http://artsmeme.com/2010/06/24/jane-russell-remembers-gentlemen-choreographer-jack-cole/ dance, film, urban arts Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:51:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://artsmeme.com/2010/06/24/jane-russell-remembers-gentlemen-choreographer-jack-cole/comment-page-1/#comment-439 Kevin Spicer Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:58:30 +0000 http://artsmeme.com/?p=13799#comment-439 How fortunate that you got to one of the living links to this amazing film. I was first seduced by the power of GPB in 1962 as a kid in Chicago.  It played on tv a few months before Monroe's death.  Even on a black & white tv it jumped out.  I remember the year so powerfully.  My youngest sister was born that June.  Six year-old me could not understand how the vivacious Lorelei Lee could kill herself by swollowing sleeping pills.  While contemplating the wonder of a newborn sibling, it made absolutely no sense. One of the things that drew me in to the movie besides Monroe is the scene in Paris where she and Russell sing "When Love Goes Wrong . . ."  There were little black boys interacting with her in a way not possible in 1950s America.  I didn't fully understand the implications of that scene in 1962.  But as a little boy, somehow I knew that if this paragon of white America could interact with little kids of color as if it were nothing -- I wanted to be in that universe. How fortunate that you got to one of the living links to this amazing film.
I was first seduced by the power of GPB in 1962 as a kid in Chicago.  It played on tv a few months before Monroe's death.  Even on a black & white tv it jumped out.  I remember the year so powerfully.  My youngest sister was born that June.  Six year-old me could not understand how the vivacious Lorelei Lee could kill herself by swollowing sleeping pills.  While contemplating the wonder of a newborn sibling, it made absolutely no sense.
One of the things that drew me in to the movie besides Monroe is the scene in Paris where she and Russell sing "When Love Goes Wrong . . ."  There were little black boys interacting with her in a way not possible in 1950s America.  I didn't fully understand the implications of that scene in 1962.  But as a little boy, somehow I knew that if this paragon of white America could interact with little kids of color as if it were nothing — I wanted to be in that universe.

]]> http://artsmeme.com/2010/06/24/jane-russell-remembers-gentlemen-choreographer-jack-cole/comment-page-1/#comment-441 debra Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:58:04 +0000 http://artsmeme.com/?p=13799#comment-441 <p>Kevin, thank you for your fantastic observations. This film is FILLED with touchstones for so many populations. Feminists love the unusual portrayal of durable female friendship. The period from 1952 - 1956 was such a special moment in American culture; the U.S. was in full post-WWII flower and letting it rip culturally ... expanding upon what it means to be American -- American women in this case. I am fascinated by macho director Howard Hawks, the maker of great crime films and westerns, stretching into the musical genre with the truly subversive gay man, Jack Cole, as a key influencer. </p> Kevin, thank you for your fantastic observations. This film is FILLED with touchstones for so many populations. Feminists love the unusual portrayal of durable female friendship. The period from 1952 – 1956 was such a special moment in American culture; the U.S. was in full post-WWII flower and letting it rip culturally … expanding upon what it means to be American — American women in this case. I am fascinated by macho director Howard Hawks, the maker of great crime films and westerns, stretching into the musical genre with the truly subversive gay man, Jack Cole, as a key influencer.

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