AS W.H. USED TO SAY...

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

"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

HOW ABEUT ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE?

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!

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

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.

BUTTERFIELD 8, NEW YORK IN 1960

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

A REMINDER FROM DONNA REED TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK!

EVERYTHING'S COMING UP GYPSY

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

"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!

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!

MOM, I'D LIKE YOU TO MEET MY ROOMMATE

RANDOLPH SCOTT AND CARY GRANT

SANTO VS THE VAMPIRE WOMEN (Las Mujeres Vampiro) trailer

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

BM (Before Multiplexes)

A tip of the hat to Greg Ferrara!

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: RITA HAYWORTH AND HARRY BELAFONTE

TAKE THAT, AVA GARDNER!

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

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

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

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

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...

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

"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

LUPE VELEZ: UBER BEECH

"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

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.

THE GROOM WAS PRETTIER THAN THE BRIDE

"I think it's about time John Derek got a leading lady at least half as good-looking as he is. No one, male or female, could be better looking. But if he were teamed with luscious Liz Taylor, she could probably hold her own! So far, John Derek has made all of his leading ladies look sick!" -- Lois J. Boyd, Streator, Ill.
(Letters to Photoplay magazine, 1952)

WHAT SHOULD I DO? Your Problems Answered by Claudette Colbert

Dear Miss Colbert:
I have finally been asked to join a club at school I have wanted to belong for a long time. One of my very best friends was invited to join, so she asked to have me initiated too. For initiation each girl has to do something difficult. One girl had to locate two eight-cent airmail stamps. She borrowed them from a stamp collector. Another girl had to have a deck of cards autographed by a minister. Luckily, her uncle is a minister, but the girls didn't know that.
Here is what I have to do: ask you to send me a black wig exactly like Hedy Lamarr's hair. If you can't do this I can't become a member of the club, so I know you won't let me down. --Ellie E.

Dear Ellie:
I feel there is something to be said on high school clubs of this sort and I might as well say it. In California, high school clubs are strictly forbidden unless they have a definite and clear-cut purpose approved by the faculty and supervised by them, such as collecting toys for underprivileged children, and in general contributing something constructive to the community. A club that forces new members to do humiliating and foolish things isn't a club to which I would want a younger sister or a niece of mine to join.
Besides, it would be impossible to find a wig as beautiful as Hedy Lamarr's hair; there isn't such a thing. -- Claudette Colbert

-- Photoplay magazine, 1952

...because when you're Suzy Parker it doesn't matter how you wear your hair...

The beautiful Universal lucite logo was recently used in "Changeling." Even in a digitized version, it was worth all the tzures that followed.

SHE'S GOT BETTE DAVIS THIGHS

"In 1947 Bette Davis' tenure as the first lady of Warner Brothers was drawing to a close. Since 1932 her [wardrobe for] films had been designed almost exclusively by the brilliant and hot-tempered Orry-Kelly. "She didn't like him as a person but she kept using him because she knew she needed him," recalls Milo Anderson.

Her figure had several serious problems: bowed legs, very round shoulders, and a long and broad neck. Worst of all were her breasts, which hung almost to her waist. She refused to wear brassieres with underwire because she thought that the wire would cause breast cancer. When strapless bras became available, Kelly bought one and tried to get her to wear it, but she threw it at him. If Kelly pulled up on the straps too much her shoulders ached and the breasts simply doubled over.

Sometimes Kelly just let the breasts fall as they would and hid them in the unfitted waistline of a dress. But usually he lifted them as much as possible and tried to find new and different ways of camouflaging the situation with optical illusions. Short sleeves on a blouse or dress usually end at the middle of the upper arm, but Kelly brought Davis' sleeves down to the elbow so that they would be on the same level as the bottom of her bust. He often put white handkerchiefs in her breast pockets or corsages to draw the eye up. "Oh, give me some new way to break her bust!" he moaned one day to his assistant.". -- from Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer by David Chierichetti

HELENA RUBINSTEIN LIKED HER PICTURE PAINTED

The Empress of Cosmetology was painted by just about every significant artist of her time, including Vertes, Dali and Duffy. The one that got away was Picasso, who worked on a painting for many months but didn't complete it because he thought that if he finished it meant he would die first. "The devil," she called him.

SHELLEY & JANET: WISE UP!

NOT BEAUTIFUL
How does Shelley Winters rate the big publicity build-up Hollywood always offers? Sure she has sex appeal. What shapely girl doesn't? But as for looks -- she's out!
I haven't met one person yet who thinks she's beautiful. And I've never seen an actress with such messy hair. If Hollywood can spend so much publicity on her, why don't they put her wise to a hairdresser? -- Mrs. Emily Bortel, Grand Rapids, Ohio.

IMMODEST
Why doesn't someone wise up Janet Leigh and some of the other younger stars about some of their indecent evening dresses? In my opinion they are a disgrace to the female sex. You never see any of the older stars like Loretta Young, Irene Dunne and Barbara Stanwyck wearing daring evening dresses. They use their heads for more than just a hat rack! -- Janet Robey, Detroit, Michigan.

Letters to the Editor, Motion Picture magazine, 1954

A REGULAR VANDAL-A!

THE GUEST NO ONE INVITES AGAIN IS:

* A LAZY DAISY
* A LEM-ME GIRL
* A PLAIN JANE

THAT CAMERA she's toting on a tippy-canoe ride: It's expensive; it belongs to her hostess. Like the swim suit she's wearing -- and the tennis racket she'll use later. Don't be a lem-me girl ("lend me" this or that). When visiting, bring your own sports props; why inconvenience your friends -- or risk being dubbed a vandal? Dodge calendar-time risks, too. You get safety you trust with Kotex, for this extra absorbent napkin gives protection that doesn't fail! -- From an ad in Movie Life magazine, 1954.

A STRONG DISLIKE FOR JOANIE

"JOAN Fontaine makes the hit parade in a social sense, for she is gay, gregarious, charming and witty and is invited to all the finest parties in town. But she is alleged to be almost hated by a certain group of -- her leading men!
HER fellow actors claim she's utterly ruthless and that she knows every way in which a leading woman can spoil an actor's lines -- and uses them!
ANY picture made with Joan means a constant battle for the leading man to get his face into the picture, and they end up with a strong dislike for Joanie." -- Motion Picture magazine, 1951

GOD GIVETH THE SHOULDER...

"I thought if I played an erudite, articulate person who was multifaceted and who was struggling between the maculine and the feminine sides of his/her nature that this was a great opportunity to do lots of amazing things as an actress. I was really attuned to the fact that I really needed to do something that showed that I had more ability than I was given credit for at that time -- that I wasn't just a body and a face."

--Racquel Welch recalling her role in MYRA BRECKENRIDGE.

FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE LIFE IS NEVER FUN

WHAT WOULD CARY GRANT DO?

"Cary never gave autographs, but his turn-downs of requests for them were such studies in charm that I often thought they served as come-ons even to people who knew wouldn't actually get one. In any case, this proved itself on this occasion -- and, as usual, Cary was up to the challenge. To one woman who gushed 'My friends will never believe I met you unless...,' Cary gently interrupted, 'You mean you have friends like that? You really shouldn't.' To a man who began, 'I hate to bother you, but...,' Cary's interruption was firmer. 'Don't ever,' he advised, 'do anything you hate.' And finally, to a third man, who started 'My wife will kill me...,' Cary was also admonitory. 'Tsk, tsk,' he smiled. 'You really shouldn't have that kind of relationship -- it's too dangerous.'"-- Cleveland Amory on having drinks with Cary Grant at the Polo Lounge. From his book "The Cat Who Came For Christmas."

MY RULES FOR ROMANCE ARE...(#3)

CLAUDETTE COLBERT:" I'm strictly of the old school. I think the bad taste some girls flaunt by their intimate confidences is even worse than indiscriminate love-making, if possible! Men are more decent -- most men wouldn't think of discussing the girl who had their affection." -- Photoplay magazine, 1943

AMONG THE LESSER PEOPLE

HOLLYWOOD is far less than enthusiastic about another of the fans' favorites, June Allyson. They say June has a habit of acting indifferent to those who work on her sets, that she often forgets to say hello to the grips, and that she's been guilty of being less than cordial to those who knew her when.
WHILE JUNE may not be a glowing favorite among the lesser people in Hollywood, she's very popular in the upper-bracket social set in which she travels. This is due, in part, to the social prestige of her husband, Dick Powell, who introduced her to the Leonard Firestones, the Edgar Bergens, the Justin Darts and others who rate high socially. And with these people June is warm and gay and thoughtful! -- From Motion Picture magazine, 1951

AND WHO'S CLAIRE TREVOR PLAYING?

THEY MEET ON AN ADVENTURE THAT SPANS THE 2400 MILES FROM HONOLULU TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY. OUT OF THIS MEETING OF STRANGERS COMES ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY, THE STORY OF EVERY KIND OF LOVE THERE IS !

LYDIA: Who was as low as high society could get!
CHILDS: A wealthy collector -- of other men's wives!
MAY: Strictly a night-time woman!
NELL: Still burning with honeymoon fever!
DAN: Who had used up his nine lives, and was starting on ten!
SALLY: Who lived in a world of whistles!

--from an ad in Movie Life magazine, 1954

VERA, HONEY!

"Sometimes Hollywood's no different than any other boy-meets-girl town. When I asked Rock Hudson why Vera-Ellen was dating A.C. Lyles every night, Rock said "Well, you see, I'm trying to save some money." Vera, honey, I didn't realize you were so expensive!" -- Motion Picture magazine, 1951

REMEMBERING RONA BARRETT

from “When Watching TV You Can Be Sure of Seeing…” in “Mad” October 1972