Traum in Pink

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.

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.

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. Screenwriter Richard Alan Simmons, working from 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 ****

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!

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.