star.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 20

Many Hollywood hopefuls were tested for the roles of Rio and Billy the Kid in Howard Hughes’s production The Outlaw. In order to economize his time, director Howard Hawks shot the screen tests on 16mm film, which allowed him to film them in the basement of the Hughes office building on Romaine Street in Hollywood. This meant that rather than having to drive to a studio, Hawks could just pop down to the basement from his office in the same building. The downstairs space was transformed into a mini Western set, which is where this photograph was taken after Jane and Jack Buetel were cast.

Year of Jane Russell: Day 19

After graduating from high school, Jane began modeling for Tom Kelley, the same photographer who would later shoot the famous nude photos of Marilyn Monroe. When an agent saw one of Jane’s photos at Kelley’s studio, he submitted it to Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks. Jane was tested for The Outlaw in the fall of 1940 and got the part. Here she is with Howard Hawks and costar Jack Buetel in the director’s office, located in Hughes’s building in Hollywood.