The Fabulous Tilly

Whenever I revisit The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), which is often, I’m always tickled by the small but memorable role of waitress Blanche, AKA Monica Moran, played by the vivacious Jennifer Tilly. Although she’d been acting for several years at that point, the ditzy Blanche was Tilly’s breakout film role. Blanche is one of the litany of women who unsuccessfully auditions to be the singer for the Baker Brothers, Jack and Frank (Jeff and Beau Bridges, respectively), before Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) shows up and blows them away to earn the job. To say Blanche fails her tryout spectacularly would be an understatement. Tilly shines as the cute and adorably earnest airhead, who clearly has no clue that singing is not her forte.

Blanche returns later in the film, when she waits on a depressed Jack at the diner where she works. They flirt briefly, and there’s a moment where it seems Jack is contemplating boffing her brains out to get over the pain of losing Susie, but then thinks better of it. I like to imagine there’s an alternate cut of the film where he does indeed make it with Blanche the bimbo, because, well, it’s Jennifer Tilly, and who wouldn’t want to make it with Jennifer Tilly?

Speaking of making it—and don’t ask me how this would fit into the film, because it really wouldn’t—it would also have been cool to see a scene where Blanche slips into a skimpy dress and heels (similar to what Tilly’s wearing in the photo above) to perform her own hilarious, yet still sexy version of “Makin’ Whoopee” atop Jack’s piano. Maybe in a dream sequence, then Jack wakes up in a cold sweat. Imagine Tilly writhing around and blurting out the song off key, in that helium-filled singing voice. Few actresses can play funny and sexy at the same time quite as well as Tilly, so the mind boggles at the possibilities.

Obviously, nothing could compete with Michelle’s scorching hot, iconic rendition of “Makin’ Whoopee” during the famous New Year’s Eve concert, but I don’t see a fantasy Jennifer Tilly version as competition. It would simply be a total blast to see this gifted comedic actress, whose sultry sensuality radiates through the screen, give the song a whirl in character as Blanche. Tilly has had a diverse career on stage and on screen. She’s a cult legend among genre fans because of her work in 1996’s erotic noir Bound (which I need to write about someday) and the Chucky franchise, plus she’s a world champion poker player! In short, more Jennifer Tilly is always a good thing.