Highbrow Diversions for Mrs Tibbett

Esther Ralston and Lawrence Tibbett; 1931; The Prodigal

"Something new in the party line was tried out by Mrs. Lawrence Tibbett recently.  She entertained with the London String Quartet at a distinctly highbrow function.  It proved no great strain either on the Hollywoodians, who are scarcely acclimated to so much artiness of an evening.  We noted among the guests Ina Claire, Dale Owen, Fay Wray, Theda Bara, Leslie Howard, Kathlyn Williams, John Loder, Walter Huston, Marie Dressler, and others of a select group.




After the music the guests were privileged to disport themselves in the swimming pool, but the only ones who took advantage of that frivolity were one or two members of the quartet."




[Source: Picture Play; July 1931]

Sylvia's diet for Ina Claire

Madame Sylvia created this diet for Ina Claire. She referred to it as a diet for those that are overweight and anemic. I have to say, I could hardly eat any of this diet. Not sure what Ina Claire did to Sylvia, but the thought of eating most of this stuff makes me ill. Yuck! I could probably eat only the breakfast and the veggies. The liver extract sounds particularly unappealing to me.

Breakfast
Small glass of Grapefruit Juice
2 Tablespoons of one of the Baked Patent Cereals with a Glass of Skimmed Milk
Tea with 1 Lump Sugar

Luncheon
Salad of Cottage Cheese with Shredded Pineapple - No Dressing
Cup of Broth with Liver Extract (hot or jellied)
2 Tablespoons of Carrots
2 Tablespoons Spinach
1 Tablespoon Peas
Apple Mold

Dinner
Celery
Sweetbreads with Truffles (The thymus gland or pancreas of a young animal, especially a calf or lamb, used for food)
3 heaping spoonfuls of String Beans
2 heaping spoonfuls of Summer Squash
Tomato Jelly with Diet Dressing
Stewed Fruit
Black Coffee

The Recipes

BAKED CEREAL
1/2 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup oat groats
1/2 cup millet
3/4 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 cups water

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart casserole. Cover with a glass lid or aluminum foil. Bake overnight at 150 degrees to 200 degrees. Serve with honey and milk. Refrigerate unused portion in an airtight container.


Liver Extract
1. Chop up a cow's liver, cover with cold water, bringing to a boil and simmer for 3 to 4 hours
2. The brew obtained from the liver is combined, half and half, with the broth of vegetables of meat, and is the element of the diet which is the most effective counter-agent against anemia


Apple Mold
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (8-serving size) JELL-O Brand Lemon Flavor Gelatin
2 cups cold apple juice
1 small green apple, chopped
1 small red apple, chopped

Directions:
1. Stir boiling water into dry gelatin in large bowl at least 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Stir in cold juice. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression).
2. When thickened, stir in apples.
3. Pour into 6-cup mold sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Unmold onto serving plate. Garnish as desired.
5. Store leftover gelatin in refrigerator.


Tomato Jelly
1 3/4 cups canned tomato juice
1/2 cup strained fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
4 cups sugar
1 pouch (3 oz.) liquid fruit pectin

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except pectin.
2. Stir over high heat until mixture reaches a full boil. Stir in pectin and bring again to a full boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat. Stir and skim for about 3 minutes.
4. Pour into sterile jars, leaving 1/8" headspace. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids and rings. Water bath 5 minutes.

This jelly is equally good served with meats or spread on hot bread.


French Dressing (According to Madame Sylvia - Not French Dressing as we know it today)
Olive Oil
Vinegar
Salt and Pepper


Diet Dressing
Mineral Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

Up next - Gloria Swanson's Diet for "The Nerves"

Gloria Swanson is top dog

In 1929, Madame Sylvia was under contract to Pathe. She was in charge of taking care of Gloria Swanson, Ina Claire, Grace Moore, and Constance Bennett.. Under her Pathe contract, Gloria got first dibs on Sylvia's services - everyone else had to work around it. During this time, Ina Claire's old beau, Gene Markey, started seeing Gloria Swanson in order to make Ina mad. Instead of Ina Claire becoming mad at Gloria, she became mad at Sylvia and stopped seeing her.


For info on Ina Claire, check out:
http://flapperdays.blogspot.com/2009/11/basil-rathbones-masquerade-leads-to-ina.html
http://flapperdays.blogspot.com/2009/11/ina-claire-and-alice-white-catfight.html

On a side note, Sylvia gave a pretty disgusting overview of the Hollywood hierarchy she observed while working at Pathe in Hollywood Undressed:

"In Hollywood you can high-hat some, and you can't high-hat others. On the lot you can high-hat writers, dialogue directors, the man who takes orders for custom-made shirts, people who act in Westerns, and Spaniards" (Hollywood Undressed, Page 105).

I'm not sure if that says more about Madame Sylvia, or the times in which she lived.

Up next, Carmel Myers gets on the wrong side of Gloria Swanson.

Basil Rathbone's Masquerade leads to Ina Claire's Elopement

I'm sure you all remember our sweet Ina Claire from my last post. Well, I have a few more random bits about her today.



Another reason Ina started seeing our masseuse Madame Sylvia, was because she wanted a more boyish figure for a costume. She planned on attending a masquerade ball given by Basil Rathbone and [illegible in Hollywood Undressed] Bergere. Ina planned on wearing form-fitting pink velvet pants and a boyish blouse. I wish there were pictures!

This party led to one of the juiciest ditches ever a mere 2 Weeks after the masquerade.

Another bit Madame Sylvia talks about is when Ina Claire eloped with Jack Gilbert, becoming his third wife. Yes it is THE John Gilbert, the silent film star famously left at the altar by Greta Garbo. Ina and Jack eloped in Las Vegas (even though Ina was engaged to writer Gene Markey). What a naughty girl!

Ina couldn't even live without Madame Sylvia's skills for even a day, so our Madame Sylvia was on the scene the very next morning. Like any celebrity, Ina wanted Sylvia to bring over the news and wanted to know is the elopement made the papers. It did of course, and Jack joked that his name should appear first in the press (him being a matinee idol and all). This joke did not go over well with Ina and they got into an argument.

But don't you worry about poor Gene Markey. From what I can tell he was one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood. Seen above marrying the lovely Joan Bennett. Gene married such beauties as: Joan Bennett, Hedy Lamarr, and Myrna Loy.

For more info check out:

John Gilbert's Bio: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318105/bio

Joan Bennett and Gene Markey's Wedding: http://hollywoodheyday.blogspot.com/2009/02/march-16-1932.html

Ina Claire and Alice White Catfight

Ina Claire (October 15, 1893 - February 24, 1985) needed to get into shape for her first sound picture. Above is an image of Ina in that film, The Awful Truth (1929). Ina had been skinny in The Golddiggers, but according to many, she was now overweight.

So, Hedda Hopper called Madame Sylvia to work her massage magic on Ina Claire. In her phone call, Hedda Hopper claimed "Ina Claire has to be taken down ten pounds in three days. Come and do it!" (Hollywood Undressed, Page 90). I can't imagine having to lose that kind of weight so quickly.

At the time, Sylvia was overwhelmed with clients including Alice White, Norma Shearer and Ruth Chatterton, and had to do morning conditioning on them all. Ina Claire, who was living at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel at the time, wanted a wake-up slapping from Sylvia at 6 AM, but Alice White already had that time reserved.

Well, Ina didn't seem to care that Alice White (pictured above and below) had the reservation, and so Ina offered to "pay Alice with something more valuable than money. Tell her I'll give her stage lessons!" (Hollywood Undressed, Page 93). Ouch!

Alice White found out about this through the press. Alice thought Sylvia had gone to the press, but it turns out Alice Glaser, wife of scenist Barney Glaser, had blabbed the story. So naturally, Alice had to reply to Ina Claire's "offer". Her reply was "You tell her that I don't need drama lessons as badly as she needs lessons in how to move around in front of the camera without showing too many of her profiles!" (Hollywood Undressed, Page 93). Will these girls ever get along?

Next up, Ina Claire has wedding and party plans.