ALFREDO'S PAELLA

MARY, MARY

2010-05-18T21:10:00.003-04:00

"I'm past the stage in which noise is a stimulant" -- Mary Astor to Doro Merande on Alfred Hitchcock's TV show

Somerset Maugham's Architectural Digest

2010-05-12T22:23:00.007-04:00

"It was indeed an amazing room. The paper on the walls, the cretonne of the curtains and on the upholstered furniture were of the same pattern; on the walls were oil paintings in massive gold frames that the Bradleys had evidently bought when they were in Rome. Virgins of the school of Raphael, Virgins of the school of Guido Reni, landscapes of the school of Zuccarelli, ruins of the school of Pannini. There were trophies of the sojourn in Peking, blackwood tables too profusely carved, huge cloisonne vases, and there were the purchases they had made in Chile or Peru, obese figures in hard stone and earthenware vases. There was a Chippendale writing-table and a marquetry vitrine. The lamp-shades were of white silk on which some ill-advised artist had painted shepherds and shepherdesses in Watteau costumes. It was hideous and yet, I don't know why, agreeable. It had a homely, lived-in air, and you felt that that incredible jumble had a significance. All those incongruous objects belonged together because they were part of Mrs. Bradley's life."

-- W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge

WE'VE DONE OVER THE BEDROOM

2010-05-02T12:49:00.002-04:00

JEAN MOREAU + MILES DAVIS

2010-04-27T21:13:00.000-04:00

ALL AT SEA

2010-04-20T21:23:00.002-04:00

We're mad about classic ocean liners, especially great pictures of classic ocean liners. We're also mad about out-at-sea pictures that put you there. Here, the combination of the grand Queen Mary and the melancholy waters she's crossing, whisks us away in reverie.

AS I WAS SAYING TO THE POPE THE OTHER DAY...

2010-04-16T23:14:00.003-04:00

"I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons."

-- Jan Sterling in ACE IN THE HOLE

GIG YOUNG

2010-04-06T22:48:00.008-04:00

No excuses, but in one afternoon we found ourselves watching Gig Young back to back, courting Joan Crawford in "Torch Song" and Katharine Hepburn in "Desk Set." Both these pairings must have tested the powers of suspended disbelief even back in the 50s. But at least in "Torch Song he is clearly identified as Crawford's boy toy, getting through his duties in a haze of liquor and self-deprecating quips. In one scene she lets him know he's "useless...but beautiful" (which can also be subtexted a complaint for services not rendered.)

In "Desk Set" he's a fast-rising executive stringing Hepburn along, hinting at make-out sessions and marriage. The subtext here is that sex and romance lie elsewhere for him but, darn it, that Hepburn would sure make the kind of wife that would boost his career.

Born Byron Elsworth Barr, we loved Gig Young and the good looks and killer charm he used on his leading ladies and the audience. We sensed that he was not happy as an actor, always playing the guy the girl dumped for another.

At least he was given an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1969 for "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" And that's the way we want to remember him.

MAIRA KALMAN MAKES A MOVIE

2010-03-30T16:43:00.006-04:00

Click above to see, uhhh, the movie

INDIAN EPIC (1959)

2010-03-30T13:57:00.003-04:00

Beautiful Debra Paget, an inspired costume, a bad papier mache cobra and a little Fritz Lang magic.

POST MORTEM EPIPHANY

2010-03-30T12:25:00.002-04:00

THE BLIND LEADING THE BLONDE

2010-03-30T12:18:00.004-04:00

Party time: Gloria Swanson and Diana Dors

BANANAS A LADY DON'T MAKE

2010-03-29T21:31:00.000-04:00

TIME OF THE MONTH QUIZ

2010-03-29T21:27:00.005-04:00

(Click on the image for a larger view

-- and then click again for larger still)

THINK TWICE? LIKE, UH, WHO?

2010-03-27T21:19:00.006-04:00

"Remember Lillian Roth, whose big voice made her a movie musical queen back in the late twenties and early thirties? She's back in Hollywood seeking a career as a straight dramatic actress. Her book [I'll Cry Tomorrow], telling why her star dimmed, will be hitting the stalls soon. It's a female version of The Lost Weekend and will make many stars think twice"
--Motion Picture magazine, June 1951

Judy's Cream Of Wheat

2010-03-24T22:32:00.001-04:00

TANTALIZING TERRY

2010-03-22T19:53:00.002-04:00

"I was shocked with the stunt Terry Moore pulled recently at Las Vegas in her night-club appearance. I have always thought of Terry as the girl-next-door type, but no girl next door would wear a dress like the one Terry appeared in. I think she wore it to get back at the people who made her leave her fur bathing suit at home. I think this is a cheap trick for a little publicity."

-- Shirley Modabauth, Des Moines, Iowa.

-- Letters from Photoplay magazine, 1954

CIGARETTE ME. MATCH ME.

2010-03-20T19:16:00.011-04:00

CATHERINE DENEAUVE

LUCILLE BALL

LOUISE BROOKS

LINDA DARNELL

TIPPI HEDREN

BETTE DAVIS

JEANNE MOREAU

BRIGITTE BARDOT

LANITA

2010-03-14T20:34:00.006-04:00

We never got over watching AUNTIE MAME in Spanish. We will investigate if IMITATION OF LIFE has language options too. We can't wait to hear Lana say "Soy una actriz! Y de las buenas!"

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...SOMEBODY'S SMOKING A CIGARETTE

2010-03-14T20:10:00.000-04:00

LEFTOVER PATTI

2010-03-07T15:35:00.003-05:00

The Patti Andrews, from the Broadway Wigs collection, NYC

THE MISCHIEVOUS MR. MAUGHAM

2010-03-06T19:51:00.003-05:00

" In twenty-five years Mrs. Garstin never invited anyone to dine at her house because she liked him. She gave large dinner parties at regular intervals. But parsimony was as strong in her as ambition. She hated to spend money. She flattered herself that she could make as much show as anyone else at half the price. Her dinners were long and elaborate, but thrifty, and she could never persuade herself that people when they were eating and talking knew what they drank. She wrapped sparkling Moselle in a napkin and thought her guests took it for champagne." -- The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maughan

CREPUSCULO BOULEVARD

2010-03-04T20:58:00.006-05:00

We have no problem imagining Gloria Swanson belting her closing line in Spanish: "Estoy lista para mi close-up, Señor DeMille!"

PATTISERIE

2010-03-03T15:02:00.004-05:00

PATTI PAGE

PATTY McCORMAK

PATTI LUPONE

PATTI AUSTIN

PATTI LABELLE

STRITCH SPEAKS

2010-02-19T17:20:00.002-05:00

"My feeling for [the theatre] hasn't changed. But my feeling is for the memories. I hate how casual it is now. I loved the specialness of going to a Broadway show, the sense of a big treat that you dressed up for. Popcorn is OK for the movies, but for the theater it should be pearls."

STOOD UP, AGAIN

2010-02-18T21:52:00.005-05:00

YOU'RE SOAKING IN IT

2010-02-17T18:21:00.013-05:00

If we'd been Ginger Rogers we'd have been less concerned about the implications in this publicity shot with Doris Day for STORM WARNING (1951) than the resemblance of her hands to those of the Wicked Witch of the West.

INA CLAIRE, AS IN FLAIR

2010-02-13T21:17:00.005-05:00

The stylish comedienne Ina Claire gets off some of the juiciest lines in NINOTCHKA, a movie loaded with juicy lines:

"I know how you feel, my dear. The morning after always does look grim if you happen to be wearing last night's dress. Don't be embarrassed by my presence, though. You couldn't have found anybody more sympathetic to your condition. I remember once in Petrograd when I felt exactly as you do. I had to bow from a balcony to the crowd. My dear, the masses have no understanding of the feelings of a lady before noon. Don't you find this true?"

LIFE GOES TO A PARTY

2010-02-02T19:52:00.016-05:00

A night out at El Morocco in 1936,

as reported by LIFE magazine.

Broadway was represented by personable Ina Claire, the only American actress who is altogether persona grata in Cafe Society. She was accompanied to El Morocco by Writer {sic} Carl Van Vechten and Edward Wassermann of the Seligman banking family.
Hollywood luminaries were Mr. and Mrs. Jack Warner whose new home in California is embellished with suede-covered walls and a velvet-covered ceiling in bedroom. A New Orleans girl, Mrs. Warner sported a tremendous cabochon emerald.
Mrs. Orson D. Munn, who won fame in a limited circle by wearing a foxtail for a hat at the Colony Restaurant, drops in at El Morocco several times a week, is known for the spirited way she dances the rhumba with her remarkably agile husband.

ADIOS, OLGA SAN JUAN

2010-02-01T21:56:00.005-05:00

We are remiss not to note the passing of Olga San Juan at 81 on January 3rd. Born in Brooklyn, she started early on radio and in the 1940s appeared in several movies with titles like "Are You With It?" and "The Countess of Monte Cristo." On "Variety Girl", which featured just about everyone on the Paramount lot, she played an endearing ditz trying to crash the movies. She retired in the early 50s to raise her family. She was once married to Edmond O'Brien.

IT'S JOHN O'HARA'S B-DAY

2010-01-31T16:24:00.010-05:00

"Acting is the last thing you did after everything was ready, and you did that for two minutes at a time. Then they glued those two minuteses together until they had eighty minutes that made sense -- and then they put you in another picture. She could not understand how people got an impression of you from this collection of two-minute, one-minute, thirty-second snatches, but they did, and if they liked you that was all that mattered. Of all the girls she had known in Santa Ana she was the only one who could say, 'I'm going to get a new LaSalle,' at eleven o'clock at night and be sure that it would be delivered to her the next afternoon. She was certainly the only Santa Ana girl who had been kissed by Robert Taylor, and Garbo had smiled at her. Life was funny."
-- Natica Jackson by John O'Hara

THE ROAD ONCE TAKEN

2010-01-29T17:17:00.006-05:00

HOLDEN CAULFIED'S MANHATTAN:
AN INTERACTIVE JOURNEY

THEY DON'T MAKE TROUBLED WOMEN LIKE HEY USED TO

2010-01-29T09:15:00.004-05:00

The silky dark version of the Matt Dennis/Earl Brent classic torch in a surprising saloon turn by Bruce Springteen. (A tip of the hat to C. Schneider.)

KAYE PASSED IT ON TO MARY TYLER MOORE

2010-01-24T18:19:00.005-05:00

When Kaye Ballard signed on in 1967 to share top billing with Eve Arden in NBC's "The Mothers-In-Law", she claims she got the best advice of her career from Vivian Vance: "Use your name as the character's name. Don't let them call you Helen or Barbara or Dot. I've spent most of my life being called Ethel Mertz wherever I go. Don't let this happen to you." The series went into ER at the end of the first season, but was given a second chance. At the end of the second season the body was pronounced dead. Produced by Desilu and with the same writers that created "I Love Lucy", it must have been a matter of bad timing.
We have mixed feelings to learn that MPI Home Video will release the complete series on DVD. Vivian Vance
Kaye Ballard

ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

2010-01-24T09:42:00.007-05:00

Allegedly, this is a picture of Rock Hudson on his way to have a lobotomy. Universal Studios had deemed it a necessary last recourse, in view of the actor's increasingly indiscreet hi-jinks with other men.
Lawyers for Hudson tried to intervene, even though there was a clause in his contract that allowed Universal to re-arrange the content of his brain without explanations (it had been said Universal also threatened to re-arrange the contents of Deanna Durbin's brain when she balked at renewing her contract.)
Rock Hudson was saved in the nick of time when his lawyers found another clause in his contract that would cancel re-arranging the content of his brain if he agreed to stop having hi-jinks with other men and married a woman.
Reportedly Hudson called his secretary, Phyllis Gates, and asked her to find a woman to marry in a hurry. Gates suggested herself and the two were wed in November 1955. The union lasted 3 years.
According to rumor, Phyllis Gates threatened to spill the beans to every newspaper and magazine if she was to receive only $250 a month in alimony. It's also rumored that Universal threatened to re-arrange the content of her brain if she so much as opened her mouth. Gates agreed when her lawyers arranged for the money to be paid for a 10-year period.
Rock Hudson died at 60 in 1985. Phyllis Gates died at 80 in 2006.

A TWO-SOME WAY TO START AND/OR END THE WEEKEND!

2010-01-22T17:40:00.003-05:00

For the first time, these two Hollywood legends on one CD. These recordings were made in 1957, when both women were at the top of their game.
24 tracks include: After You’ve Gone • Another Year • Always • The Last Time I Saw Paris • You’ll Never Know • My Man • Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries • Summertime • Everybody’s Doin’ It Now • Where Or When • Let’s Fall In Love • Wayfaring Stranger • Ballin’ The Jack • Let’s Be Buddies • You’re Mine You.
If you click on this here link you can hear audio samples.

LOUISE BROOKS EXPOSED

2010-01-21T16:34:00.007-05:00

Venus de Milo was noted for her charms,
But strictly between us,
You're cuter than Venus,
And what's more you got arms.
-- Love is Just Around the Corner, originally made famous by Bing Crosby. Written by Leo Robin and Lewis E. Gensler

THOSE CHAIRS ARE SO 2001!

2010-01-18T22:24:00.003-05:00

PUT BACK THE MASK

2010-01-18T19:27:00.007-05:00

Innocence and an over supply of testosterone were at play way back, when we thought the Creature from the Black Lagoon was pretty hot fish. No one had abs like that in those days. No one has abs like that today. Of course, we never shared this minor obsession with anyone, anyone who already thought a minor obsession with Aldo Ray was suspiciously queer. And now that we see the man behind the mask, well, we wished we had left the ball at the stroke of midnight with our illusions intact.

YOU HAD TO HAVE A GIMMICK

2010-01-16T20:16:00.011-05:00

This site displays a rare collection of Burlesque and Strip-Tease photos for perusing and buying. For sale are also endearing objects like key-chains, ties, t-shirts and more, all emblazoned with the images of ecdysiast artists from a more innocent time: http://www.burlesquebabesshop.com

THE FIRST RECORD COVER

2010-01-14T12:35:00.005-05:00

In 1939, Alex Steinwess, a 23 years old designer, convinced Columbia Records' suits to create the first true record cover. Until then, 78s were sold in generic brown sleeves.

DIE, DIE MY RHODA

2010-01-13T16:20:00.003-05:00

Valerie Harper as Tallulah Bankead in LOOPED, coming to Broadway, like it or not, in February, 2010

NEW YORK BEFORE THE GLITZ

2010-01-07T21:20:00.008-05:00

"When I was growing up in NYC there were still hints and whispers of my grandmother's world around me - in leftover elevated train stations and old automats, the back rooms of antique stores that used to proliferate on Columbus Avenue and the scratchy big band recording they played in the diners. So many dusty, evocative things that I wish I could find again. If only there were a secret doorway..."
-- Blog post from an unknown woman. Photo of 14th St/Union Square by Rebecca Lepkoff.

QUIZES WE LIKE

2010-01-07T21:14:00.003-05:00

SHE MADE TOO MANY FACES

2010-01-06T22:02:00.006-05:00

Daughter of a Hungarian Baron and a Countess, Lya De Putti was done in by a chicken bone. After a brief stint in Hungarian Vaudeville, she made several films at the German UFA Studios, most notably Variety in 1925. Following her success in Eastern Europe, she attempted a Hollywood career and failed. A bid for Broadway also fizzled. In despair, possibly eating more than was good for her, she swallowed a chicken bone which had to be removed by emergency surgery. Complications followed which De Putti, already weakened by pneumonia, did not survive. On November 27, 1931, Lya De Putti died in New York, all but forgotten by the public. She was 34.

ON THE ROAD, IN THE BACK SEAT OF A CAR, WE'LL TAKE JACK KEROUAK

2010-01-05T14:41:00.001-05:00

SHE THOUGHT PINK

2010-01-03T16:01:00.007-05:00

Romance novel icon Dame Barbara Cartland died in 2000 just short of her 99th birthday. She dressed almost always in pink and understood early on the power of being a recognizable writer. By 1995, the eternal coquette had sold more than a billion books with titles such as The Duke is Deceived, The Earl Elopes, A Heart of Stone and A Heart of Love. She wrote an astonishing 723 titles and left a staggering 160 unpublished manuscripts.
Because of her concern for the environment, she requested to be buried in a cardboard coffin. This request was honored and she was buried at her estate under a tree that had been planted by Queen Elizabeth.

D IS FOR DANIELLE DARRIEUX

2010-01-02T20:25:00.005-05:00

In her 8th decade in show business, Madame D can currently be heard, if not seen, as the voice of the grandmother in PERSEPOLIS. We love that one of the truly great stars of international cinema is still giving it up for a tube of greasepaint and a follow spot. The iconic moment in film is there for anyone willing to be swept away by the ecstatic romance of THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE...

WE'RE STAYING IN FOR NEW YEAR'S

2009-12-31T10:12:00.003-05:00

GOLDWYN'S LAST STEN

2009-12-30T18:16:00.006-05:00

Producer Sam Goldwyn found Anna Sten in the Ukraine and brought her out to Hollywood to become a star. It never happened. Through the mid 30s all efforts failed, largely due to a heavy accent she couldn't kick. Nevertheless, she stuck to the limelight and in the 60s found a place in such disparate television shows as THE RED SKELTON SHOW, ADVENTURES IN PARADISE and THE WALTER WINCHELL FILE. Fate was kind to Sten, though. She achieved immortality after all, thanks to Cole Porter, who included her in the lyrics for "Anything Goes":
When Sam Goldwyn can with great conviction
Instruct Anna Sten in diction
Then Anna shows
Anything goes

WE'RE STAYING IN FOR NEW YEAR'S

2009-12-30T11:49:00.001-05:00

DESERT ISLAND PICK

2009-12-30T09:53:00.001-05:00

ROZ RUSSELL WAS JUST IN TIME

2009-12-30T09:33:00.002-05:00

WE'RE STAYING IN FOR NEW YEAR'S

2009-12-30T06:59:00.002-05:00

HOLMES HOMO?

2009-12-29T15:48:00.006-05:00

"Sherlock Holmes, lends himself to gay interpretation. Holme’s hauteur, emotional oddity and repression and sudden burst of flamboyancy (particularly in Jeremy Brett’s portrayal). The disdain for women. The penchant for dressing up. And of course there’s the Holmes-Watson partnership – which has a secure place in the popular consciousness. Two men living together, in what is an emotionally turbulent relationship. Watson subtly undermined, ever subject to Holmes’s whims, yet whenever Watson eventually rebukes him Holmes declares his fondness and admiration for his chum." -- Robbie Hudson, The UK Times. Art by Mike Williams. Art: Playboy, September 1976

WE'RE STAYING IN FOR NEW YEAR'S

2009-12-29T15:20:00.002-05:00

AT THE CROSSROADS OF MAINBOCHER AND ETHEL MERMAN

2009-12-23T00:07:00.006-05:00

An iconic feature of Ethel Merman was her hair. If you close your eyes you can see it: pulled up in the back with a spiky cascade of curls over her brow. As the droll cabaret chanteuse Klea Blackhurst recounts in EVERYTHING THE TRAFFIC WILL ALLOW, her endearing tribute to Ethel Merman, the Merm reached some kind of apogee when Mainbocher, a much revered fashion dictator of his time, was commissioned in 1950 to do her costumes for CALL ME MADAM. Ms. Blackhurst reports that Mainbocher was delighted with his assignment and thought Merman had the perfect figure, go figure. There was only one area he was uneasy about and so uneasily he asked "Uhh...Miss Merman, what do you intend to do about your hair?" Merman probably put her hands on her hips and shot straight back at him: "Honey, I'm just gonna wash it!"

A TALENT TO AMUSE

2009-12-23T00:00:00.006-05:00

According to sharp tongued Evelyn Keyes (Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister) sartlet Corinne Calvet made some kind of reputation for herself at Hollywood parties in the 1950s by offering to read not people's cards, not their palms, but their sheets. We wish she had published an illustrated book on her findings.

COOL YULE

2009-12-22T15:11:00.001-05:00

PHILYS LEE ISLEY 1919-2009

2009-12-17T21:38:00.022-05:00

Her light shone bright from the start, sending out mixed and exciting messages of innocence and guilt. She was vulnerable but manipulative, sensitive but shrewd, aflame with desire but circumspect in its expression. She struggled to be a good girl. She was a bad girl. No, wait, she struggled to be a bad girl, she was a good girl. Whatever you thought of her as a beauty or an actress, when she was on the screen there was no one else you looked at. That's how star quality has been described. And it just poured out of Jennifer Jones.

CRO-MAGNON A LA MODE

2009-12-17T18:52:00.005-05:00

We find this early publicity shot of Paul Newman disturbing to the extreme. We can't relate to it in any way. It's haunting, but not in in a nice, certainly not a sexy way. What's with the sideburns? What film was this attached to? SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME? THE SILVER CHALICE? HOMBRE? We just know that even if we knew it was Paul Newman we'd get the hell out of there and scream for our lives.

MARGARITA CANSINO, WE HARDLY KNEW YE.

2009-12-17T18:37:00.009-05:00

We have been recently made to feel extremely shameful for even indirectly giving the impression that there was anything to criticize about Rita Hayworth. The post meant to point out once more the foolishness of the Hollywood press, forcing a story out of movie stars behaving like real people.

LETS SEE: COLLEGE FOOTBALL. KEPT MEN. AND THIS HAS TO DO WITH...?

2009-12-17T18:16:00.004-05:00

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE SPRING BYINGTON.

2009-12-17T17:52:00.002-05:00

ANTIPASTO A LA THELMA

2009-12-15T19:25:00.004-05:00

In Italy, throughout her career, Thelma Ritter was dubbed by different actresses:
Rina Morelli (e.g. Pickup on South Street (1953)
Tina Lattanzi (e.g.Daddy Long Legs (1955)
Wanda Tettoni (e.g. Pillow Talk (1959)
Lia Orlandini (e.g. How the West Was Won (1962)
Franca Dominici(e.g. Rear Window (1954)
Maria Saccenti lent her voice to Ritter only once, in All About Eve (1950).

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL

2009-12-11T22:14:00.009-05:00

Jane Russell is one of the underrated beauties of the screen. Maybe it was having a big bust but being a brunette. You got the feeling Jane was real people. She kept a sense of humor about all that was made of her bust size, never bought her own publicity and surprised everyone by turning into an important good samaritan. She adopted 3 children and went on to found World Adoption International Fund (WAIF), an organization that pioneered adoptions from foreign countries by Americans.

Still, we love to remember these taglines used in her movie posters and publicity:

"How'd you like to tussle with Russell?" - The Outlaw - 1943
"Jane Russell and Frank Sinatra...What a pair!" - Double Dynamite - 1951
"They were two of a kind!" - His Kind of Woman - 1951
"Warm Lips...Hot Lead!" - Montana Belle - 1952
"The Two M-M-Marvels Of Our Age In The Wonder Musical Of The World!" - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - 1953
"J.R. in 3-D. It'll Knock both your eyes out!" - The French Line - 1954
"Skin Diver Action...Aqua-lung Thrills!" - Underwater! - 1955
"They Don't come ANY BIGGER" - The Tall Men - 1955
"SEE 'EM SIZZLE IN THE BIG, BUXOM, BEAUTIFUL MUSICAL!" - Gentlemen Marry Brunettes - 1955
"Jane Russell shakes her tamborines and drives Cornel Wilde!" - Hot Blood - 1956
"The hottest bundle ever hijacked!" The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown - 1957

GARBO SCREEN TEST, 1949

2009-12-08T20:54:00.004-05:00

Garbo, at 45, ready to go back to work. After turning down what became over 300 film proposals, she agreed to do La Duchess de Langelais, co-starring with James Mason, to be directed by Max Ophuls. She wanted this badly enough that she agreed to go in front of the camera again and test for it. She appears sullen at first. But when her smile and playfulness break through it's a revelation that perhaps this is the only record of what she was really like. That she didn't vant to be alone.

LONG BEFORE THE iMAC, THE iPOD, AND THE iWANTiTNOW

2009-12-08T12:29:00.006-05:00

June 6, 1950. "Vis-O-Matic department store." A Vis-O-Matic spokesmodel, or perhaps even the queen of Vis-O-Matic, the Canadian catalog store whose slide-projection system of displaying merchandise was like a Buck Rogers premonition of online shopping. The Vis-O-Matic phenomenon seems to have been short-lived, with hardly any documentation online aside from these photos in the Life archive, and no word of its fate. Photo by Bernard Hoffman.
--A tip of the hat to www.shorpy.com!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HATS?

2009-12-07T14:45:00.008-05:00

IDon't speak! We live in modern times that demand everything be unadorned and comfortable. But women don't look as good as they used to. And a hat before you step out of the house would go a LONG way to correct the forgettable impression most women make when they enter a room. Let alone their postures. Or is the idea of making an impression when you enter a room as dated as these pictures? I think this may be true. Truer still is the idea that in these modern times you want to avoid being noticed when you enter a room. And maybe that's why places that boasted stairs that announced your entrance, like the old Brasserie in NYC, have gone the way of the hat too.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEARS' EVE?

2009-12-05T23:44:00.010-05:00

We're only interested in going out for New Year's Eve if the eve is going to look like this: beyond ringside and all the pink spots perfectly aligned. The deal-breaker is the champagne: nothing less than Krug, though in a pinch Moet or Dom will do. Bottom line: the flutes MUST be chilled crystal. Anything less, gather your schmates and say you're going to another dealership, and LEAVE!

SUGAR-COATED BUT DISPARAGING WORDS

2009-12-05T22:20:00.004-05:00

"There's an up and coming starlet in Hollywood who, when you tell her a story that reflects credit on someone, manages to murmur 'Oh, Honey...' in a way that either suggests you're a nice person and have been taken in or that there's more to the story than meets the eye. This technique saves this starlet from ever actually saying anything unpleasant.
In spite of the fact that this girl never commits herself in so many words, she has come to be avoided not only by those people whom she has dismissed with her 'Oh, Honey' technique, but also by those to whom she has cooed her sugar-coated but disparaging words. People, I think, would distrust her far less if she would come right out and say what she thinks."
--Photoplay magazine, 1952.

SOMEWHAT INARTICULATE?

2009-12-05T21:45:00.004-05:00

"Rita Hayworth is not a talker. In a way she is somewhat inarticulate. So that's how she is -- and she doesn't try to be otherwise. It is all very well to be true to yourself. But there also is such a thing as social responsibility. No one would suggest that Rita make any attempt to be the life of the party. However, a little participation always is in order. Rita should make some effort to keep the conversation going."
-- Photoplay magazine, 1952

READY? WE'RE GOING TO CHA-CHA!

2009-12-02T15:56:00.003-05:00

Is there another song that rhymes "cha-cha" with "cucaracha"? It's inspired, yet so obvious. We remember this growing up in Cuba, when it was known as "Me Lo DIJo Adela" or "Adela Told Me."

AS W.H. USED TO SAY...

2009-11-30T22:42:00.004-05:00

As the poets have
Mournfully sung,
Death takes the
innocent young,
The rolling-in-money,
The screamingly-funny,
And those who are
Very well hung
-- W.H. Auden

FASHION WISDOM FROM THE STARS

2009-11-26T19:04:00.003-05:00

"For Men Only: Ann Sothern said it to Jack Carson: 'A woman's dress is like a picket fence. it's supposed to protect the property but not obstruct the view.' Thank you, Miss Plunging Neckline!"
-- Photoplay magazine, 1955

BOOK SIGNINGS WE MISSED

2009-11-26T08:08:00.001-05:00

HOW ABEUT ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE?

2009-11-19T23:08:00.003-05:00

This delirious portrait, so accurate (well, at least from the waist up that we know) that it doesn't need identification was done by Kurt Kauper, a New York based artist.

CHARLOTTE GREENWOOD, SUNNY-SIDE UP!

2009-11-19T22:34:00.011-05:00

The adroit comedienne Charlotte Greenwood practically built a career on double-jointed hips. Even when well into middle age, she could perform complete leg-splits as well as kick higher than the top of her own head - sideways!. There was something really infectious when she did this because it clearly gave her such joy and she wanted you to feel it too. Her eccentric humor was all the more incongruous on account of her aura of elegance in that fastidiously styled coiffure and those glamorous, magnificently tailored gowns she wore.
This stratospheric head shot is part of the montage at the end of THE GANG'S ALL HERE, where the cast, in what looks like the aftermath of multiple beheadings, come out to sing yet another chorus of "A Stairway to the Stars." Even as they wind up as a large platter of solarized distended heads, their good spirits makes THE GANG'S ALL HERE the cheeriest experience on film, no matter how often you've seen it.

ONE MORE REHEARSAL WOULDN'T HAVE HURT

2009-11-18T22:22:00.006-05:00

The suis generis Kay Thompson (nee Kitty Fink) was the sensation of the night-club circuit in the mid 50s. Surrounded by the Williams Brothers (you can easily spot Andy here,) she had a strong connection with the Plaza Hotel beyond her invented alter ego, Eloise. She played its ultra chic boite, the Persian Room, and here she gives it a kind of desultory tribute. We are posting this because the early TV technology gives the performance a charming, ragged quality.

WHO IS SHE? THEY HAD FACES THEN, HAIR TOO.

2009-11-14T11:43:00.001-05:00

BUTTERFIELD 8, NEW YORK IN 1960

2009-11-07T15:55:00.002-05:00

in BUTTERFIELD8 Eddie Fisher lives on Horatio St in what was still thought of as the bohemian part of NY, Greenwich Village. It's a very small studio. But he's a composer so he's managed an upright piano in somehow. He's also Elizabeth Taylor's best friend. She plays a call girl who just got up that morning to find Laurence Harvey left her money in an envelope with a note "Gloria - $250. Enough?" She's so pissed she grabs a lush mink coat out of his wife's closet and throws it over her silk slip. She comes out the 5th Ave building facing Central Park, hails a cab, and makes for Horatio St. All the exteriors are real location shots.

It's 1959 and Eddie Fisher pays less than $100 for that studio. I know because in 1965 I checked out a much nicer 1 brm apt on Christopher and Sheridan Square for $150. I spent a couple of days debating wether to take it or take a small studio with a large deck overlooking the Manhattan skyline in Brooklyn Heights for $100. I took the latter, finally, because that's the view everybody seemed to have in the American movies I grew up watching in Cuba. And now it would be mine.

Decadence and all, watching BUTTERFIELD 8 made me miss those innocent days when New York was affordable, even if you just got out of school and were only making $75 a week. It also made miss the days when, like Gloria, I would often wake up in strange men's apartments to find they had already left for work and I would have a cigarette and walk around naked, exploring The Other's foreign turf. Sigh. I don't think I'll have that experience again. And I know New York will never be affordable again. Nobody ever left any money behind, let alone $250. But I get a sweet pang when I think of that time and how easy everything seemed.

LP COVERS THAT MAKES US MISS OUR TURNTABLES

2009-11-06T20:44:00.001-05:00

A REMINDER FROM DONNA REED TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK!

2009-11-02T14:52:00.002-05:00

EVERYTHING'S COMING UP GYPSY

2009-10-26T23:09:00.004-04:00

In the end, Gypsy Rose Lee's bottomless energy was overcome by cancer of the lungs (yes, she smoked.) In his vividly written memoir, GYPSY AND ME, her son, Erik Lee Preminger, recalls how even at the end her indomitable sense of self-appreciation never let up:

"When I think of her last days...I usually remember one of her first visits to the radiation clinic. The night before we had celebrated her fifty-sixth birthday. She was taken the moment she arrived, and we were walking past all the patients who were waiting in line for their turn.
'You know, Erik' she said quietly, 'when I look at all these people I can't bring myself to berate God for giving me this horrible disease. I've had three wonderful lives, and these poor sons-a-bitches haven't even lived once.'"

Yes, she toured with AUNTIE MAME several times.

JOAN CRAWFORD ON CHARM

2009-10-22T23:55:00.003-04:00

"Too many of us "turn on the charm" only on special occasions, taking our families and close friends for granted. Nobody is fooled -- neither your mother, for instance, who pressed your new nylon blouse so exquisitely and was understandably hurt when you "forgot" to thank here. Or the new boy friend on whom you lavish all the saved-up smiles and thoughtfulness. Self-conscious "this-will-get-him" charm -- the only kind you possibly can have when you put it on like a new formal or your best hat -- isn't charm at all. It's affectation -- and like last year's slip, it shows!"
-- Photoplay magazine, 1951.

TESTING, MISS CRAWFORD, TESTING!

2009-10-20T23:52:00.002-04:00

J.C. is actually very good in STRAIT-JACKET. But the jewel of the film comes at the end, when they wrap it up with the familiar Columbia logo, except the lady with the torch is DECAPITATED and her head is laying at her feet!

OH, LA PUBLICITE, LA PUBLICITE!

2009-10-15T21:14:00.001-04:00

MOM, I'D LIKE YOU TO MEET MY ROOMMATE

2009-10-15T21:08:00.002-04:00

RANDOLPH SCOTT AND CARY GRANT

SANTO VS THE VAMPIRE WOMEN (Las Mujeres Vampiro) trailer

2009-10-14T23:41:00.002-04:00

The wrestler/horror film. One concept Todd Browning missed out on.

BM (Before Multiplexes)

2009-10-09T12:36:00.001-04:00

A tip of the hat to Greg Ferrara!

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: RITA HAYWORTH AND HARRY BELAFONTE

2009-10-03T22:46:00.001-04:00

TAKE THAT, AVA GARDNER!

2009-10-03T18:36:00.003-04:00

Anne Bancroft paying her dues in "Gorilla At Large", 1954.

2009-10-02T19:28:00.002-04:00

A commanding talent, to say the least. But half-way through, for the second chorus, she morphs into Betty Hutton, which is startling, but not without its wacky charm.

FASHION WISDOM FROM THE GRAVE

2009-09-24T11:31:00.006-04:00

At a recent seance we heard the gravelly voice of a woman either in great physical pain or simply burdened by guests she couldn't get rid of. With considerable effort she delivered what we recognized as two pearls of wisdom that could only come from Diana Vreeland, the late, greatly missed doyen of Vogue and the Met's Institute of Fashion. Mrs. Vreeland must have thought it was urgent to spread the word again or maybe even in Hell the publicity machine never stops.

"Never fear being vulgar, just boring."

Then, after what sounded like a 30-second drag from a cigarette

"We all need a splash of bad taste. No taste is what I'm against."

There were a series of murmurs where she appeared to be approving of her pronouncements. And then she was gone.

CUKOR'S WOMEN

2009-09-17T22:10:00.012-04:00

An amazing gallery of obscure photos of (mostly) obscure actresses who worked with George Cukor, part of an altogether amazing Brazilian site dedicated to quality vintage film photos, videos and history.
Pictured above: Judy Holliday, Anouk Aimee, Jeanette Macdonald.
http://quixotando.wordpress.com/tag/george-cukor/

REMEMBERING ADRIAN 50 YEARS LATER

2009-09-13T10:52:00.006-04:00

Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut on March 3, 1903, Adrian Adolph Greenberg trained at the Parsons School of Fine Arts. It is rumored that songwriter Irving Berlin hired the then 18 year old designer for a Broadway presentation of "The Music Box Revue" after seeing his creations in Paris, where he had renamed himself Gilbert Adrian. It was Natacha Rambova, the wife of Rudolph Valentino and movie art director, who gave Gilbert Adrian access to Hollywood royalty in the 1920’s.

He designed for two of Rudy’s films and the rest is history.  Adrian turned ordinary actresses into immortal icons during the age of Hollywood glamour. His reported favorite was Greta Garbo but his clientele also included Norma Shearer and Jean Harlow and, yes, he gave Joan Crawford those unforgettable shoulder pads. After 13 years he opened his own shop in Beverly Hills.   His design emphasis was on simplicity but he had an ability to drape that is still unrivaled to this day.

He was a 1944 Coty award winner and unfortunately never won an Oscar because the category of costume design wasn’t created until after he left MGM. He was the head designer for over 250 movies, including "The Wizard of Oz" that featured the legendary ruby slippers. He had a controversial marriage to the actress Janet Gaynor and they lived in a ranch in Brazil in the last years of his life. Sadly, while making arrangements to design costumes for the upcoming Broadway musical "Camelot," he died on September 13, 1959 at the young age of 54 and his death was ruled a suicide. 

...BUT WATCH OUT FOR THAT DIOR CURVE JUST AHEAD...

2009-09-11T17:12:00.006-04:00

This juicy fashion tidbit comes from the March 27, 1950 issue of Quick Magazine:
"Hollywood designer Adrian, disregarding Paris and N.Y., pronounced that there will be no drastic change in the daytime silhouette for the next 50 years, added that the death of the “New Look” proved that attempting to insinuate violent fashion changes in modern times is futile."
And now that we've retro-ed ourselves through the 20th Century, what violent fashion changes do you anticipate for the next 50 years?

POOR LITTLE HOLLYWOOD STAR

2009-09-11T14:39:00.005-04:00

"You can't get a husband in Hollywood -- or anyway, I can't!"
This bitter remark was blurted out to me by one of the most bewitching bachelor girls in the movie industry. It might have been said by any one of a dozen other young and lovely stars. It certainly is a thought many of them harbor daily. A thought that haunts them on the soundstage, under the hair drier and during those heart-chilling moments after the 5 o'clock alarm goes off and they face the prospect of another manless day. -- from an article in Motion Picture magazine, 1951.

Demented Children In Vintage Advertisements

2009-09-04T17:04:00.001-04:00

LUPE VELEZ: UBER BEECH

2009-09-02T22:22:00.009-04:00

"Velez observed that people liked her because she had 'pep,' but Collier's magazine saw it differently, with a lampooning article headlined 'The Girl With One Talent.' Though she married Johnny Weissmuller she maintained a passion for [Gary] Cooper and when she described Cooper's new escort, the Countess di Frasso, as 'nothing but an old whore,' the Countess retaliated by tossing a glass of wine in her face.
Later she toured with Libby Holman in a production of Cole Porter's You'll Never Know, blacking the singer's eye one night in New Haven. Holman's biographer Jon Bradshaw describes how Velez screamed at Holman: 'You bastard, you son-a-beech, I keel you with thees,' brandishing a huge diamond ring given her by Weissmuller. She would also show it to the director, threatening: 'Thees is the ring I'm going to murder that Jewish beech with!' Following these outbursts she would kneel down in the wings, cross herself and pray. Later still her hatred caused her to urinate in the wings hoping the shortsighted Holman, who followed her onstage, would slip in the puddle and fall." -- from Dancing With the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue by Christopher Wilson

THE SIDECAR

2009-08-26T22:11:00.004-04:00

I don't know why it's taken us so long to follow Auntie Mame's notion of a good breakfast ("Tell Ito to make me a very light breakfast, black coffee and a Sidecar") but now that we know the allure of that drink we're sold on it for any time of the day. You would be too:

1 part Cointreau
1 part fresh lemon juice
3 parts Brandy

Chill martini glass while putting together ingredients above in shaker. Add lots of ice cubes. Shake for 20 seconds or until shaker is frosted. Strain on frosted martini glass. Consider calling Ul Yulu to re-do your living room while sipping.