Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Hope you are spending it with someone special! And here’s a sweet little secret from me: you are ALL my Valentines today!!! 
Because I love each and every one of you! (P.S. I like anything velvet, sparkly, or peacock!)
If you thought the corniness ended there, you’re wrong. Let’s celebrate by looking at classic movie stars doing adorable, sweet, mushy things, shall we?
Here’s one of my favorite photos of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Ugh. Can you say PERFECTION? They’re so cute together it kinda makes me sick, but in a very good way. This is the classic movie lover’s dream relationship right here!
There is something so sweet about Spencer Tracy letting Katharine Hepburn use his back as a table. It reminds me of my high school’s annual Walk-A-Thon in which all my friends would sign the backs of each other’s shirts. Let’s just say that mom was none too happy to see me coming in with my Walk-A-Thon t-shirt covered in rainbow messages and signatures. But Spence is just so much more adorable than a high school student. The way he’s crouching obediently for Kate…that’s the way it should be. Men, take note.
Guys…IT’S CARY GRANT WITH A PUPPY IN HIS POCKET!!!!! Cute man+cute puppy=heart exploding. There’s just something so masculine about a man with a tiny dog, isn’t there?
AWWW GARY AND ROCKY COOPER KISSING! She’s one lucky woman….
The Gary Cooper cute doesn’t end there. Here he is nuzzling noses with Shirley Temple. It’s the icing on the cutie patootie cake. And mark this, since this is a rare moment in which I actually think Shirley Temple is cute…
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…BABY BUSTER KEATON. Look at his little hands and his little chubby cheeks! :’) Maybe I should do a part 2 to the classic movie babies post I did two years ago…
Gary Cooper seriously needs to stop being so frickin’ cute. But instead of Rocky, he is with my fellow Brooklyn sister Barbara Stanwyck.
It’s William Powell high-fiving a turtle. If you don’t think that this is cute then you have no business reading my blog. Or living on this planet. Goodbye.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND A KOALA. THE RESEMBLANCE CANNOT BE BORNE.
;___________: JEANETTE MACDONALD WITH A WEE LITTLE BABY BUNNY IS ACTUALLY MAKING ME CRY TEARS OF HAPPINESS.
As Clark Gable told Claudette Colbert in this film, “you look kinda pretty asleep.” She’s a cutie pie too!
Gary Cooper ought to take the cuteness prize because he keeps popping up over and over again in this post. Here, he is teaching his young daughter Maria how to dance. And they say actors are lousy parents!
Looks like Fred and Ginger had themselves a little moment there!
Norma Shearer HAS GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. THAT IS THE MOST ADORABLE LITTLE DOG THING I HAVE EVER LAID EYES ON. Like…THAT’S ACTUALLY A DOG!?
This Handsome Men with Puppies in their Pockets trend continues here with Buster Keaton. And it should never stop.
This post has made me come to the conclusion that Norma Shearer probably owned an entire menagerie of unbelievably cute and impossibly tiny animals.
That’s all I’ve got! Happy Valentine’s Day, loves!
After The Thin Man (1936)
Hello lovelies! I realized that I haven’t done a film review in an extremely long time, so I plan to concentrate on just turning them out for a while. Here’s a fun one to start us off…
After the Thin Man stars our two favorite detectives: the fast-talking, hard-drinking, sharp-tongued husband and wife duo Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy, an onscreen couple that never fails to make me get down on my knees and thank God for creating them). But this time, instead of running around New York, they are back home in San Francisco, where they can relax…or so they think. When the Charleses go to spend New Year’s Eve with Nora’s old, stuffy aunt and her aristocratic family, they find themselves entangled in yet another mystery when they find out that cousin Selma’s husband has been missing for three days and rumored to be running around with a club singer. After Nick and Nora find him, Robert is shot that same night, and Selma is accused of murder. As the case goes on, several other murders occur. But was it Selma? Or was it her kindhearted suitor, David (Jimmy Stewart)? Was it the skeevy club owners? The seedy torch singer? Her greedy blackmailing brother? The possibilities are endless, and it’s up to Nick and Nora to make sense of it all.
Powell and Loy are at it again!
Often considered to be the best of The Thin Man sequels, After the Thin Man was the second of the six films in the series and the sixth out of the fourteenth pairing for Loy and Powell. Nowadays, fourteen pairings of the same actor and actress sounds repetitive and ridiculous. But not in Old Hollywood, which went by the rule of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and made you like it! No matter how many times you watch Powell and Loy on the screen, they just never get stale and old. Their chemistry is always top notch, they have spark and zap, and can make anything worth watching. Without a doubt, the antics and verbal banter that these two get into in this film provide almost all of the laughs.
The rest of the laughs in this come from…Asta. Yup. The Thin Man series was (and still is amongst the classic movie set) enormously popular, but I don’t think anyone has ever commented on how awesome that little dog is. Seriously. I’d go so far as to say that Asta is my favorite character in the whole series. This dog is freakin hilarious. One of the best parts of After the Thin Man is the cute little subplot with Asta and Mrs. Asta (and HOW ADORABLE ARE THEIR BABY PUPS?!) and my favorite scene in the film is when Asta accidentally eats a clue! Another thing that is special about After the Thin Man is that you can watch it, understand it, and enjoy it all without seeing the first film. Pretty neat, huh?
Asta the Pooch: more talented than most of today’s Hollywood actors
The ending of the film is pretty cute, too. Here’s a spoiler (without giving away the identity of the killer): after the case is over and done, Nora insinuates to Nick that they are going to have a baby. Of course, being a man, which means being a bit thickheaded when it comes to such matters (sorry, boys!) he didn’t get the hint, resulting in perhaps one of the most famous quotes from Nora in the whole series: “and you call yourself a detective!”
One of the most notable things about this film is the performance by a very very very early Jimmy Stewart. He will make your jaw drop. That’s all I’ll say here.
Oh look, it’s baby Jimmy!
Overall, a very fun, yet lighthearted film with plenty of comic relief! One of the reasons why the Thin Man films are so enjoyable is that they take a serious topic like crime and make it somehow…fun? Geez that sounds terrible. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!!!
That Awkward Moment When…(Part II)
Hello my darlings! Here’s a sequel to the original “That Awkward Moment When” (http://goldenagedames.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/that-awkward-moment-when/) in which we saw that the flawless gods and goddesses of classic film were actually normal people like you and me. So next time you do something embarrassing, don’t fret! Think of this:
That Awkward Moment When Spencer Tracy Forgot His Pants
This scene is from one of my favorite Tracy films, Father of the Bride. Thankfully, father Spencer Tracy did not appear at daughter Liz Taylor’s wedding looking like this. Or maybe he could’ve. He has nice, slim, hairless legs.
That Awkward Moment When Bette Davis Flubs The Line
I think it’s really cute when classic movie stars, especially legends like Bette Davis, mess up the line. The reactions that old movie stars had were vastly different from the reaction stars have today. Like, they would get really upset and embarrassed that they messed up. Back then, time and film were precious, since we are talking about the Studio Era during the Depression. Some actors had really hilarious reactions, though. Like Carole Lombard’s streams of profanity whenever she messed up. You can see plenty of these classic film bloopers on YouTube!
That Awkward Moment When Lucille Ball and Harpo Marx Are Long-Lost Twins
I think I might’ve blogged this before, but the crazy resemblance here never fails to astound me. This is from one of my all-time favorite I Love Lucy episodes, the one in which she dresses up as tons of classic movie actors to impress her New York friend and ends up meeting Harpo Marx. This photo has convinced me that Lucy and Harpo are long-lost twins. They have the same hair, smiles, maniacal expressions…there’s no way that these two weren’t womb-mates!
That Awkward Moment When Marlon Brando Duckfaced
This photo of Richard Burton and Marlon Brando never fails to make me laugh hysterically. I feel that I’m looking at a picture of two bozos on Facebook instead of two acting greats. It has all the qualities of a Facebook photo: the background is obviously someone’s home, they have that “hey buddy!” pose, and the photo was taken with a low-quality camera. But what makes this the absolute perfect Facebook shot is Marlon Brando’s duckface. The man was definitely ahead of his time here. But instead of making the pose something ridiculous that is only done by ugly fake pussies, Brando makes it look classy. Only because it’s Brando.
That Awkward Moment When Buster Keaton Looks Like A Baywatch Babe
Buster Keaton is one beautiful hunk of man. Nothing makes it more obvious than this photo. Look at him seductively gliding through the water like he’s some god of the sea. Look at that sexy swimsuit, complete with an undershirt. Look at those nice pecs. And look at the wonderfully glum expression. He’s giving Pam Anderson a run for her money here.
That Awkward Moment When Joan Crawford Is Given An Ugly Portrait of Herself
Imagine you are Joan Crawford. You are asked to sit for a painting. All the while, you are positive that this painting will be a beautiful gorgeous replica of your beautiful gorgeous face. Then you get…THIS. What the HELL is that painting even?! That’s not pretty Joanie! It looks like the frickin spawn of the devil. And look at Joan’s face. I wouldn’t be pleased if I were painted as Satan’s mistress either. Thankfully her self-esteem didn’t go downhill after this one.
That Awkward Moment When Winston Churchill Leaves Very Little to the Imagination
Okay, I know Winston Churchill isn’t a classic movie star but I came across this photo and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to post this. This takes the cake in embarrassing swimsuit moments (and we’ve all had them) because here he’s actually wearing a swimsuit yet it’s so tight that he might as well be naked. Way to flash the entire beach, Winston Churchill.
That Awkward Moment When Laurence Olivier Ruins the Picture
This has to be my favorite photo of Viv and Larry. There’s Vivien Leigh, so gorgeous and glamorous, as always. And then there is Laurence Olivier, in perhaps the most hilarious photobomb in the history of photography. I’m actually surprised that the usually serious Olivier’s face didn’t shatter into a thousand pieces from all that laughing. Touche, Larry.
That Awkward Moment When Errol Flynn Looks Like He Isn’t Wearing Pants
This is a very frustrating awkward moment. I WISH he wasn’t wearing any pants. But if you look very closely, he is in fact wearing those little tiny swim trunks all the men in the 1930s wore. Drat.
That Awkward Moment When Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery Are Losing It Over Baby Cows
It’s pretty funny to see non-farm folks doing farm things. Observe how these two baby calves are obviously getting the better of Carole and Rob. Carole seems horrified, but she’s doing a lot better than Robert Montgomery, who is actually about to fall over right into the calves little pen. Which is fine, I don’t like him that much anyway (crucify me now).
That Awkward Moment When Humphrey Bogart Is Dressed Like a Grandma in Public
Humphrey, why are you making what seems to be a public speech when dressed like a sweet little Victorian-era grandmother? What has gotten into you, my man? You are supposed to be a rough-n’-tough hardboiled detective! But he’s Humphrey Bogart and he’s always cool so he probably got away with this.
That Awkward Moment When Katharine Hepburn Shreds Better Than A Twelve Year-Old Boy
Katharine Hepburn is awesome for many reasons. But I betcha didn’t know that she can skateboard! Judging by this photo, she’s got some mad skills. She skateboards so much better than those shrimpy twelve year-old boys with baggy clothes and oily hair who think that they are skating gods but actually end up scraping their knees on the pavement. Kate the Great should’ve been featured in an episode of Rocket Power, if you ask me.
That Awkward Moment When Katharine Hepburn Makes A Giant Food Mess
Here’s another awkward moment featuring Kate the Great, but here she’s dishing the gossip…and the food crumbs. Look at that abhorrent mess around her plates! Oh my Jesus. I don’t know if any of the food that was on these plates actually made it into Kate’s digestive system. It looks like it all ended up as mess for janitors to clean. Hollywood actresses were supposed to eat like ladies, not like cavemen!
That Awkward Moment When Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre are Sitting Naked in a Sauna and Playing Cards
I think the title says it all here. No further explanation is needed. But those tan lines are hilarious.
That Awkward Moment When Katharine Hepburn Takes a Dive
Kate is on a roll today! This is the third awkward moment featuring her. I believe this extremely embarrassing moment was from a film, but I can’t remember which. It must be from a film, since if someone just happened to push her into the water like that, I would assume they’d never see the light of day ever again.
That Awkward Moment When Gary Cooper Is Too Tall for His Horse
Dude’s feet are pretty much dragging on the ground. His 6’3″ is much too much for that fat little pony. But Coop looks like he’s making the best of the situation, even though the Coop-to-pony ratio is greatly imbalanced.
That Awkward Moment When Fred Astaire Defies Gravity
I know he’s an amazing dancer but COME AWN. He FLIES now?! Can he stop being so perfect and otherworldly and just be a human being like everyone else?
That Awkward Moment When Your Music is Making Cary Grant’s Ears Bleed
Here, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason were attempting to serenade Cary Grant with a song on the harp while on the set of North by Northwest. However, Cary Grant found the song so vile and so shitty that he had to cover his ears before he lost his sense of hearing entirely. Sorry guys, your music isn’t classy enough for Cary.
That Awkward Moment When James Cagney Falls Into a Cactus Bush and Bette Davis Just Laughs
Wow, Bette Davis. Poor James Cagney is visibly dying from pain and you just stand there and laugh? What a hard, cold woman.
That Awkward Moment When Vivien Leigh is Dressed to the Nines and Lauren Bacall is Dressed in a Bathrobe
The difference between Viv and Betty in this picture is astounding. Viv is dressed to perfection in black, furs, and pearls. Timeless! However, Lauren Bacall is hanging around in a fuzzy, too-small bathrobe that looks like one I owned when I was four years old. Now that’s what I call awkward!
That Awkward Moment When Ray Milland is Very, Very Drunk
The guy is holding a shot and licking his hand. There is no explanation other than he was drunk, someone took a picture of it, and now it is on the Internet. Awks…
Hope you enjoyed this latest installment! x
Things I’m Thankful For
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY LOVELY READERS! Even to my international readers! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for three reasons:1) It revolves around FOOD which is the greatest thing in the world. Food is my friend.
2) It is the beginning of my favorite time of the year…the holiday season!
3) I get to seriously contemplate all of the things I am thankful for.
So here’s the classic movie-related list of things I am thankful for this year.
1) That Clark Gable existed and made movies. Seriously Gabeykins, where would I be without you?
2) That Jean Harlow existed and made movies. She’s my ultimate girl crush with Clara Bow running a close second.
3) On a non classic film-related note: That Barack Obama is still our president. The first president I ever voted for WON! YEAHHHHH! Ladies, here’s to four years without a strange man of questionable religious beliefs all up in our uteruses!
This is me pulling off my best red, white, and blue the day after Obama beat Romney to a pulp. My face says derp, but I think it’s impossible for me to not look like an idiot. Oh, well!
4) I’m thankful for all the new great classics that I’ve discovered and continue to discover each and every year.
5) I’m thankful for all the inspirational classic movie figures that have helped me get through some trying times!
6) I am thankful that Hurrell hair can turn into 50s rockabilly grrrl hair the next day. Observe:
Grrr! You can’t see the rest of my outfit here, but I had floral print jeans and brown boots on that day. Total 50s biker girl. Also, I was pretty sure I was listening to Queen that day.
7) I am thankful for my nutty family and my crazy lovable li’l sis who makes me laugh hysterically and never fails to brighten my day with her unbelievable shenanigans.
8) I am thankful for my friends, who always support me, make fun of me (in a good way!), help me, and make me feel better when I’m blue. When you have friends who always encourage you to believe you are loved and you are beautiful inside and out, you know you did something right 
9) I am thankful for my classic movie posters and my classic movie calendars.
10) I am thankful for TCM and Robert Osborne who is a beautiful beautiful man.
11) I am thankful for New York City, because it is gorgeous and exciting and it offers so much vintage, Art Deco, and classic film things to enjoy, and that New York is a city that encourages you to be different.
12) I am thankful for my blog which allows me to express my feelings and gives me a place to just be myself.
13) I am thankful for all that I have. After this hurricane, I’ve realized just how important every little thing is, and how lucky I am.
14) Last but DEFINITELY not least, I am thankful for you guys! My readers are the best! You are all awesome! If it weren’t for your support I would still be the shy, quiet girl I was two years ago when I started this blog. Thanks for giving me confidence and advice and encouragement every step of the way! You’re all #1!
I hope you all enjoyed this list, and if you would like to share the things you are thankful for, you are more than welcome! I hope you all ate (or will eat) lots of turkey!
Liebster Award!
Margaret Perry over at http://thegreatkh.blogspot.co.uk/ has given me a Liebster Award! YAY! The Liebster is given to up-and-coming blogs of 200 followers or less. If you are reading this, Margaret, thank you so much for the honor! So, if you receive a Liebster Award, you must share eleven facts about yourself, answer eleven questions from the blogger who awarded you, and award eleven bloggers of your choice! Here we go:
Eleven Facts About Moi:
1. All of my fingers are double-jointed. I’m like some sort of weird finger contortionist.
2. I’m a voracious reader. My all-time favorite book is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
3. I think peacocks are the most beautiful, fabulous animals in the entire world.
4. My biggest goal is to travel the world. I hope to study abroad for winter intercession next year in either England, France, or Australia!
5. I’ve always loved cartoons, and I still do! My favorites were (and still are) Tom and Jerry, Merrie Melodies, Mickey Mouse, and Looney Tunes. I also love the classic Disney films.
6. I confess I have a strange fascination with the occult and the unknown. I love learning about that stuff.
7. The things I notice first in a guy are his eyes (I love light-colored eyes, blue being my favorite) and his smile.
8. I was originally left-handed, but I was forced to switch to right.
9. My favorite fruit is the clementine, which is quite unfortunate since they’re in season only during the winter 
10. My favorite band is Queen. Queen has gotten me through a lot of difficulties!
11. All my clothes have to: 1) have a vintage flair 2) have at least a dash of sparkle. My latest purchase was a black velvet dress with a gold glitter star pattern from Topshop. It sparkles more than the sun or the stars. Best shopping decision I’ve ever made!
Margaret’s Questions:
If you could matchmake two of your favorite stars, who would be your OTP?
Hmmm…so many possibilities come to mind! But I think my OTP (one true pair) would be Myrna Loy and William Powell. Every time I watch them in a film I find myself begging them to get married and have babies already. Or Jean Harlow and Clark Gable, those two make sparks on the screen!
What classic movie would you like to see remade?
None. Modern remakes have a funny way of messing up beloved originals.
What is your favorite film genre, and what are your three favorite films in that genre?
My favorite film genre is the screwball comedy! My favorite screwballs are It Happened One Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, and To Be Or Not To Be.
You have the opportunity to share one classic film with a theatre full of your friends. Which film do you choose?
Gone with the Wind, most definitely!
What one actor/actress do you love so much, you would see a film simply because they are in it?
Clark Gable! I’ve sat through some really shitty films (LIKE THE PAINTED DESERT) just to look at Gabe’s perfect face.
What/who is your favorite animal character from a movie?
I love Asta from The Thin Man series. That dog is such a boss.
What years do you consider to define the era of “classic movies”?
This is a great, hotly disputed question, and as Margaret implies, the answer varies from person to person. I personally consider the classic movie era to be from around 1905-ish to 1960.
Astaire or Kelly? Audrey or Katherine? Bette or Joan? Olivia de Havilland or Joan Fontaine? Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin?
Astaire or Kelly: love them both with all my heart and soul, but I think I will go with Kelly here. It was a close shave, though!
Audrey or Katharine: Easy. Kate the Great of course! I might get crucified for this, but I CAN’T STAND Audrey Hepburn. The most overrated actress who ever lived, if you ask me.
Bette or Joan: I love Bette, but Joan wins this. Sorry Bette, but Joan is my homeslice for life.
Olivia de Havilland or Joan Fontaine: Livvy is my fave sister. She’s an amazing talent and a delight to watch on the screen. From what I’ve seen of Joan Fontaine’s work, she seems a lot more…forced…than her sister. Just look at the faces she makes in Rebecca and you’ll see what I mean.
Who is your favorite Barrymore?
My fave Barrymore is definitely Lionel. He’s like an old cuddly teddy bear! Who seriously knows how to act.
What is your favorite silent movie? Who is your favorite silent movie star?
Oh geez, this is a toughie. I’m gonna bend the rules here and give two favorite silent movies: Metropolis and The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. I’m gonna bend the rules again with my favorite silent stars: Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino.
If you could spend one day with your favorite star, who would it be and what would you do?
I’d spend the day with the lovely Clark Gable and we would tour Hollywood together and visit all of his favorite places there
Now I shall award eleven of my favorite blogs (that meet the qualifications) for a Liebster Award! You guys have to list eleven facts about yourself, answer the eleven questions I give you, and award eleven other blogs with the Award! Congratulations to:
All Good Things http://poohtiger-allgoodthings.blogspot.com/
Classicfilmboy’s Movie Paradise http://www.classicfilmboy.com/
Dear Old Hollywood http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/
Deep Glamour http://deepglamour.net/
Critica Retro http://criticaretro.blogspot.com/
Gone with the Wind Fansite http://gwtwfansite.weebly.com/
Marlene Dietrich Collection http://marlene-dietrichcollection.blogspot.fr/
The Hollywood Revue http://hollywoodrevue.wordpress.com/
Alexander’s Sanctuary http://alexandersanctuary.wordpress.com/
The Kitty Packard Pictorial http://kittypackard.com/
Old Hollywood Glamour http://oldhollywoodglamour.blogspot.com/
My Questions:
1. If you could have a dinner party with seven classic film stars, who would they be?
2. Who is your favorite classic movie director?
3. Who is your favorite most-underrated actor?
4. Have you ever watched a film in which you had NO IDEA what was going on?
5. Who is your favorite Hollywood costume designer?
6. Who is an actor/actress that you would take out of one film and put into a different one?
7. Do you mix up any classic movie actors/actresses.
8. Favorite movie musical?
9. Have you hated an actor/actress whom you now love?
10. What is your favorite performance that was overlooked by an Oscar?
11. What is your most-quoted film?
And if you don’t have a blog and just want to answer the questions, please feel free to do so in the comments! X
Odds N’ Ends
Howdy loves!
I’m gonna be quite busy for the rest of the week, so you might notice a lack of posts until the weekend. But on the bright side, it’s my last midterm tomorrow (FINALLY!), but I will still be a bit busy afterwards because now I WORK! Yaaaaayyyyyyy! My new job is the COOLEST! I work at a bookstore in Soho, which is nearby all this awesome shopping, including this little store for rare/vintage and handmade perfumes right across the street (FIST. PUMP!). And guess what? The bookstore is letting me specifically curate their Film/Theatre and Art sections! AWWWWW YYYYEEAAAHHHHH! I’m also actively participating in donating my old or unused clothes and other necessities to Hurricane Sandy victims, which is taking time from schedule as well, but is extremely rewarding I also voted for the first time in my life today, and it felt GREAT! I even got a little voting bracelet that I’m gonna wear forever (or until it gets so old that it turns to dust). The entire process was only five minutes, but it was the most triumphant five minutes of my life! Another UNBELIEVABLE thing that has happened to me recently is that one of my favorite actors from the show “Sleep No More” (which I blogged about in July) has invited me PERSONALLY to attend the launch of the new music video for his rock band!!!! I was literally jumping for joy! It’s not every day that a girl’s actor crush (who happens to be a down-to-earth, well-respected total sweetheart) notices her like this!
I probably won’t be able to write a post until Friday night, but I promise you it will be a good one! I have also read all your comments, but I won’t be able to answer them until Friday as well. Sorry for the delay, but I just want to get these stressful exams out of the way first. To Meral: I haven’t been able to get on my computer yesterday to change my birthday setting, but I did now, and it has Vivien Leigh’s beautiful face right there, with one my favorite photos of her! Please forgive me for the delay. Better late than never! Love you! India: Best of luck on your surgery darling! Keeping you in my thought and prayers always. You’ve helped me through some difficult times, and I will do everything I can to help you back much love!
New York may be getting another storm on Wednesday, but it won’t dampen my spirits! I haven’t been this happy in ages! Remember to always look on the bright side, my lovely readers. Things can happen that make life seem bleak, but as Charlie Chaplin said in City Lights: “The sun will shine and the birds will sing.”
“Classic Queen”
Hello all! This might be my last post for a little while…as you might have heard, Hurricane Sandy might ravage the Eastern coast starting from tonight and until Tuesday. We’re gonna get the works here: gale-force winds, torrential rains, flooding, and power outages for up to a week. Even the MTA has completely shut down. Since when has the Northeast become Hurricane Central? Anyway, stock up, stay inside, and stay safe for these next several days!
Now, on with the post!
I have a very multi-varied taste in music. I listen to pretty much anything save for country music and “Call Me Maybe”-style pop music, which I DESPISE. I don’t even know how “Gangnam Style” goes, nor do I really want to know.
My favorite genres of music are jazz, big band, and swing. However, my all-time favorite band doesn’t come from that time period at all. I’m talking about Queen.
In case you live under a rock and don’t know: Queen was an amazingly awesome and fabulous British rock band that was formed in 1971. The members of Queen were John Deacon (guitar and bass), Roger Taylor (drums), Brian May (guitar), and last but definitely not least, Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano). The band is responsible for all those amazing songs you know and love, such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Killer Queen,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “We Are the Champions,” and many, many more. The band fell apart after Mercury’s life was cut short at age 45 from pneumonia brought upon by AIDS. However, Mercury’s death did not spell the end for Queen. Queen has spent more time on Billboard’s Hot 200 List more than any other band in history (even more than the stupid fuckin overrated Beatles) and is widely considered the greatest band that ever existed. Ever. Fuck Justin Beiber and Taylor Swift, Queen still sells millions of more albums today (over 3o0 million to be exact). Who DOESN’T love Queen!? And if you are terrible, horrible, and evil enough to dislike this band, then I don’t want to know you ever. And neither does anyone else on this planet.
See this man right here? Freddie Mercury is one of the greatest loves of my life. You might be thinking, “but he was hairy and he had those crazy teeth and he was gay!” But those things don’t even matter. This man is awesomesauce as fuck. He is one of the few human beings that is universally respected. Even by the Internet, and the Internet rarely respects anyone. Freddie transcends all our worldly conceptions of what is “good” and “perfect.” He pretty much redefined music and blew the world’s collective mind with his genius. Freddie Mercury is The Rock God.
Now you must be thinking, “What in the world does Queen have to do with classic film?” Trust me, it has a lot to do with it. I relate everything to classic film. I don’t know if this is true, but I think that Freddie Mercury was in fact a classic movie fan. Freddie had plenty of creative license in the band. He was very focused and a dedicated worker, writing all of the Queen hits we know and love, designing the famous Queen logo (he was a talented artist, something not widely known about him), writing and arranging the music of each song, and envisioning Queen’s music videos. If you study Queen’s ouvre, you will notice a lot of classic film references. Here are some of my favorites:
“Under Pressure” (1981)
“Under Pressure” is one of my favorite Queen songs. Come tough times and exam times (I can’t think of a more fitting song than this one when I’m having midterms and finals) this is the song I blast. A collaboration with David Bowie, this song is about our culture that is willing to overthrow political machines and the pressure that has come about all over the world due to the fast-paced, workaholic lives we lead. The cure to all this? Love. “Under Pressure”‘s music video contained neither Freddie Mercury nor David Bowie because both were on tour. However, it contained lots of classic film references:
Queen seemed to be particularly fascinated by the silent horror films of the 1920s. From top to bottom we have John Barrymore’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from 1920, Nosferatu (1922), and Fredric March’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from 1931 (which isn’t a silent movie). The monsters show up in the beginning of the music video to symbolize the evil and corruption in the world.
I may be wrong, but I believe this scene is from the Russian silent film Battleship Potemkin (1925), which is most famous for that scene in which a man gets his glasses smashed…creaming his eye in the process.
The next classic movie reference we see in the “Under Pressure” music video is the famous sequence from Nosferatu is which Nosferatu appears to a terrified Hutter during the night. (Fun fact that everyone from my generation knows: The first of these three photos from the film also appears in an episode of Spongebob. Just sayin’).
My favorite lines from “Under Pressure” are: “‘Cause love’s such an old-fashioned world/And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night/And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves/This is our last dance/This is our last dance/This is ourselves.” Such beautiful lyrics! To show that love conquers all, the music video then has a montage of silent movie kisses…none of which I can identify :’( If you recognize any of the kisses above, please tell me!
Our last “Under Pressure” classic film reference is with the smiling Rudolph Valentino! This scene is from The Eagle (1925). Here he was smiling at Vilma Banky.
Watch the music video for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I
Radio GaGa (1984)
“Radio Gaga” is also chock-full of classic film references. It’s also my favorite Queen music video. The song, which is about television’s takeover of radio and a critique of the subsequent commercialization of radio (something we unfortunately still have today), references two major radio events: Orson Welles’ famous (or infamous) broadcast of War of the Worlds (“You gave them all those old-time stars/Through wars of worlds invaded by Mars”) and Winston Churchill’s “This was Their Finest Hour” speech from 1940 (“You’ve yet to have your finest hour”)
However, the biggest and most obvious classic movie reference in the “Radio GaGa” music video is to Metropolis (1927), Fritz Lang’s classic futuristic film. In order to use clips from the film, Queen had to buy the rights to the film from the Communist government of East Germany. In exchange for the film rights, Queen allowed their hit “Love Kills” to be used in the Giorgio Mororder restoration of the film.
The music video opens with establishing shots from Metropolis:
Shots of the machinery from the film.
That really weird clock that only goes up to ten.
The workers of the Metropolis
Workers doin’ their thing
More shots of the Metropolis.
There were also several scenes in which the band looked like as though they were in the film itself. The picture is grainy black and white, and they drive around the Metropolis in a futuristic little car controlled by a lever.
My favorite part of the music video is when Freddie Mercury recreates the famous clock scene in which a worker is driven to exhaustion from moving the clock hands around all day long. But of course, Freddie’s clock is big and golden and not the weird one that goes up to ten and he NEVER gets tired. He makes something as silly as moving the hands of a clock look awesome. I especially love how the rest of Queen is standing there like a boss while Freddie works the clock. Also, Freddie’s ass looks divine in those black leather pants.
The music video also had some recreations of the Metropolis set.
Next we have the super-famous scene in which The Inventor creates an evil robot replica of the film’s heroine, Maria.
Then Freddie’s face is superimposed on Maria the Robot’s for a kinda freaky scene in the music video
Lastly, we see the finale of Metropolis, when the entire oppressive city is flooded and destroyed and all are freed.
Freddie helps to contribute to the destruction of the Metropolis by breaking a building in half just by lifting his arms and looking triumphant. Which is actually something very plausible for someone whose awesomeness is as high as Freddie’s. What a boss.
Watch the music video for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t63_HRwdAgk
Other Classic Film References Used By Queen
Two of Queen’s albums: “A Night at the Opera” and “A Day at the Races” are named after two Marx Brothers films from 1935 and 1937, respectively. Love those films and love those albums!
The artwork for Queen’s 1977 album “News of the World” also seems to be inspired by Metropolis or vintage sci-fi in general. The story goes that Roger Taylor had an issue of Astounding Science Fiction depicting a robot holding a dead man. This cover inspired the band to have the image revised to contain the robot holding the “dead” bodies of the four band members.
So why are you still sitting here reading this? Go listen to some Queen!
Hollywood Halloween Help
I am very proud to say that I’ve got my Halloween all planned out. This year, I’m going to dress up as a glamorous 1930s movie star (last year I was a flapper…see how I’m doing this decade by decade? Next year is Rosie the Riveter). That means I’m busting out my old senior prom gown:
I’m pairing this with peacock feathers in my hair, diamond bracelets, and diamond and emerald earrings. Is it Golden Age enough? I also want to do some creepy stuff…what’s Halloween without it? I’ve always had a fascination with the occult and the unknown, which has only been heightened by the timely book I’ve been reading (Breverton’s Phantasmagoria). The Phantasmagoria detailed an old custom in which if a young girl lights a candle and eats an apple before a mirror on Halloween night, the doppelganger of her future husband will appear before her in the mirror. Of course, this trick can go totally wrong and Bloody Mary can appear in the mirror instead and murder me. If that’s what ends up happening, it was great knowing you all.
But if you are still unsure about what to be for Halloween, I’m here to help…the classic movie way, of course! Why not get some costume inspiration from the stars?
A Very Uncomfortable Indian Chief
Boys, why not take a leaf out of Gary Cooper’s book? Here he is dressed up as an Indian chief, but a very uncomfortable and clumsy-looking one indeed. His fabulous feather headdress is all askew and his face looks like he ripped a fart and is hoping no one heard it. Nevertheless, the Native American people have always fascinated me–they are so proud and majestic!
Your Grandma
Here’s William Powell dressed as your favorite gal–your granny! Just look at this badass grandma…cigarette dangling from her lips like a hardboiled detective, flaunting her skinny old birdlike arms, and her hairy calves. You go granny!
Harpo Marx
First of all, let’s take a moment to think about this picture. Are Lucille Ball and Harpo Marx twins separated at birth?! Forget Zeppo, Lucy is the fourth Marx brother! Just more glamorous of course. Harpo Marx is a very easy costume: oversized clothes, a top hat, and a curly ginger wig. Don’t forget to carry a horn with you and fill your pockets with pictures of horses and other random stuff.
A Knight in Shining Armor
Look at Laurence Olivier standing there uncomfortably in his metal suit and his awkward bowl-shaped haircut. Every girl’s fantasy right there. How dreamy!
Charlie Chaplin
Here’s a costume that’s so easy-peasy lemon-squeezy that anyone can do it! From left to right, we have Gloria Swanson, Lucille Ball, and Cary Grant dressed up as the lovable Little Tramp. A very simple costume to put together, and easily recognizable, too!
A Very Classy Guido
You must be thinking, “did this girl seriously just use those words together in the same sentence!?” Indeed, I have. First and last time, cross my heart. Looking at this picture of Nazimova, you can’t help but think she makes the guido spiky-hair style look almost…like something decent people do to their heads.
Fantabulous Sparkling Ice Skating Men
Here’s one you can do with a friend! Forget Johnny Weir–Jimmy Stewart and Lew Ayres are where it’s at when it comes to shimmering glam ice-skating dudes. Just look at those sequin jackets and metallic leggings! Fab! Looks like something I would wear!
A Gay Nineties Couple
This is a costume idea for you and your significant other. Hollywood lovebirds Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg look like they belong in the 19th century with her corseted dress, fur boa, and jaunty hat and his colorful striped suit. A cute idea!
A Big Angry Bug
This picture makes me laugh to no end. Katharine Hepburn, famous for her uppity accent and Bryn Mawr education, clearly looks happy to be dressed in this big bug costume, complete with sequins and two wire antennae.
A Harlequin
I just came across this photo of Claudette Colbert dressed as a Harlequin and I think I’m gonna change my costume to this one, guys! Sequined bodysuit+perfect high-heeled shoes+giant neck ruff=costume with my name written all over it. I’ve always wanted to be a circus performer, after all.
A Giant Shiny Butterfly
Mae West is so awesome we should all bow to her. No one else, alive or dead, classic Hollywood or otherwise, can wear a giant metallic rubber butterfly complete with wings and antennae the size of a small child and pull it off so well like Miss West.
A Giant Shiny Bat
Dear me, what giant shiny animal with enormous wingspan will Mae West be next? The woman wears latex as flawlessly as Freddie Mercury. Mae West’s collecti0n of latex costumes aside, a bat is one of the most classic Halloween costumes you can go with. Don’t forget to add some Mae West glam to what could end up being a cliche costume.
Hope you had fun celebrating Halloween classic Hollywood style!
The Hurrell Experiment
As all of you, my lovely readers, know, the name of my blog is called An Elegant Obsession. It’s pretty straightforward why I christened my blog with this name: I am obsessed with all things classic Hollywood and vintage, and unlike most other obsessions, mine is an elegant one, if I do say so myself. After all, I am obsessed with an era of glamour and class. Part of what made classic Hollywood so elegant is the art of glamour photography.
Glamour photography is, sadly, a dying (ore pretty much dead) art. Nowadays, the idea of photographing celebrities is to show that they are “just like us”: they go shopping, they get coffee from Starbucks, they mow their lawns…whatever. The purpose seems to be to capture them at their most UNglamorous. However, in the olden days I so love, the purpose of photography was to depict these stars as gods: too perfect, too beautiful to be living in this world.
George Hurrell was perhaps the greatest and most prolific glamour photographer. With a career that spanned over seventy years, he photographed the faces of every important star from Norma Shearer to Sharon Stone. Hurrell’s photography is so great because it’s so dramatic. His hallmarks were dramatic lighting with strong blacks and whites. But the Hurrell trademark I want to talk about today is “The Hurrell Hair.”
As seen on the beautiful ladies Bette Davis, Veronica Lake, Carole Lombard, and Jean Harlow, George Hurrell loved to spread out the long, luxurious waves that all Hollywood actresses had back in the day. Any picture with the hair like that is a guaranteed Hurrell. Hurrell used a backlight on his subjects when taking a photo like this, as it added a shimmer or “halo” effect to the hair…which goes back to what I said about the whole “goddess” thing.
So, not being a photographer and having NO equipment but an iPhone 5 camera, I set out to do some Hurrell hair pictures of my own.
Ignore my face. I look like I saw a ghost. Or my reflection in the mirror. Something scary.
Another variation on Hurrell hair, to the best of my ability.
It isn’t so good, as my hair isn’t long enough, the photos are in color, I don’t have photography equipment, and I am an overall strange-looking person. But achieving a cheap knockoff of Hurrell Hair was not as difficult as I would’ve thought it would be!
If you are interested in doing a Hurrell experiment of your own, or if you just want to have long 1930s-1940s style waves everyday like I do, let me know and I will be more than happy to make a tutorial!
Meanwhile, I’ll be growing out my hair to get it as long as Vivien Leigh’s in GWTW:
P.S: does anyone have tips on getting rid of dark under-eye circles? I have them all the time, and no matter how much rest I get, I always seem tired and sick-looking! Thanks in advance for any advice!
A Spiritual Epiphany
I might be getting into personal territory here, but here’s a little something to know about me: in an increasingly atheist world, I believe in God. I pray, I believe in Creation and the existence of Adam and Eve and every single Biblical figure, and I ask God to help me when times are tough. You might as call me an endangered species.
But sometimes, things happen that you lose faith for awhile.
As you have probably seen me talk about on this blog, things have been extraordinarily difficult for me in the past several weeks. I could not believe that so many things could go wrong at once! I was pretty much like, “God, if you don’t love me, then I won’t love you.”
But then I understood that God works in mysterious ways…he TOOK AWAY all these things to give me something BETTER.
What was this wonderful thing, you may ask?
THIS:
RED DUST AND HOLD YOUR MAN ARE FINALLY OUT ON DVD THANKS TO THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION.
FINALLY THIS INJUSTICE HAS BEEN CORRECTED!
This is better than an all-day shopping excursion.
This is better than free food.
This is better than HAVING FRIENDS.
This is better than BOYS.
This is better than TRUE LOVE.
FINALLY, I can own the sexiest Gable/Harlow film and my favorite Gable/Harlow film so I pull all-nighters crying over the beauty of this screen couple. Alone. My favorite thing to do!!!!!!
This was enough to fully restore all faith I have in God and all the beautiful things he does for us every day.
I just hope someday I can find the Clark Gable to my Jean Harlow!
New York City For The Classic Movie Fan
New York City. The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. Destination of the world’s leaders and tourists from every corner of the planet. Home to the world’s freaks and geeks, the wealthiest of the wealthy, the most renowned celebrities, the dirt poor, and your humble blogger. I know I make a mighty big deal about being a New Yorker, but being from a glittery yet gritty place like this, how could I not? Everyone is aware of the magic of New York. Even Old Hollywood! Nowadays, New York is a prime filming destination (Who can forget when Sacha Baron Cohen paraded down Manhattan on a procession of camels for his film The Dictator?) and often my school has been used as a film location, the most notable being that inane series Gossip Girl (that day was a TOTAL NIGHTMARE…school was a circus because Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick were outside) and the Kevin Bacon series The Following (which happened at the same time as touring the Freshman class around the campus for their orientation. My school plans these things well, doesn’t it? Oh well, we got to see Kevin Bacon AND an exploding car!) You’d never think that Old Hollywood was up for location filming when it was cheaper and quicker to film on a soundstage. However, Hollywood is not the only place to travel to for your classic film fix, New York has its own classic film landmarks too! So if you don’t live here, don’t forget to come for your classic movie pilgrimage!
And may I recommend flying to New York at night? This might not be possible though, because I’m not sure how many hotels would allow night check-ins. But the aerial view of New York at night is just so beautiful, like sparkling golden jewels nestled in a case of black velvet:
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Summary: Married lawyers Adam (Spencer Tracy) and Amanda Bonner (Katharine Hepburn) find themselves on the opposite sides of the courtroom when Adam is prosecuting a case involving a woman who tried to murder her cheating husband and Amanda is her defense attorney.
The entire beginning sequence of the film, which is about the woman and her husband, was filmed in New York:
The location is Bowling Green Park, the first public park in New York, established in 1733.
The husband’s workplace was filmed in this building on 9 Broadway and Morris Street.
This is the scene in which the woman sees her husband going into his gal pal’s house. “Allan’s Steak Heaven” no longer exists, but it used to be located on East 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue.
Here’s an easy location: The Criminal Courts Building, 100 Centre Street
This location is apparently 104 Bayard Street and Baxter Street…but I kinda doubt that. In the screenshot from the film, you see the awning for Carmine’s Restaurant, a legendary eatery famous for its GIGANTIC Italian dishes (I’ve eaten there before, and trust me, one dish can comfortably feed you and a date, with some to spare). But Carmine’s is located in the Theater District, at 200 West 44th Street. Hmm…
All About Eve (1950)
Summary: Broadway newbie Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) gets lucky when she befriends the great, legendary stage diva Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Through her friendship with her role model, she gets close to Channing’s other connections. Everyone thinks that Eve is an innocent, star-struck, obsessed fan, except for cynical theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) who sees Eve for what she truly is: a manipulative snake who uses Margo to make her way up in the notoriously merciless world of theater.
Here is the famous 21 Club, located on 21 West 52nd Street. The 21 Club is a restaurant and a former 1920s speakeasy (it was opened in 1922. Also notice how the doors are a little bit under the ground.) Although the joint was raided numerous times by the police, the owners of the speakeasy were never caught, since a system of levers was used to tip the shelves of the bar and throw all the liquor down a chute and into the sewers. Sounds like a scene straight from a Pre-Code! The 21 Club also had a secret wine cellar, accessed through a secret door in the brick walls and leading to the basement of the building next door, 19 West 52nd (!!!) This wine cellar became the storage spot for the private wine collections of numerous celebrities, including President Gerald Ford, JFK, Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Taylor, Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, Al Jolson, Sophia Loren, Gene Kelly, Gloria Swanson, Judy Garland, and Marilyn Monroe. Every president since FDR with the exception of George W. Bush (who was an asshole anyways) has dined there. Can you say New York legend?
Here’s the John Golden Theatre, located on 252 West 45th Street and 8th Avenue. This theater, built in 1927, was formerly the home of the Tony Award-winning play Avenue Q.
Bell, Book, and Candle (1951)
Summary: Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) is a modern-day witch (such people do exist…this is New York I’m talking about here!). When publisher Shep Henderson (Jimmy Stewart) walks into her building, she falls in love with him and decides to have him all to herself…especially since he’s engaged to her former enemy from her college days. So Gillian casts a spell on him. Will it work?
You can’t really tell because of the use of close-up shots, but this scene was in fact shot on top of the Flatiron Building, located on 175 5th Avenue. The Flatiron Building was built in 1902 and is considered to be the world’s first skyscraper (I know, I know, it’s impossible to think that this was actually once thought of as a skyscraper). At its time, it was the tallest building in New York City.
Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)
Summary: I don’t like the film or the book (don’t hate me) but much to my chagrin, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is considered a legendary New York story. Holly Golightly is a madcap prostitute who lives in a brownstone on Manhattan’s East Side. Her apartment is only half-furnished, her cat has no name, she constantly loses her keys, and she loves to visit Tiffany’s because it “feels like home.” (and NO, you can’t eat breakfast at Tiffany’s, it’s a jewelry store for goodness sake. Unless your idea of breakfast is a bunch of diamonds and semiprecious gems.) After spending a day in the city with Holly, her neighbor Paul Varjak falls in love with her. But Holly is determined to marry Jose, a millionaire from exotic South America.
It ain’t Breakfast at Tiffany’s without the Tiffany and Co. flagship store, located on 727 5th and 57th Street. In the film, Holly would spend every morning eating a pastry and drinking coffee while admiring Tiffany’s window displays. When filming this scene, hundreds of onlookers were watching Audrey, which made her nervous and caused her to constantly mess up. It wasn’t until a crew member was nearly electrocuted behind the camera that Hepburn was able to collect herself, forget about the crowd, and finish the scene. This location has been the flagship of Tiffany’s since 1940.
Holly’s apartment is located on 169 East 71st street and Lexington Avenue. Diehard Golightly fans, your future home is here.
This beautiful locale is the Conservatory Water in Central Park, which stretches from 72nd to 75th Street.
The second Central Park filming location was the Bandshell, which stretches from 66th to 72nd Streets.
This scene was filmed at the New York Public Library, located on 5th between 40th and 42nd Streets. It is one of the most iconic and largest libraries in the world and one of the leading research libraries.
This final film exterior was shot at Park Avenue and East 52nd Street.
Butterfield 8 (1960)
Summary: Fashion model Gloria Wandrous is embroiled in an illicit affair with married socialite Weston Liggett. However, Gloria’s desire for respectability causes her to reconsider her lifestyle.
The Liggetts’ apartment is located on 1050 East 5th Avenue and East 86th Street. It looks totally different today!
In the film, Liz Taylor tells the taxi to take her to 38 Horatio Street. However, the actual location is 15 Gay Street and Waverley Place.
In this scene, Liz takes a stroll down 5th Ave and pauses to look at the window display of the store on the corner of 5th and 55th. However, what is located there is now…the Disney Store. Something tells me Elizabeth Taylor wasn’t interested in the latest Mickey Mouse toys and Disney Princess dolls!
42nd Street (1933)
Summary: Big-time Broadway director Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) is putting on a new show and has to deal with the torrential love life of its star, the stuck-up diva Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels). On the night before the premiere of the show, Dorothy breaks her ankle, and it’s up to unknown chorus girl Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) to take the lead. The show must go on!
Okay. I totally cheated here. 42nd Street wasn’t really filmed on 42nd Street. It was instead filmed in Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California. I passed through those same soundstages where Ruby Keeler tap-danced her way into the hearts of millions of Americans. But it’s fun to see the real location where the famous finale of the film is supposed to take place!
This is what West 42nd Street looks like today. Obviously, the 1933 recreation and the 2012 reality cannot be compared. When the film was made, West 42nd Street was a hotbed of crime, porn, and prostitution. It remained so until the early 90s when Giuliani cleaned it up (I was a little kid then…dear God, do I feel old!) However, there are still one or two adult film schowcases lying around there. Now 42nd Street is the center of the city: it’s in the heart of Times Square and the Theater District. It’s also Tourist Central…so GOOD LUCK walking through there. I have to bite my tongue to prevent the unleashing of the Potty Mouth on the Midwesterners wearing Bermuda shorts and fanny packs and taking VIDEOS of the Empire State Building. Because apparently the Empire State Building moves. People like that don’t last a day in a city like this. End tourist rant.
The Godfather (1972)
Summary: Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is the aging Don of the Corleone Mafia Family, one of the five greatest Mafia families of New York. As soon as his youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino) returns home from World War II, the ten year peace is broken when a drug dealer named Virgil Sollozzo asks the Corleones for protection of his drug ring in exchange for money and a share in his drug dealership. However, the Don is morally against drugs and refuses. This prompts Sollozzo to hire hitmen to attempt to assassinate the Don. While the Don recovers, it is up to his sons Santino, Frederico, and Michael to lead the Corleone Family in one of the most violent Mafia wars in New York history.
Best and Co. was a department store that used to stand on 5th Avenue between East 51st and 52nd streets.
Who doesn’t know Radio City Music Hall? Built in 1929 by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., this legendary venue has remained largely unchanged since. Renowned interior designer Donald Deskey (ever heard the term “Deskey Deco”? He’s why) designed the elegant, razzle-dazzle interiors which still remain today. The theater’s gold curtain is also the largest in the world. Radio City has also premiered some of the greatest classic films, including the original “King Kong,” “It Happened One Night,” “National Velvet,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Mame,” and “To Kill A Mockingbird” (whose star, Gregory Peck, was a former usher at Radio City). Nowadays, Radio City is one of New York’s most iconic Christmas venues. Every year it stages Christmas Spectacular, featuring the New York Rockettes, who are celebrating their 85th anniversary this year.
This is of course, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, located on 5th Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. A note here: the cathedral is undergoing major renovations, so its famous facade is temporarily hidden by scaffolding. St. Patrick’s is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of New York.
How To Marry A Millionaire (1953)
Summary: Three models, Shatze (Lauren Bacall), Pola (Marilyn Monroe), and Loco (Betty Grable) hatch a plan: tired of cheap, poor boys, each one of them plans to trap and marry a millionaire. However, it is difficult to tell the big money apart from the hucksters, and in the end, will the money even be worth it?
Pola’s apartment is located on 36 Sutton Place and East 55th Street. Some of Manhattan’s wealthiest have lived in this neighborhood, including Freddie Mercury (one of the greatest loves of my life), Bill Blass, Joan Crawford (another love of my life), Marilyn herself, and her then-hubby Arthur Miller.
Here, my friends, is the George Washington Bridge. One of the world’s busiest bridges, the George Washington spans the Hudson to connect Manhattan to New Jersey.
The Hucksters (1947)
Summary: Fresh from the war, Victor Norman (Clark Gable) is looking for a job in the competitive world of advertising. His first task is to get widow Kay Dorrance (Deborah Kerr) to endorse Beautee Soap. He does so and gets the job, but things don’t go smoothly when Vic finds himself attracted to Kay instead of his current girlfriend, the young Jean Ogilvie (Ava Gardner).
The exteriors that begin the film were shot at Park Avenue and East 53rd Street, near where the MetLife Building now stands today.
The Jazz Singer (1927)
Summary: Cantor Rabinowitz (Warner Oland) is upset because his son Jakie (Al Jolson) would rather become a jazz/ragtime musician than uphold the family tradition of five generations and take on the role of cantor in his neighborhood’s synagogue. Relations between father and son get so bad that Jakie leaves home, changes his name to Jack Robin, and gets a big opportunity through stage actress Mary Dale. However, Jakie constantly remembers his family and is torn between his career as a jazz singer and his family’s wishes for him to become a cantor.
This street scene was shot at Orchard Street and Hester Street. Still not a ritzy-looking place, even today.
King Kong (1933)
Summary: Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is finishing up his film starring leading lady Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and has found the perfect location: the mysterious, eerie Skull Island. The crew does not know what they will encounter here, but they soon find out that this island is the home of the giant menacing gorilla King Kong. Kong kidnaps Ann, and it is up to the crew to rescue her.
The most iconic scene of the movie and one of the most iconic scenes in film history was shot at the Empire State Building, located at 350 5th Avenue and West 34th Street. The scene I’m talking about is, of course, the one in which Kong climbs the Empire State, Fay Wray in his hands, and swats away at the fighter planes. The establishing shots of the fighter planes were shot in my great homeland Brooklyn (at the U.S. Naval Airbases). The scenic NYC views in the film were shot from the top of the Empire State, and the scenes involving the monkey were shot on replicas of the building in Hollywood (the filmmakers secured the original architectural plans of the Empire State in order to create a convincing recreation for the movie). This 102-story Art Deco landmark was built only two years earlier than the film, in 1931. Here’s a sweet little secret from someone who was walked right past this building numerous times: if you look closely, the windowpanes of the Empire State are red!
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Summary: A heartwarming classic New York story. At the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an old man discovers that the actor portraying Santa is drunk. Special events coordinator Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) persuades the old man to take his place and becomes a sensation, quickly gaining the post of in-store Santa at Macy’s. Doris then finds out that the man calls himself Kris Kringle and truly thinks of himself as Santa Claus, which makes her uncomfortable since she does not believe in fantasy. However, the people also believe there is something special about Kris. But unfortunately, Kris is soon held at Bellevue and all seems lost until his friend Fred Gaily promises to release him. A hearing is then set up in which Gaily argues that Kris is in fact Santa Claus. Will he win?
This scene was shot at East 61st Street and Madison Avenue.
Parade scenes were filmed down Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets.
And of course, parade scenes were filmed at Macy’s, located at 34th street between 6th and 7th avenues, Herald Square. Ah, Macy’s. I’ve got a love/hate relationship with that place. The world-famous flagship location has been standing in Herald Square since 1901. A tip for all of you who are planning a trip to New York and have Macy’s on your agenda: the store has ten floors. It is a behemoth, a monster that saps up all your strength and energy and sanity after awhile. So make sure to give Macy’s an entire day for itself. It is also always unbelievably crowded. And the shoe department is a total nightmare. But if you are an international visitor, go to the Information Desk at the Visitor’s Center on the second floor for a discount card good for 11% off your purchases (yay!) What I like about Macy’s is that it has a large range of products for people of all economic standings (it’s the only place I can think of where I can buy a pair of new Louis Vuitton flats and a Gucci purse and a pair of dirt-cheap jeans from the juniors section) and some of the store still has the old wooden escalators from the early 1900s (although with the recent renovations happening in the store, I don’t know what will become of these relics).
The court scenes of the film were shot at the New York County Supreme Court, located at 60 Centre Street in the Financial District.
North by Northwest (1959)
Summary: New York advertising exec Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) is kidnapped by a gang of spies led by Philip Vandamm (James Mason) because they mistakenly believe that Thornhill is CIA Agent George Kaplan. Thornhill is able to escape Vandamm’s clutches, but he now must find Kaplan to clear himself of a murder that is believed he committed. Thornhill then meets the beautiful femme fatale Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint)…but is Eve really trying to help Roger?
The scenes of Cary Grant’s character exiting his workplace were filmed at the CIT Financial Office at 650 Madison Avenue. You know, I’ve walked past this building many, many times, never knowing that Cary Grant did so too.
Thornhill then walks into the world-famous Plaza Hotel (750 5th Avenue and Central Park South) this 20-story palace of luxury will be featured greatly in a one of my favorite films, which will be coming up soon on this list.
Sensing that he is being followed, Thornhill then goes to the United Nations Headquarters on 1st Avenue between 42nd and 48th Streets. Nowadays, this is where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad (dunno if I spelled that right) comes to perform his crazy antics every year.
After the fiasco at the UN, Thornhill then calls his mother and buys a train ticket to Chicago at Grand Central Terminal (89 East 42nd Street).
Sabrina (1954)
Summary: Linus (Humphrey Bogart) and David (William Holden) are wealthy brothers, while Linus is all work, David is all play. Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) is the shy, awkward daughter of the family chauffeur and is in love with David “who hardly knows she exists.” Sabrina then goes to Paris for two years and comes back an elegant, beautiful, society women who not only captures the heart of David, but Linus’ as well.
The exterior of the family’s offices was filmed at 30 Broad Street and Wall Street.
The Seven-Year Itch (1955)
Summary: Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) is the exec of a publishing firm and your regular average Joe. He sends his wife and son for a vacation in the country. Always a faithful family man, Sherman often dreams of being successful with women…and temptation strikes when a beautiful sexy blonde (Marilyn Monroe) moves into the apartment upstairs.
Scenes of the Sherman family boarding the train were filmed at Penn Station (7th Avenue and West 31st Street).
Sherman and The Girl’s apartment building was located on 164 East 61st Street and Lexington Avenue…which now seems to be the site of a medical office…how thrilling…
Arguably THE most iconic scene in cinema history was filmed right here in New York: the scene in which an oncoming subway train rushes past, causing Monroe’s skirts to billow upwards as she stands above the subway grating. This legendary grating is located on 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue. The scene was shot on September 15, 1954 at 1 in the morning. However, portions of this scene had to be re-shot in Hollywood because onlookers whistled and cheered Monroe on as her skirts flew up, causing her to forget her lines.
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Summary: One of my favorite, and most underrated, Hitchcock films. Creepy Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) thinks he has hatched the plan for the perfect murder when he meets pro tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) on a train. If Haines kills Antony’s hated father for him, he will kill Haines’ slut of a wife, freeing him to marry his elegant socialite girlfriend, Ann Morton (Ruth Roman). Guy laughs off the plan, but Bruno is serious and murders Guy’s wife. When Guy chickens out of his end of the bargain, Bruno threatens him by telling him that he will plant evidence at the scene of the crime, framing Guy for the murder. Not only is the police suspecting Guy, his career is tainted, his relationship with Ann is strained, and he is being stalked and blackmailed by a psycho. Will he go through with the plan?
Once again, we see Penn Station in a classic film. Penn Station is one of the busiest rail stations in the world. However, the original Penn Station, built in 1910 was much grander and larger, a Beaux-Arts gem of New York City. However, in 1963, orders were given to demolish the head-house and train shed of Penn Station to make way for an office complex and expansions to Madison Square Garden.
That Touch of Mink (1962)
Summary:Sweet, conservative little country girl Cathy Timberlake (Doris Day) meets the man of her dreams, wealthy city man Philip Shayne (Cary Grant) when his Rolls-Royce splashes her with mud while on her way to a job interview. Philip is in love with Cathy as well, but there is one problem: he is not the marrying man, while marriage is the only thing she has on her mind.
This glorious scene of topless Cary Grant was filmed at the new York Athletic Club (180 Central Park South and 7th Avenue). It used to have a red awning. Today it is green and has the initials of the Athletic Club instead of the full name like it used to have.
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
Summary: Pretty much a happier, light-hearted remake of 1932′s Grand Hotel but taking place in the swanky Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It stars Lana Turner in the Joan Crawford role, Edward Arnold in the Wallace Beery role, and Walter Pigeon in the John Barrymore role. The biggest plot stretch from the original comes with Van Johnson as a war hero about to undergo major surgery, and who wants to enjoy what would perhaps be the last days of his life. There is also an appearance by humorist Robert Benchley and a cameo appearance by Xavier Cugat as the Waldorf-Astoria’s bandleader.
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is located on 301 Park Avenue between East 49th and 50th Streets. This 47-story luxury dream of a hotel was built in 1931 and is a world-famous Art Deco landmark. It is also the first hotel in the world to offer room service, forever changing the face of the hotel industry. The hotel houses three American and European restaurants, a beauty parlor, its own railway station as part of Grand Central Terminal, a collection of boutiques, and an elevator large enough to fit FDR’s automobile (!!!)
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
Summary: Okay, okay, this isn’t a classic film in the true definition of the term. But I consider it a classic because EVERYONE adores it! Ten year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) and his unbelievably large family decide to spend Christmas in Florida (ew…) However, our young hero loses his family and accidentally boards a plane to New York City. Kevin then discovers the power of the credit card, checks into the Plaza Hotel, and leads a life of luxury (i.e. being driven in a limo to the toy store while eating pizza and having banana splits delivered to your hotel suite every day). However, his dream life is ruined when he runs into his old enemies, Harry and Marv (the hilarious Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern). Kevin hatches a plan to put Harry and Marv behind bars once again when he finds out of their plan to rob a toy store on Christmas Eve. Because no one messes with kids on Christmas, bitches.
In this scene, Kevin rides in a taxi along the Queensboro Bridge, which was built in 1909 and spans the East River, connecting the borough of Queens to Manhattan.
Once again, Radio City. Ain’t writing that story again!
The Empire Diner, still looking exactly the same twenty years later, on 210 10th Avenue and West 22nd Street.
Here Kevin visits Battery Park, where he uses one of the many binoculars to get a closer look at the Statue of Liberty. It’s a warmer, dryer option than taking the ferry to Liberty Island (I once made the unfortunate mistake of doing this in a pink silk summer dress…Worst. Idea. Ever.)
Here Kevin hangs by the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park. This bridge, a replica of the Ponte di San Francesco in San Remo, Italy, offers a view of the Plaza Hotel.
And here’s the Bethesda Fountain, located in the middle of Central Park.
And of course, Kevin checks into New York’s finest hotel, and one of the finest in the world, The Plaza Hotel. This film is like one long, funny Plaza Hotel commercial.
Harry and Marv ice skate at Wollman Rink, located at Central Park between East 62nd and 63rd Streets.
One of the most heartwarming scenes of the film, when Kevin wishes for his mother to come find him, was filmed at Rockefeller Center (5th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets). Since 1931, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has lit up the holidays each December for native New Yorkers and tourists alike. It has become a Christmas icon and has brought holiday cheer to millions. Indeed, I cannot imagine Christmas without this tree. The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was a 20-foot Balsam fir. Today, the tree is a Norwegian spruce that can be anywhere from 75 to 90 feet tall.
Phew! What a post! I hope you enjoyed and learned something new, and if you are a classic movie fan who lives in or is planning to visit New York, I hope this will be a help to you! If I’ve forgotten anything, feel free to post in the comments
That Awkward Moment When…
Hello Everyone! I’m back and ready to blog! Thank you all so much for the kind and encouraging words, it really touched my heart to see this outpouring of love <3 I truly do have the best readers! So here’s a funny post for you guys.
Us classic movie fans like to think of our favorite stars as flawless, effortless, and absolutely perfect. We tend to forget that they too, are people just like you and me, so of course things weren’t always so smooth for them. They, like us, have done some pretty awkward things in their lifetimes. But worse for them, some of these moments have been caught on film. Here are some of my favorite classic movie awkward moments. Don’t forget to comment with your faves! <3
That Awkward Moment When John Wayne Got Beaten Up By A Little Girl
I don’t know what film this is from or who this adorable little girl is, but this picture is hilarious. Look at the big, strong Duke, the paragon of manliness the world over…getting his nose tweaked by a toddler and screaming in pain. I guess even the most manly men have their Achilles’ Heel.
That Awkward Moment When Cary Grant Flips The Bird
Oh Cary. This gem is from “North by Northwest.” He’s holding a ring, but I know he actually thinks that everyone around him is just a mean, nasty, fuck. Good thing the censors were starting to let up around this point!
That Awkward Moment When Clark Gable Says The Wrong Name
This is one of my favorite awkward moments, mostly because I can’t believe no one in the cast or crew realized it. In “The Misfits” the name of Thelma Ritter’s character is Isabelle. However, there is a scene towards the middle of the film in which Clark Gable seems to have completely forgotten this and instead calls her by her actual name…Thelma. And NOBODY noticed. Except me. And I die laughing every time.
That Awkward Moment When Jean Harlow Has A Wardrobe Malfunction
This one’s for the boys. Not that they would mind. In the film “China Seas” there is a particularly intense scene in which Jean Harlow’s character and Wallace Beery’s character fight over half a bank note which can incriminate Beery and send him stuh-raight to the slammer. At one point, Beery pulls on Harlow so roughly that her flimsy little robe almost slides right off…leaving very little to the imagination. Jean recovers quickly, but not quick enough. I guess the Hays Code review board loved what they saw so much that they let it slide. Poor Baby Jean
That Awkward Moment When James Cagney Danced Better Than Ruby Keeler
James Cagney: little Brooklyn-born little Irishman with flaming red hair and blue eyes famous for always shooting up the joint as a gangster in films. Ruby Keeler: blue-eyed Canadian darling married to one of the greatest entertainers of all time (Al Jolson), famous for being a professional dancer and performing in lavish Busby Berkeley musicals. Obviously Ruby is the better dancer, right? Wrong. What many people don’t know about James Cagney is that this favorite film gangster was a hoofer since he was a wee child on the streets of New York. So, he pretty much started out as a dancer, and a damn good one. And it shows in the “Shanghai Lil” number of the film Footlight Parade (1933) my personal favorite of all the Berkeley musicals. Towards the middle of the number, Cagney and Keeler do a little tap dance together, and let’s face it, he beats her at her own game. Cagney has this smooth, light, almost sexy way of moving his body when he dances, and Keeler by comparison just looks clumsy, amateur, and…heavy. Just look at her in the picture above, she looks like she’s about to fall over! A truly awkward moment right here.
That Awkward Moment When Buster Keaton Shows Up For Five Minutes In A Chaplin Film And Steals The Whole Show
When people ask me about my stance on the whole Keaton/Chaplin debate, I usually just run away in tears. I love them both so much! It’s almost impossible for me to choose one over the other! However, there is an exception to every rule. And that exception is the film “Limelight,” which is a Chaplin film made much later in his career. “Limelight” is an extremely SAD film, not something you’d usually associate with Chaplin. This story of a suicidal ballerina and a lonely clown never fails to turn me into a big, tearful mess. However, Buster Keaton has a cameo appearance here that is enough to make you cry too…but from laughing too much! Chaplin knew he was taking a risk by giving the equally funny Keaton a role in his film…and Chaplin realized that maybe it was a mistake, because Keaton was obviously the funnier one here. Chaplin was so irked by this that he dramatically cut Keaton’s role…because he was too funny.
That Awkward Moment When Franchot Tone Has A Giant Wedgie
One of my all-time favorite classics is 1935′s “Mutiny on the Bounty.” It’s the perfect sea story, a swashbuckling adventure, and it even has a dash of romance. But another reason it’s so great is that it has plenty of hilariously awkward moments. Like this one. First of all, it’s embarrassing enough that Franchot Tone and Clark Gable had to wear these giant white Tahitian adult diaper things. Secondly, it’s embarrassing that these diapers had to get wet. Clark was smart enough to stand facing the camera. But Franchot, on the other hand, got stuck giving us The View. JUST LOOK AT THAT THING! It’s like, a Super Wedgie. I’m surprised he wasn’t crying in pain during this scene. Honey, you got a letter in your mailbox…
That Awkward Moment When Charles Laughton Picked His Nose In “Mutiny On The Bounty”
HE DOES THIS ABOUT SIX TIMES IN THE FILM, I SWEAR!!! Here’s the last awkward moment for this post, again from “Mutiny.” Charles Laughton literally spends the entire beginning of the film wiping his stray boogers and flicking them off somewhere else. I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. Where he’s flicking these boogers off to, only God knows. Maybe on Clark Gable. They famously hated each other. Speaking of Clark, the look on his face is priceless. He looks like he’s about to vomit at the sight. My poor Fletcher Christian
That’s all for now! I hope you enjoyed!
Happy Birthday Carole!
Happy 104th, Carole Lombard! Carole has been one of my greatest Hollywood favorites because she is just so…perfect! She’s the only actress I can think of who has the qualities of a glamour girl, a tomboy, a party animal, and a comedienne all rolled into one. Yes, Carole did have a famous potty mouth, but she was also extremely generous, kind, and friendly to all. I don’t think anyone in Hollywood ever disliked her. Carole is my role model…hopefully I’m doing her justice!
In honor of the lovely Miss Lombard’s birthday, I want to focus on her and Fred MacMurray. They are one of the most-underrated on-screen couples, which is a darn shame, since they have great chemistry together. They made four films as co-stars: “Hands Across the Table” (1935) “The Princess Comes Across” (1936) “Swing High, Swing Low” (1937) and “True Confession” (1937). I’m not reviewing any of the films today, because I usually like for film reviews to have their own post (nitpicky of me, I know) but I’m gonna show some of their publicity photos together. These photos show how well Lombard and MacMurray play off each other, but they also show the fun, dynamic personality so unique to Carole. Happy Birthday to my favorite Hollywood girl!
This photo is from “True Confession.” Lombard’s zany character was said to have been the inspiration behind a certain famous TV character named Lucy Ricardo. Having seen the film, the parallels are so obvious!
This one is cute. Also from “True Confession,” in which Lombard’s character was kinda known as a pathological liar!
I am not sure if this photo is a candid or for a film, but I love the facial expressions here. Fred looks happy, but Carole looks naughty!
I think this one is from “True Confession” also. Carole’s a gal who fights back!
This one is so cute because it’s so happy! They look like they are literally jumping for joy!
This one is my FAVORITE! It never gets old. There’s Fred and Carole clowning around (her face is priceless) and in the background, barely noticeable, is poor Una Merkel not knowing what to do with herself. Total. Photobomb. Love it!
That’s all folks! Now I’m off to pop some Carole films into my DVD player and begin my Lombard festivities! I have tons of great posts for you guys in the very near future so stick around!
Old Hollywood in Contemporary Art
Oftentimes we don’t get to see original pieces of art that are centered on classic Hollywood. Most classic Hollywood art that’s out there is drawings and paintings that are exact copies of glamour portraits of famous stars (and yours truly is guilty of this). But Brooklyn artist Jason Bryant breaks the mold by incorporating the Old Hollywood glamour portraits we know and love with his own unique twists.
Bryant, who has a solo exhibition at Porter Contemporary entitled “Smoke and Mirrors” (on until October 20th), combines startlingly realistic paintings of famous Old Hollywood images with comic/cartoon art. Here are some of his works:
This, as many of us know, is a glamour photo of Rita Hayworth from the 1946 film Gilda. At a quick glance, it doesn’t seem that the picture has been altered too much. But on a closer look, you can see that Rita’s eyes are pixellated, giving the effect that they are clouded over by the smoke from her cigarette. It’s interesting to consider, since the title of Bryant’s show is “Smoke and Mirrors.” Also, this painting is entitled “Facade.” With this painting, the message seems to be twofold…Rita’s eyes were clouded over because of the glitz and glamour that Hollywood had to offer…but can this painting mean that our eyes are clouded over for the same reason as well?
This is my personal favorite of Bryant’s works, entitled “A Crack in His Faux Finish.” Here we see the lovely Cary Grant, but his perfect visage is covered up by fireballs and a grim reaper. Looking at the title of this work, we can tell that these bright bursts of flame (and the giant crack in the lower right of the painting) are meant to display the vulnerability of these actors. Grant once famously said, “Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.” These stars were given an image to live up to by their studios. However, these images tore some of these people apart. Can you imagine how difficult it must be to always be the perfect, glamorous, sexy star? In the end, it can drive someone crazy, and “cracks in the faux finish” will result.
This painting, entitled “Fabulously Flawed” stars Marlene Dietrich, one of the greatest sex symbols of the 1930s, along with Harlow and Garbo. Dietrich was considered by millions to be a divine, perfect flower. A goddess. But as we can see in this painting, maybe there were some thorns on this rose. Dietrich was a human being and had her flaws like all of us. But with the publicity from the studios painting her as “The Blue Angel,” you were never allowed to know that.
Here’s an interesting painting, entitled “Happiness.” The glamorous Carole Lombard is looking out into the distance, and there is a colorful rainbow and birds all around her. But then you see a sentence saying “Rainbows don’t mean shit” by her lips, as though she’s speaking it (which isn’t hard to imagine, considering Lombard’s famous potty mouth) and then you realize that this isn’t supposed to a happy painting at all, that it is all, going back to the Rita Hayworth painting, a facade.
Bryant’s artwork is unique in that it captures that lavish beauty and glamour of Old Hollywood, but it also shows that not all was perfect in the land of the movie stars. Behind the camera, these stars weren’t gods and goddesses. They were human beings just like you and me. They had their ups and downs. They had their struggles and their inner demons. Many of these stars struggled with their self-image, with love, with loss, with family, with addictions…and some were even plagued by scandal (just look at Fatty Arbuckle and Errol Flynn). To the outsider, Hollywood seemed like some celluloid fantasy playground where all was sunshine and rainbows. But reading biographies of these film stars, many faced serious problems in life, proving that even the rich and beautiful have their bad times. The ultimate message I got from Bryant’s paintings is that whether we are gods and goddesses adored by millions or just an average Joe, we all are on a quest for happiness. It’s something extremely thought-provoking, especially for admirers of Old Hollywood.
Chaplin: The Musical
If you live in New York City, you’ve probably heard of the brand new Charlie Chaplin musical that opened on Broadway about two weeks ago. My best friend and I are big Chaplin fans, so of course we went exploring to see what it was all about!
Chaplin: The Musical is being played at the Barrymore Theatre, which is nice, small, and very fancy, reminiscent of the 1920s-1930s where the bulk of the action in the musical takes place. Also, if you plan to see this show and would like to buy tickets for an evening performance (like I did…I don’t like Broadway matinees, they just don’t seem right!) then DRESS UP! Girls, put on a nice evening dress and some fine jewelry and boys pull out those suits, because a night on Broadway is always a wonderful chance to sparkle! Also, the first thing my friend and I noticed upon entering the theatre was that everyone else except us was extremely…old. Like, age 70 up. I guess it was fun night out at the retirement homes last night because the ENTIRE THEATRE was full of people older than my grandparents! Either that or I’m an old geezer inside a 19 year-old girl’s body. Most likely the latter. Which is fine by me. I’d rather be an old bore than a shallow bimbo straight off Jersey Shore.
The musical got pretty fair reviews in the newspapers. Going in, I honestly had no idea what to expect: was this going to be musical about Chaplin’s life or a musical mashup of his most popular films? Will the actor be true to Chaplin’s character? Will Chaplin be portrayed in a favorable light? How accurate will the facts be? These were just some of the questions reeling through my mind in the days before the show. Then I found out that the musical is about Chaplin’s life; his biography on stage. In a musical. I was nervous as hell. This idea was so easy to mess up!
But then I found that I LOVED it from the very beginning! The story of Chaplin: The Musical covers Chaplin’s life from his troubled childhood in the slums of London to 1972, when Chaplin returned to the United States after two decades of exile to receive a lifetime achievement award. The way the musical weaves together the events of Chaplin’s life was irreproachable. It all flowed so well together, and even incorporated flashbacks perfectly. The musical focused much on Chaplin’s relationship with his mother, Hannah, who was an actress and eventually lost all her mental faculties, devastating the young Charlie. Hannah’s memory would go on to influence Charlie in almost all of his creative work, and indeed, many biographical elements of both Charlie and Hannah directly influence the films that Chaplin goes on to make. The musical also explores Charlie’s sometimes-testy relationship with his older brother/business manager Sidney, his tumultuous marriages until he finds the love of his life, Oona O’Neill (daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill), and of course, the Communist controversy so hatefully started by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, all because Chaplin declined to be interviewed on her radio show. Of course, I cried like a baby in the end, when Chaplin receives his lifetime award, Oona at his side, forgiving those who cast him off, and being forgiven in return.
Here are some elements of the show that I loved:
Rob McClure. Rob McClure makes his Broadway debut as a Little Tramp, and he does a wonderful job. McClure of course isn’t an exact replica of Chaplin (something impossible to do) but he is as close as you can get, both in his physical looks and his personality. The man sings his heart out, brings much emotion to his role, and even walks a tightrope. He is the best thing about the show and totally deserved the standing ovation he got in the curtain call.
Projections. A lot of projections were incorporated into the show, bringing the audience a taste of the actual Chaplin with little clips from his films. There were also projections of the first silent movies Chaplin saw as a teen in London and a clip of Hitler addressing the German people which Chaplin (in the most hilarious moment of the play) mocks as preparation for his role in The Great Dictator. I felt that the projections were a nice, unique touch that gave the stage show a very filmic quality.
Now here are some things that kinda ticked me off:
Mildred Harris. Sometimes, I found that the parts of Chaplin’s life that the show chose to focus on were quite strange. The fact that the show chose to focus a great deal on Mildred Harris, Chaplin’s first wife, and passed over Paulette Goddard, wasn’t a good decision in my opinion. Goddard was Chaplin’s high-profile marriage, and she worked on some of his most celebrated classics with him. For some strange reason, the show treated his short-lived marriage to Harris to be of much more importance.
Hedda Hopper. Don’t get me wrong here. Hedda Hopper was portrayed brilliantly in this musical. But Hopper’s revenge-seeking ways are what angered me. Starting the false rumors of Chaplin’s “Communist affiliations” only because he did not wish to be interviewed? Really? Because of Hopper’s dirty work, Chaplin would become the subject of a paternity suit and exiled from America in what would be the lowest point of his life and career. Hedda Hopper was The Biggest Bitch in Hollywood.
I would like to end my review on the best thing about the musical: the moral. Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” character was and still is famous all over the world because he is an Everyman figure: he has some good moments, but he has some bad ones too. Sometimes he strikes it rich, sometimes he loses it all. He finds love, but sometimes it’s a struggle for him to do so. Although many wouldn’t guess it, Chaplin himself struggled with love. His mother had to leave him to stay in a mental institution, which devastated him. His first three wives turned out to be gold-diggers. He struggled with the fact that his millions of fans did not adore him so much as they adored The Little Tramp. There were many points in Chaplin’s life when he questioned if anybody out there really loved him, if anyone will ever see beyond this Little Tramp, beyond his fame, beyond his fortune. Of course, these negative feelings all escalated when he was exiled from the country on false charges of Communism. Was all of his art going to go down the drain after all these years of hard work? It seemed like the end for Chaplin. However, at age 54, Chaplin married the young Oona O’Neill, who was the love of his life, because she was one of the few who cared for the actual man behind the stage paint and the funny costume. And even though it took awhile, both Chaplin and the United States forgave each other for the past. Chaplin’s life story teaches us that love will find each and every one of us, maybe early, maybe later (like Charlie). We just have to find that one person who would care to look beyond the facade, beyond the superficial, and really care for who you are inside, flaws, insecurities, and all. Chaplin’s story also tells us to forgive. No matter how bad a problem may seem, there is always a solution for it.
Chaplin: The Musical had a very emotional ending for me. I’m gonna get a little personal here and say that Chaplin’s films have pulled me out of many a low point. Why? Because they are side-splittingly funny…yet they have the power to bring out the tears too. The background used for the finale of the show was the same one from Modern Times, the barren road leading to everywhere and nowhere. AKA the Greatest Movie Ending of All Time and also The Ending That Makes Me Cry Like A Baby (this ending and City Light’s get me sobbing). I mean, why WOULDN’T you cry? There’s the Tramp, with the girl he loves, both dirt broke with nothing between them, yet they stay positive and move on to life’s next chapter for them, confident that their love will see them through everything. Are you crying yet? Cuz I am. The ending of the musical was so adorable and so emotional and trust me it brought on the waterworks. There I was, sitting next to my friend, with two streams of tears flowing down my face. I’m so glad they didn’t play the song “Smile”…that would’ve turned me into a giant watery mess. I was embarrassed enough that I cried in front of her and I had to fan my eyes with my Playbill. Remember my lovelies, no matter how low things can seem sometimes, “Be Brave! Face life! Tomorrow the birds shall sing” and always keep a “Smile” on your beautiful faces <3
If you are interested in seeing Chaplin: The Musical you can order tickets at http://chaplinbroadway.com/. Also, don’t forget to bring some money to buy some Chaplin souvenirs!
Not-So Starving Artists
Am I the only one who is in a bitter mood? Everything has just been going downhill for me lately. I’m back in school, the work is backbreaking, the weather is horrible (pouring buckets all the time here in NYC!) so my hair is in a permanent state of fuzziness a la Clara Bow (but since I’m nowhere near as beautiful or as glamorous as her, I don’t look good) and worst of all my mystery illness is back: I hate the sight and smell of all food, and my stomach expels what little I try to eat. So right now, I pretty much look like a stressed-out, frizzy-haired concentration camp survivor with red lipstick and red nail polish.
But what hurts worse than any of what I described above is that people who I thought loved me very much all of a sudden decide not to stand by me. It’s terrible to know that people who you thought you could trust with your innermost thoughts and ideas can suddenly turn on you and treat you like a complete stranger. Lesson learned: don’t trust anyone but yourself. And blog, blog, blog to make yourself happy!
Recently I’ve noticed that Old Hollywood had plenty of artists. And I don’t mean “artists” in the sense of actors, directors, costume designers, makeup artists, producers, script writers, editors, etc. (that goes without saying!) I mean fine artists: drawers and painters. Many of our favorite actors were also gifted with the brush and the palette, which I find fascinating because I dabble in art myself. Here’s a look at some great actor/artists and a little backstory on each:
Katharine Hepburn
She wasn’t called “Kate the Great” for nothing. She could act in most anything, she was a trendsetter and a revolutionary, and she was also an artist. Kate started painting in the 1930s while dating aviator and film producer Howard Hughes, and the hobby stuck with her until her death. Kate had a lovely soft, muted style (I tend to gravitate to sharper, more severe art styles and I love using richly saturated colors in my works, so I admire Kate’s expertise in an art technique that I couldn’t master, no matter how hard I tried!) And her watercolors are museum-quality pieces, in my humble opinion. The photo on the far left is a self-portrait of Kate in the makeup chair, being transformed into a Chinese farmer woman for a film (I forgot which. If anyone knows, do tell!) She writes on top, “The left is lower than the right!” in reference to her eyebrows. The next two paintings are beautiful watercolors of Manhattan. Kate wonderfully softens up the otherwise crazy (yet lovely nonetheless) steel jungle that I call home. And with today’s weather being what it is, “jungle” is a very fitting term to describe this city…
Ginger Rogers
Gingers Rogers is a QUADRUPLE threat: dancer, singer, actress, and artist! Ginger had been painting as early as 1933, and apparently George Gershwin was the first person to buy her work. Ginger painted quite actively for the rest of her life, and she once said that it helped her to relax and express herself. She enjoyed painting caricature-style portraits and landscapes, and can create artwork in a variety of different styles, from the line caricatures you see in the picture above (of surprisingly, fellow painter Katharine Hepburn) to rich, colorful paintings of cattle and the West (unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any photos of this series of paintings). Fun fact: Ginger painted under the name “Ginger Briggs.”
Frank Sinatra
Another example of a quadruple threat here! Sinatra was actually a very accomplished painter and made many acclaimed works in his lifetime. But most famous (and mysterious) were his clown paintings. Apparently Sinatra painted a series of clown portraits and gave them to friends and hung them around his home. I wonder what was Sinatra’s attachment to clowns. I’ve searched EVERYWHERE for the story behind these paintings, but to no avail. If anyone knows the backstory, please share it! The color photo on the far left is a clown painting that Frank gave as a gift to a friend, Jenni Rizzo. I’ve read that the clown has a little bit of Frank in it, and is an indirect self-portrait. The picture on the left is of Frank painting yet another clown, and if you look in the background, you can faintly see other works that Frank created hanging on the walls.
Clark Gable
Unlike all of the above film stars, Clark Gable was not a serious artist. He did not paint or draw works to sell them. Nevertheless, his work still tells a story about himself. These two self-portraits (which were sold at an auction years ago) show a side of Gable that we don’t get to see often: his childlike, boyish side. First of all, he drew them in a medium any serious artist would shun: your average crayon. The kind that kindergarteners use when coloring in a coloring book. Obviously, all that talk about Gable being humble and down to earth is true: he was not afraid to poke fun at himself. The portrait on the right is a (hilarious) self-portrait of a drunk Gable, complete with a bottle, glasses, and a “hic hic hic!” coming out of his mouth. It’s definitely not the best piece of artwork out there, but it is cute and good because he drew it. But his phenomenal caricature on the left leads me to think that the only reason the portrait on the right looks like it was done with his feet is because he probably drew it drunk as well! The portrait on the left shows that Gable had a very modern, stylized look to his artwork, something that was very prevalent in the artwork of his time (Art Deco) It is deliberately flat and two-dimensional, and the shadows have a very heavy, block-like appearance to them, like most Deco works. I also love that he charmingly exaggerates his most famous features: his big ears, deep dimples, wide eyes, heavy brow, and sarcastic little smile. Gable didn’t draw to be serious, he drew to have fun.
Gary Cooper
Coop just continues to fascinate me. I haven’t always been a big fan of Coop’s, and I haven’t learned much about him until recently, and I enjoy discovering more and more about this guy. Many say that Coop was a bit of a dim bulb, but that is not the case. Coop was in fact an incredibly gifted artist, perhaps the best actor-artist in Hollywood, and that is why I saved him for last. Coop had been drawing since he was a child, and he attended Grinnell College in Iowa and majored in graphic arts. Coop intended to become a commercial artist or cartoonist. After college, Coop went back to his Montana home and worked as an editorial cartoonist for a local newspaper. He then moved to Hollywood, where his ambition of becoming a cartoonist got sidetracked when he scored parts as an extra in films, and we all know what happened from there! Even though Coop became an actor instead of an artist, he still never lost his love for creating, as seen by these two photos. His talent was incredible. He could paint a delicate nature scene en plein air or draw dark, inky caricatures (does that look like a self-portrait to you? Hmm…) In TCM’s “Word of Mouth” feature, one of the first things Maria Cooper Janis remembers fondly about her father is his love for art. Coop was so good, that he can create perfect pictures while having a smoke!
That’s all, folks! I hope you learned as much as I have
Ball of Fire (1941)
Being Clark Gable’s #1 fan, you probably think that I can’t stand the sight of Gary Cooper, his “rival” (rivals in the box office, they were friends in real life). But Ball of Fire, a screwball comedy classic that Cooper made with my fellow Brooklynite Barbara Stanwyck, is what made me love him. I first saw this film about a year ago. I was home alone; my parents at work and my sister taking her geometry Regents (for all you non-New Yorkers, the Regents are the end-of-year state examinations) and I was having a grand ol’ time watching Stany make Coop all hot under the collar. I’ve seen it again recently as part of Gary Cooper’s SUTS day on TCM, and I adore it even more!
Ball of Fire has a great plot, often touted as a modern-day Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and rightly so: A group of seven old, geeky, bachelor professors (the “seven dwarves” here) are living together and working on an encyclopedia of all human knowledge. Each professor is covering a specific area, and Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) is an expert in English grammar and is researching contemporary American slang. Bertie goes to soda fountains and other popular hangouts to do research. One night, he wanders into the nightclub of beautiful burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O’Shea (Barbara Stanwyck. If that name doesn’t get you giggling uncontrollably, I don’t know what will.) and he becomes fascinated by her use of slang. Bertie asks Sugarpuss to help him with his research, and she reluctantly agrees only because she needs to hide from the police, who want to question her about her mobster boyfriend, Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews). Keep in mind that Bertie and the professors DO NOT know that she’s a wanted woman, and they kindly allow her to stay in their home and help them with their encyclopedia. The professors are enamored with her, and Bertie is absolutely crazy about her, and she in turn becomes fond of all of them. Sugarpuss teaches the professors many things, including how to conga dance, and when she discovers that she is attracted to Bertram, she teaches him the meaning of “yum yum.”
“Yum yum” becomes Bertram’s favorite slang phrase.
Bertram soon proposes marriage, but before their wedding, Sugarpuss is kidnapped by Joe so he can force her to marry him, and Joe’s henchmen hold Bertram and the professors hostage in their own home. Will a group of bumbling book nerds be able to escape and save Sugarpuss? Or will it be too late?
Everything about Ball of Fire is great. If you’re trying to get into the films of either Coop or Stany, this film is an excellent place to start. The script is snappy, witty, and hilarious, the actors play their parts perfectly, and the film combines funny moments and serious (but never too serious) moments very well. Coop and Stany are a dream team. Many might feel that someone as…simple-minded as Coop would’ve been horribly miscast as a professor, and a professor of grammar, of all things (we all know of Coop’s sparing use of words), but I think he was perfect! He played the naive, bumbling, adorably awkward guy amazingly well. Coop had a great gift for comedy, and I was hysterically laughing at him more than any other character. Coop seems to be funny without even realizing it. You can’t help but fall in love with Bertram Potts. The role of Sugarpuss O’Shea seemed to have been tailor-made for Barbara Stanwyck, even though she wasn’t originally the first choice for the role (that was Ginger Rogers, and when she declined, Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball were considered before the role was given to Barbara Stanwyck). Stany was snappy, sexy, and smart in this role. Sometimes I felt that Stany didn’t have to do much acting at all, she just had to be herself!
Even though “Potsie” (his nickname from Sugarpuss in the film) and Sugarpuss are complete opposites: quiet, studious, shy, awkward academician and street-wise, sexy, gritty, Brooklynite, they complement each other so well. You can see the sparks fly when Coop and Stany are together on-screen! Just look at those above photos!
Coop and Stany were perfect and excellent in Ball of Fire, but one actor who I feel doesn’t get enough credit in this film is Richard Haydn, who played Professor Oddly. Haydn is well-known as the voice behind the caterpillar in Disney’s animated classic Alice in Wonderland (which is one of my favorite Disney films, and the caterpillar is my favorite character!). His character in Ball of Fire is drop-dead hilarious. Pretty much every line he says had me in hysterics! He plays against both Coop and Stany very well, and is the most lovable professor along with Coop. And for those of you who only know him as Alice’s caterpillar, YES, he always speaks in that voice! It wasn’t his actual voice, but he always put on this famous nasal tone for all the characters he played. His performance is definitely up there with the two leads.
Bertram Potts and his fellow professors learn about the importance of great gams from Sugarpuss O’Shea.
Ball of Fire is a perfect four-star film with a great plot and great performances. You can’t go wrong with it!
Here’s one last photo of Coop and Stany, to prove how cute they are together!
The Pirate (1948)
On the 23rd, we celebrated the centennial of the talented, funny, and handsome Gene Kelly. Apart from watching some of my Kelly favorites: Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, Anchors Aweigh, I watched a film that has been sitting in my DVR for a loooong time…The Pirate.
The Pirate takes place in the adventurous, heady atmosphere of the Caribbean. Manuela (Judy Garland) dreams of someday being spirited away by the legendary pirate, Mack the Black Macoco (this name had me laughing the entire film, by the way) for a life of swashbuckling adventure and passionate romance. But Manuela’s dreams are crushed when her aunt arranges for her to marry the town’s mayor, Don Pedro (Walter Slezak), who isn’t handsome or adventurous at all, a far cry from the romantic Macoco she envisions. The day before her wedding, an actor named Serafin (Gene Kelly) and his troupe come to town. Serafin is quite the ladies’ man, but when he first lays eyes on Manuela, he is smitten and has eyes only for her. He soon finds out of her obsession with the legendary Pirate, and poses as the Macoco to win her heart. Will Serafin’s scheme work? Will the REAL Macoco show up?
Before watching this film, I’ve heard nothing but good things about it, and I agree completely…I loved it! Is there such thing as a BAD Gene Kelly film? I think not. I even like Invitation to the Dance, which made my sister fall asleep within fifteen minutes -___-
I think The Pirate wins my award for sexiest Gene Kelly film ever. He had excellent chemistry with Judy Garland (which was no secret, they made three films together). They were HOT. So much so that I wish they got married in real life. Seriously. They’re amazing together! But alas, Garland was married to the film’s director, Vincente Minelli at this point, so it wasn’t going to happen. Another reason why this is the sexiest Gene Kelly film is because of the costume he gets to wear in the dream sequence:
Not the best view, but I tried my hardest to find a photo that exhibits both the tightness of that onesie-thingy he’s wearing and how great his butt looks in it. (by the way, Gene Kelly also had the greatest butt in Hollywood History, and it’s not just me saying this, millions of others agree) My jaw dropped to the floor and I had to fan my blushing cheeks. Gene Kelly was sexy and he knew it.
I also loved the music in the film, with my favorites being “Nina,” “Mack the Black,” and “Be A Clown.” And BY THE WAY, when Singin’ in the Rain rolled around four years later, the music from “Be A Clown” was taken, the lyrics changed, and “Make ‘Em Laugh,” Donald O’Connor’s solo in the film, was born! Total plagiarism, but since both The Pirate and Singin’ in the Rain were MGM films, it didn’t matter.
Production of the film was a very tense and difficult affair. Judy Garland was growing more and more dependent on prescription drugs, smoked about four packs of cigarettes a day during filming (how she still had a voice of an angel is a miracle), she fought often with director/husband Vincente Minelli (they would divorce several years later), and she missed 99 of the 135 shooting days (dear Lord!) due to illness. Gene Kelly also had to fight to get the African American Nicholas Brothers included in the film. However, their footage was cut in Southern cities -____- The film also BOMBED when it was released, and MGM lost $2 million as a result. Seriously!? I thought this film was great! However, critics of the time felt that the sophistication of the film was lost on the audience.
The woman to the left is Laura Ingalls Wilder, famous author of the Little House on the Prairie series. If you’ve read her books (which are the BEST by the way) you’ll know that she was also a schoolteacher. To the right is Gene Kelly with Judy looking on. Is there a difference in hairstyles? Nope.
One complaint that I have about the film: the costumes (with the exception of the above Gene Kelly costume). They were absolutely ridiculous! Gene Kelly’s hair was curly in the front like some 1800s schoolteacher’s (refer to the above photos), and the costume he wears in his first scene (which I couldn’t find a photo of, so I apologize) made him look like Pippi Longstocking gone hobo. However, THIS is the worst costume of the film:
Poor Judy Garland. Wearing a Mr. T-sized cross, a puke-yellow dress, and a plaid chef’s hat. I highly doubt that this is how they dressed in the Caribbean, but it did give me a good laugh after the initial horror.
Now, I’m curious about one thing…and you can probably guess what it is…the mysterious “Voodoo” number. “Voodoo” was a song and dance number that was supposed to be between Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, but apparently it was quite sexy. So sexy that it couldn’t make it past the censors and had to be cut out of the film and the footage DESTROYED. The number that replaces it is the “Mack the Black” number, and considering the circumstances surrounding that one, I can see “Voodoo” as being one hot number. This is a tough question, but does anyone know anything about “Voodoo”? I wish they didn’t destroy that footage!
All in all, The Pirate is a great, fun film!
We’re Two!
Two years ago today, I’ve decided to make this little classic Hollywood blog out of pure boredom. But look at how big and amazing it has become! I thank YOU for reading, commenting, and sharing in my love for classic Hollywood!
This year, we have Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald cutting our cake!
And as always, I’ve changed up the background and header of An Elegant Obsession to give us a new look for a new year. I decided to go for a more shiny, Deco theme. I’ve also gotten a lot, and I mean A LOT of complaints that the background made it hard to read my posts, so I went for a lighter, less intricate background this year. Tell me what you think about it!
Thank you for another fun year! And hopefully we shall have many more!
“I Want You!”
The title of this post refers to the famous Uncle Sam poster we’ve all seen in our history textbooks. I’m sure the above photo makes that fairly obvious, but you never know what kind of people read your blog.
So…why the above poster?
Well, I GOT MY VOTER’S PACKET THINGY IN THE MAIL THE OTHER DAY AND I’M SO EXCITED!!!!
For those who may not know, I’m 19 years old. And everyone knows that the voting age in the US is 18. So this is my very first election, you guys! I’m BEYOND excited!
Now, I’m gonna get all Carole Lombard-patriotic on everyone and tell you to VOTE VOTE VOTE!
Voting is important, everyone! A lot of people think that their one vote can’t possibly make a difference, but hell yes, it will! Every vote counts! And in my honest opinion, if a person doesn’t vote, they have no right to complain about the government. Because they did nothing to make a difference.
Everyone knows that we are the greatest most powerful nation in the world. Here in America, we have tons of things that we take for granted that plenty of other countries in the world don’t have. America is effin awesome. And when you vote, you are being an awesome American! We have the best of everything (just look at how amazingly we performed in the Olympics! #1 always!) so let’s keep it that way!
So vote! Glamour gals like Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy did it and sexy he-men like Clark Gable and John Wayne did it, so why shouldn’t you? Classic movie stars were incredibly patriotic and passionate about their country, so take a leaf out of their books! I’ll be voting at both the primaries and the actual elections, so if you live in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, we might have the same voters’ center and we can have a little chit-chat! I’ll be the only dame in electric blue peacock-patterned stockings, so you won’t be able to miss me!
Some Info On That Norma Shearer Photo
Lately I’ve been getting quite a few questions about this photo of a pregnant Norma Shearer that I talked about in a post four days ago!
Well, the truth is this is quite a rare photo. I found it by complete accident…I wasn’t even searching for photos of Norma Shearer when I found it!
Here’s what (very little) info that I can find on this rare picture:
This photo was taken in 1936 and is a camera negative from Romeo and Juliet (I did NOT know that she was pregnant during the making of that film!). She was pregnant with her second child, Katherine.
That’s all I can find, folks! If anyone else knows more about this photo please let me know!
Happy Birthday, Miss Shearer!
Today marks the 110th birthday of the “Queen of MGM,” Norma Shearer!
I know I haven’t been kind to Norma in the past. I’ve often said that she was overdramatic and only got plum roles because she was married to MGM’s Head of Production (and Brooklyn native!) Irving Thalberg.
But…things have changed now, and I am proud to say that I have become a Norma Shearer convert!
Yup. I like Norma Shearer.
What happened to cause this change, you may ask?
I simply got a better understanding of classic films, that’s all. Lots of Norma’s films like Marie Antoinette, A Free Soul and Romeo and Juliet show off her dramatic chops, but other films of hers such as Idiot’s Delight and The Women show us that she had a gift for comedy as well, and that’s when I realized that she is a more talented actress than I gave her credit for.
Idiot’s Delight was a film I originally watched for Gable only. I was not going to pass up a chance to see his only musical-type role! At first I found Shearer’s character annoying, but after repeated viewings of the film I learned to love her…and now she steals the whole picture from right under Gable’s nose for me! In fact, her overdramatic-ness was what made it so funny…her character’s penchant for spinning tall tales and her exaggerated Russian accent will have you laughing out loud. In one scene, she is called out for telling the story of her escape from Bolshevik Russia differently each and every time she says it, to which she responds, “I have made many escapes.” She has plenty more zingers where that came from!
Her character in The Women was funny as well (But in my opinion, the Roz is funniest and steals the show. However, Norma’s character is funny in her own right). Norma may have played the wronged woman here, but you can’t help laughing at the scenes that take place on the ranch in Reno and when she declares, “I’ve had two years to grow claws, mother…JUNGLE RED!” This is actually my favorite line from the film, and now I call all my bottles of red nail polish (and there are plenty, folks) “Jungle Red.” Norma’s character is also sweet yet strong. You are automatically sympathetic towards her and want her to win in the end. And who doesn’t cry during the scene in which she tries to explain to her young daughter the meaning of divorce? Shearer’s character in that film teaches ladies an important lesson: love is important, but pride and dignity are even more important. Take it from our girl Norma before having to learn it the hard way.
Off the screen, Norma was a great person. She was a loving, devoted wife to Irving Thalberg, in a place where true love was, and still is, elusive and hard to come by. She was also a devoted mother. She had two children with Thalberg, and planned to retire from the screen to raise them. However, at her husband’s insistence and encouragement, she continued making films. Not the shallow diva you thought she was, huh?
Here’s one of my favorite photos of Norma:
Here, she’s showing off her baby bump. I don’t think any other classic Hollywood actress posed while pregnant. At a time when openly acknowledging your children was considered unglamorous and bad for your box office, Shearer defied the rules and was one proud Mama! I don’t think things changed when it came to talking about pregnancy until twenty or so years after this picture was taken (!!!), when Lucille Ball filmed the baby episodes from her hit show I Love Lucy while actually pregnant. The only other actresses who were proud to show off their children like this were Shearer’s fellow goddesses Marlene Dietrich (her daughter is Maria Riva) and Joan Crawford (all her children turned out to be ungrateful, bitchy brats. Poor Joan). If you’ve been feeling a little…meh…towards Norma Shearer, hopefully this post has changed that!
Happy birthday, Norma Shearer!
Flapper Nails!
Today I’m going to teach you guys how to do the perfect flapper nails! You know, that elegant vintage nail look often sported in the 1920s-early 1930s and seen on actresses like Jean Harlow and Joan Crawford:
As you can see, only the center of the fingernail was painted. The half-moons and the tips were left bare.
Things didn’t change until (legend has it) Carole Lombard began to paint her full nails, something that was seen as quite shocking in the world of fashion and beauty. However, the trend caught on like wildfire, and women haven’t reverted back to only painting half of our nails ever since!
But if you’re a vintage-obsessed nerd like me, you have a fondness for these old trends and love bringing them back. I’ve taught myself how to recreate the flapper nail look. My lovely, cooperative new boyfriend took pictures of me modeling my nails. They may look a little weird, but hey, the focus is on the fingers, not the face (or in this case, half the face) here! I hope the nails are easy to see in these photos (UPDATE: you can click the pictures if you need to see the nails better!):
My boyfriend called this one the “evil mastermind” pose hahaha!
It just occurred to me that I probably should’ve taken pictures of each step of this nail look…oy. I’m going to try describing each step as best I can, but if those of you who are trying to achieve this look need a picture for any step, let me know and I can redo this post with pictures!
What You’ll Need:
Cotton Balls
Acetone
Cotton Swabs
Nail Clipper
Nail File
Top Coat and Base Coat (I use OPI Start to Finish Base & Top Coat, two in one, less hassle!)
Red Nail Polish (I use OPI’s “The Thrill of Brazil”)
How to Do It:
1. Start off with clean nails. (duh) Make sure they are long, but not too long. Just a little over your fingertips (like the way my nails look).
2. Give your nails that pointed look those flappers and 1930s dames had. Use the nail clipper to trim off A LITTLE BIT of the sides OF THE GROWTH (the part that is a little over your fingertips) ONLY. If you go any deeper, you will clip off the part of your nail that is attached to your finger, and trust me, it hurts. Like. A. Bitch.
3. After that, file the sides of your nails so they can look clean and pointed.
4. Now, take your base coat and paint one coat on each nail. They will look clear and shiny. Wait for them to dry (this depends on the type of base coat you have. Mine dries almost instantaneously, so I only wait a minute or so.)
5. Now, take your red nail polish and VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY paint a thin arc right over your half-moon and another right under your growth. Now, you should have bare tips, a stripe of red, a bare nail, another red stripe, and a bare half-moon.
6. Now fill in the space between the two red stripes with red nail polish. Do this for all your nails!
7. Wait for your nails to dry. Then repeat steps five and six for a second coat (yes, a second coat is necessary, because it will give you the true color you are hoping to achieve).
8. Wait for your nails to dry again (completely!!! It’s most important at this time).
9. At this point, you might have some mess or stray nail polish around your fingers. My tip to cleaning messy nail polish (and this can go for any look, not just flapper nails) is to dip a cotton swab into a bottle of acetone and use it to clean around your nails. It’s thin enough to clean without removing the nail polish that is actually on your nails. Here, use this technique not only to clean any skin around your fingernails, but to also clean any nail polish that may have gotten onto your half-moons or tips. Many people complain that DYI nails are messy because they can’t paint the nails on their right hand with their left hand or vice versa. But with this tip, you can make as much mess as you need and you can clean it all up, resulting in salon-perfect nails!
10. After your nails have dried and you’ve cleaned any mess, paint on your top coat.
11. Voila! You now have shiny, red, glamorous, authentic-looking flapper nails!
**I’m not going to lie and say that doing this look on your own is easy. It might not come out 100% great the first time you try, but like with anything else, practice makes perfect. You might also find it easier to get someone else to help you or paint your nails for you. Do not be discouraged, since it is a difficult look! Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
P.S: Have you guys noticed the ring I’m wearing in my pictures? That’s the ring the incredibly handsome and talented actor Paul Zivkovich gave me in a one-on-one in my favorite play, Sleep No More. Sometimes the ring is on my finger, sometimes around my neck on a necklace, but I’m always wearing it! I’m quite devoted to this guy.
Paul Zivkovich, the gorgeous hunk of perfect man actor who proposed marriage gave me the gift of a ring and a secret in Sleep No More.
I Thought I Couldn’t Love Classic Hollywood Anymore Than I Already Do But…
The wonderful thing about being a classic movie fan is that the love you have for these films never goes away from you. You see people claiming to be the #1 fan of some modern-day actor who can’t act or some modern-day boy band who can’t sing. Fast forward six months into the future and suddenly these people aren’t fans of bad actor X or bad boy band X anymore; they’ve moved on to someone else. But you never see that with classic film fans. This is a love that sticks with ya for life!
Just when I think I couldn’t love these films anymore than I already do I stumble across little things that make my heart swell up and overflow with more classic movie love! Take, for example, this quote by Lauren Bacall on the film “Twilight.” You know, that “vampire” “film” that was so hilariously bad that after having the misfortune of seeing the first “film” of his…this…thing in theaters I laughed so hard I almost busted a lung and threw my leftover popcorn at the closing credits and I absolutely refuse to italicize the title of this “film” because I do not believe that something this bad can actually be called a film. Anyway, here’s what Lauren had to say…
Yes I saw it, my granddaughter made me watch it, she said it was the greatest vampire film ever. After the ‘film’ was over, I wanted to smack her across her head with my shoe but I do not want a book called Grannie Dearest written about me when I die. So instead I gave her a DVD of Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu and told her, ‘Now that’s a vampire film!’
LAUREN BACALL, I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. She understands that vampires are supposed to be scary, not sparkly! They’re supposed to make you scream with fright, not roll your eyes to the high heavens hoping that God can have mercy and take your soul right then and there. I hope Lauren Bacall’s granddaughter actually took the time to watch Nosferatu (one of my all-time favorite horror films) and she better have kissed her grandmother’s feet after that. I would also like to say that my father has a raging crush on Lauren Bacall. Every time I watch a film of hers he would stop dead in his tracks and stare at her with his mouth hanging open slightly. Good choice, Dad! Oh, and I don’t think I’ve posted this hilarious photo before…
Lauren Bacall trying to put on a pair of headphones. When I first saw this picture, I laughed myself to tears. Actually, I think I peed myself a little because I was laughing so hard. Folks, if you ever wondered what would happen if you took a classic movie actor and placed them in the 21st century, here it is.
I also found another AMAZING photo today that honestly, I have no words to describe:
YES. YES. YEEEESSSSS. LOOK AT THAT. LOOK AT THAT GREATNESS RIGHT THERE. Stany AND Gabe, with middle fingers raised??? Can someone say BEST PICTURE EVER??? Ugh, I just LOVE these people! We would’ve gotten along so well together, raising our middle fingers to the entire world. Why didn’t I live back then, WHYYYYY? Stany with her middle finger raised just exudes Brooklyn’s trademark charm and kindness! You go, girl! And Gabe with his middle finger raised…perfection! He and I=two peas in a pod. So whenever the going gets tough, simply look at this picture and raise your middle finger to the world!
***CORRECTION: My good friend Mark told me that the guy on the far right is Sheldon Cooper. Thank you darling!
That concludes Carole Irene’s wise advice for the day, and this awesome post. Enjoy my loves!
Carole Irene
Baby Jean
