How Well Do You Know Hollywood? - Question 2

She topped the Hollywood salary list for 1938

Bette Davis

Carole Lombard

Claudette Colbert

Joan Crawford

View comments to find the answer

Here's Holden!

 

     Here's everything you ever wanted to know about Hollywood's new golden boy, in 1940 anyway, William Holden:

Joyous Jean

     I'm sure I'm not the only one who was glued to my television yesterday for Jean Harlow's TCM Summer Under the Stars day.  As long time readers know, I'm generally not a fan of Summer Under the Stars.  I used to be, but just like with Oscar month, is tending to feature more and more recent material, 1970's stars, and the like.  When I think of the term "classic film star" I don't think Angie Dickinson, featured August 18th.  I understand she is well known, had a lot of roles, and is part of pop culture, but when I think 'classic' she's probably about the last person I would think of.  It's all about context.  Bette Davis or Angie Dickinson - which one is more of a 'classic film star'?  There's no comparison.  And yes, Summer Under the Stars features Bette Davis and Spencer Tracy for the umpteenth time.

Another Man's Poison (1951)

Another Man's Poison (1951) - Bette Davis (Janet Frobisher), Gary Merrill (George Bates), Emlyn Williams (Dr. Henderson), Anthony Steele (Larry Stevens), Barbara Murray (Chris Dale)

Week in Review

Films I've Viewed

• The Bribe (1949) - Robert Taylor (Rigby), Ava Gardner (Elizabeth Hintten), Charles Laughton (J.J. Bealer), Vincent Price (Carwood), John Hodiak (Tigwell "Tug" Hintten).  Taylor plays a cop, sent to find a group of people smuggling airplane motors and selling them illegally.  Ava is a down on her luck singer in a seedy nightclub, torn between her attraction to Rigby and her devotion to her shady, dying husband.  Elizabeth's husband is part of the gang, so if he does anything it will hurt her.  Robert Taylor is divine.  One of my favorite leading men.  Ava played the sultry singer well.  I don't think she was worth the trouble, but then, Ava is not one of my favorite actresses.  Charles Laughton and Vincent Price were fabulous as the bad guys.  Their portrayals were worth the film alone.  Well worth the view.

All This and Heaven Too

I adored this film based on the lives of Henriette Deluzy-Desportes, Charles Laure Hugues Théobald the Duc de Choiseul-Praslin, and his wife Frances.  Bette Davis plays the governess Henriette, who leaves England for a new life as governess for the Duc and his family.  


Henriette adores the new children she is ward for.  She soon finds herself in love with Praslin, played by Charles Boyer.  Who else would you cast as a French aristocrat?  He plays it to perfection, of course.  Duc loves Henriette as well.  The only problem is he is married.

His wife is played by the lovely Barbara O'Neil.  This is only the second film I recall seeing her in, the other being as Mother O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, but she certainly shines in this one.  While several sources say she did not want to play the wife as glamorous, I love her portrayal as such.  She is elegant and lovely, yet the viewer still feels like the Duc really should be with Henriette.

I won't spoil the ending for those whom have not viewed it yet, but I was startled by the ending.  It was very shocking, yet it seemed like the perfect ending for the film.  In fact, it was quite refreshing and realistic.  

One of the novelties of the film is that it is mostly a flashback.  Henriette is starting a new position in a school and word of her notorious past has reached her students.  The students begin to humiliate her, so she tells them her story in the hope she will gain order and sympathy.  While an intriguing concept, I don't think this would work in real life.  A lot of people aren't so forgiving.    

Cathay Circle Theater from Maybelline Story

A fantastic blog, The Maybelline Story, has an entry from Joan Allen's diary on the day of the premiere.  It is a fantastic insight into the life of those in the industry.  Sharrie Williams, a descendant of the founders of Maybelline, gives the contents of Joan Allen's day by hour and includes the celebrities Allen saw.  It's amazing to hear about all the greats that were out on that night.



If you want to catch the film, it is on DVD in the Bette Davis Collection 3 or on TCM February 21, 2014 at 5:00 am est.

Vintage Inspiration - Blonde Beauties

I'm needing some more warm weather inspiration.  Here are some sunny girls, Joan Blondell and Bette Davis.

Leslie Lets Us In His Lair

Leslie Howard; 1941

Leslie Howard lived in Dorking, Surrey in a 16th Century Farm House named Stowe Maries.  He thought he had bought a "white elephant", but it seems like an amazing home to me.  He and his wife Ruth would entertain many celebrities there including Bette Davis and Ingrid Bergman.  According to a fascinating story on the UK Telegraph, his wife Ruth even novel way of keeping him away from his glamorous female guests.

Leslie Howard; 1941

If this isn't the way I expect an Englishman to look, I don't know what is!

Stars Reshining

Over the Hill; 1931

Comebacks in the movies are attaining amazing proportions.  The studios are apparently deciding that old screen names are the best, what with the failure of so many stage players.  Faces you will soon be seeing again are those of Dolores Del Rio, Billie Dove, Agnes Ayres, Olga Baclanova, Anna May Wong, and, most notably, Mae Marsh.  Mae, of course, plays the mother in Over the Hill, replacing Cecilia Loftus.

Mae Marsh

Miss Marsh has never done a talkie.  She was chosen because she was young and a mother.  It was felt Miss Loftus, a veteran stage actress, would perhaps not be suited to the more youthful sequences in the picture.






[Source: Picture Play; July 1931]

Cecilia Loftus

From what I can tell, these starlets tried, but Dolores Del Rio, Anna May Wong, and Mae Marsh had the most success, even though they often appeared in films un-credited.  Cecilia Loftus was a well-known Scottish actress.  She acted in 12 films, 3 in 1931.  Unbeknownst to me, I have seen her in two films: The Old Maid with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins and The Black Cat with Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi.

Superstitions of the Stars

Superstitions of the Stars

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth would slip a shiny new dime under the garter of her left leg for luck before stepping on a movie set.

Mae West

Mae West made everyone who whistled in her dressing room stand in the corner and spit three times

Bette Davis

Bette Davis thinks whistling in a dressing room is bad luck too, and pushed Jack Warner from her dressing room he whistled Hallelujah

Edwin Booth as Hamlet

Rumor has it that the superstition about whistling in a dressing room originated from the urban legend that actor Edwin Booth was whistling Dixie in his dressing room when his brother, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln.




[Source:  Point; August 1954]

Recent Items for Sale on Etsy and Amazon

Recent Items for Sale on my Etsy and Amazon sites.

Card with a piece of Mae West clothing on Etsy

5 Vintage 1930s Newspaper Inserts of Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery, Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, and Bette Davis on Etsy

Some reproduction Godeys watercolor prints on Etsy

How to Draw the Muppets on Amazon

Some Laugh-In DVDs on Amazon

Or try some fun gambling on a Vintage Slot Machine on Etsy

Or a Vintage Black Jack Machine on Etsy

Weird Wednesday - Bette Davis Getting Some Sun

Bette Davis gets a Suntan in her backyard in 1940. I guess some people will go to extremes to get a tan. Since this device looks like it is made from bars and cloth, I'm guessing it is for privacy rather than amplification of the suns rays. Looks more like a coffin to me. Does anyone know what the purpose of this contraption might be?

Matinee Monday: Old Maid (1939)

Watched Old Maid (1939) today in honor of Miriam Hopkins; birthday. I really enjoyed the film. Bette Davis' character has a child out of wedlock and since it was the late 1800s, she went away and had the child, claiming illness. Of course, Delia Ralston (Miriam Hopkins) had to stop Charlotte's (Bette Davis) marriage to another man because of the illegitimate child. When Charlotte becomes widowed, she offers Delia and her illegitimate child a home with her. A touchy relationship between the two women forms based on who really is the mother of Charlotte's child.

Bette Davis was the star, and she did a fabulous job, but I was drawn to Miriam Hopkins. Her portrayal was strong and sympathetic. Miriam gets a bad rap because of her off-screen issues with Bette and other actors, spending her free time with writers instead of Hollywood elite, consulting a psychic before choosing a role, and of course - her suspected communism, but I've loved her in every film I've seen her in from Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to These Three (when will this film ever come out on DVD?).

Happy 108th Birthday Mims!

Theatrical Thursday: Male Leads - George Brent

A fun George Brent Fact - He was an IRA Guerrilla in the Anglo-Irish War and fled Ireland with a price on his head. Where else but America could someone go from guerrilla to leading man?

George Brent and Ann Sheridan

George Brent and Ginger Rogers in 1935


Bette Davis and George Brent in Jezebel

Bette Davis' Pointed Guesture

Pointed Gesture: Bette Davis pushes Jimmy Cagney into a cactus patch in The Bride Came C.O.D.

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my 100 Followers Giveaway. I wish I had prizes for everyone. My favorite star is Rita Hayworth, of course, so everyone got it correct. I should have asked a harder question:) So without further ado, the winner is . . .

Baroness Von Vintage!

Baroness, please leave your address in a comment so I may send you your book: Bette Davis, Larger Than Life. (I've got Comment Moderation on and I won't post the comment so no one else will see the address.)

As a side note, have been having some issues at home, but will get back to posting more regularly soon :)

The Blondes Hair

Since the redheaded posts went so well, I thought I'd head on to the next group, the blondes of course! This advice also comes from Ruth Murin in Good Housekeeping from the 1940s.

Naturally a blonde's first consideration is her much-admired hair. If she appreciates her luck, she does everything she can to keep it fair and shining. Since it looks most beautiful when it has just been washed, she shampoos often. The least hint of oil darkens it and makes it stringy, so once a week at least she bends over a washbowl and rubs bubbly suds into her scalp. She sprays with clear water until each strand squeaks with cleanliness. Since a film of soap left on the hair will dull it, she uses the juice of two lemons in the last rinse, or she may prefer one of the prepared tinted rinses that not only cut soap but heighten the color of the hair. Or she uses a soapless shampoo which, even in hard water, leaves no deposit on the hair. - Ruth Murrin (Good Housekeeping)

I am a total clean hair addict, so I'm not sure I could handle the blonde's beauty routine. I need to wash my hair minimum daily. I understand in the past, people used to bathe like once a week. I just could not have done it. - A

In spite of the best care, some blond locks naturally darken as a girl grows older. The ripe-wheat tone may deepen to antique gold or honey. Bette Davis has hair like this and refuses to have it bleached. She likes the individuality of its caramel tone, the way it sparkles with gold glints when the light is on it. I admire her attitude and commend her example to girls who write me mournfully that they are "muddy blondes". - Ruth Murrin (Good Housekeeping)

Obviously this was written in the 1940s because at one time, Bette Davis did dye her hair bright blonde. I do admire her stance, though. It's hard to fight the pressure to dye your hair. That's why I stick to my red hair as long as it will last. Too bad all my stress is giving me so much white hair :) - A

Even when the fair hair of childhood turns decisively brown, I still think it is best to let nature take its course. After all, it is much nicer to be a brunette than to struggle with bleaches and such. - Ruth Murrin (Good Housekeeping)

Thankfully I have no experience here. Always had red-auburn hair, and totally been too afraid to dye it (My sensitive skin doesn't help either). - A

Tomorrow - 1940s Skincare and Makeup for Blondes

Vintage Inspiration August 28th Scottie Dogs

The Fabulous Jessica over at Chronically Vintage (http://www.chronicallyvintage.com/) inspired my post today

I have always loved the gorgeous Scottie. They are just too cute!

Some famous Scottie owners include: Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Julie Andrews, Liza Minellli, E.B. White, George W. Bush, Queen Victoria, Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, Dorothy Lamour, Eva Braun, Shirley Temple

FDR and Fala, of course!



Ed Sullivan

And Wallis Simpson

Cute Bakelite Scotties

Hoping I can get one soon. Have to get my home in order first.