RUSSELLS' ASSETS FIRE UP PRUDISH 1940'S BROWNSVILLE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

No, it was not really Jane Russell who was not welcome in Brownsville, but rather the western movie which she played in, the “The Outlaw.” 

Local church groups and people around the country did not like the idea that too much camera time and emphasis was placed on what even they – and all other viewers agreed – were Russell’s bountiful assets.

In 1941, Howard Hughes, the producer of the movie, felt that the camera did not do justice to Russell’s large bust. So he used his engineering skills to design a bra to allow for more bosom to be exposed and that became the source of the controversy, a sure-fire way to promote a movie at the box office.

After much heated debate the movie was released to the theaters in 1943 but pulled after one week due to violations of the Production Code.

Despite local protest, the Rio (located on Washington Street) and the Queen Theaters (on Elizabeth St.) in Brownsville went on with their plans to show the movie in February of that same year. In fact, to the dislike of the prudish protesters, two large movie ads were published in the Brownsville Herald.

“Not in our city,” declared members of the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Villa Maria School, as they opened an intensive campaign to stop the showing of the movie.

The groups took their protest to the city commission to do something about the showing of “obscene” picture in Brownsville. Faster than a speeding bullet, they passed a resolution with a promise that an ordinance would follow.

Those that appeared before the city commission were: Reverend Nash, Santo Tomas Church, Reynaldo Garza, head of the Knights of Columbus; and a delegation of 20 girls from Villa Maria Academy.

Father Nash declared that none had seen the movie, “The Outlaw,” but the fact that it had caused so much commotion all over the country because of its supposed obscenity caused them to attempt to safeguard the morals of Brownsville youth and to keep such pictures out of circulation.

It was learned that the church had been previously successful in stopping a showing of the movie, “The City of Conquest.” Unlike the “The Outlaw,” this film did not include obscene images, but rather it depicted James Cagney, in the climax of the movie, as a suffering blind man – which the church considered an unacceptable act.

But this time around, the local groups were not able to convince local theater officials to not show the movie in question. After the initial one-week screening in 1943 – the “The Outlaw,” was put out of circulation until it was re-released in 1946. It was then, that United Artist premiered the film in San Francisco, where it became a box office hit. Ms. Russell never wore the special bra during filming and Hughes never knew it.

In 1988, in her autobiography, she revealed that the special bra was so uncomfortable, that after making some adjustments to her personal bra, she wore her own.

Howard Hughes was deceived to believe that he was blazing new trails in bra design. Instead, in the end, the bra took its place in a Hollywood museum, “a false witness to the push-up myth.”

(Note: Ticket prices—Matinee screening, children 12 cents, adults 44 cents.

Evening screening, children 20 cents, adults 50 cents)