The movie Outlaw broke boundaries in several ways. To emphasize the camera capturing her figure correctly, Howard engineered a push up cantilevered bra to capture her bust. According to Mrs. Russell, she did not use it because the metal rods hurt too much, he’ll never check…
Give him a break he builds planes…not bra’s.
Funny enough, the bra ends up in a Hollywood museum and it was not attached to to what you imagine. Typical Hollywood, like the Ruby Slippers that were sold at the MGM auction, pair 6. The good one’s ended up somewhere…
Outlaw was completed in 1941, yet The Hollywood Production Code Administration would not approve it and this was viewed immoral. 20th Century Fox decided to cancel its release agreement, standing to lose millions, this shrewd businessman turned the tables. The outcry from the public was to ban this explicit film, but that in turn gave it massive publicity creating demand to see it.
Thought: this guy is playing the room and lets remember, he builds planes and other classified items
The major buzz only lasted a week and it was then pulled for good. Finally released in 1946, five years after completion, it became a box office hit with lifetime rental earnings of $5.075 million.
Howard, in 1941, had more on his plate than this film; WW2 is underway and he is a significant contractor. In the hills above this movies location, something else is underway. TOP SECRET!
We are at war, MGM goes dark along it’s streets because of the threats of bombardment from the air. Studios have two worries, they look like aircraft factories- so they could get bombed, secondly, they are producing military training films.
While the worry of a woman’s breast exposure is being worked on at the RKO lot below, Howard is deeply involved with the war effort, I will take you to his facility that rises above what was Desilu, RKO, and so many other studio names.
Inside that building with the chemical tank attached is a wind tunnel.
All these structures over look the Desilu Backlot and Main Lot, beyond those trees looking west is more Hughes property. He owned the most expensive real estate anywhere, from the ocean to the hill tops, the world was his.
There is always more to story than what you see with your eyes, and needless to say Howard Hughes was a complex individual who succeeded at things because he never quit and took risks!
My Dad briefly worked at Hughes Air Base as a firefighter, that guy was my pops hero, I dig him just as much, I wish I could have met him. I was in his office at the Hughes Air Field before the remodel of Playa Vista. That’s another story for another day.
Ironically, the place the Spruce Goose was built staged some of Hollywood’s biggest movies on some of the biggest stages you could rent…built for aircraft. What goes around comes back. I will tour that backlot/aviation ranch military base- call it whatever you want it to be- in the future.
Written by Donnie Norden
