Valentine Lovers

On February 11, 2015February 13, 2015 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In old movie magic, Romantic interludes1 Comment

Is it possible to identify real chemistry in a photograph?

Four of these vintage screen couples were lovers in real life. See if you can guess which ones?

Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in ‘Possession’.

Leslie Howard and Myrna Loy in ‘Animal Kingdom’.

Marlene Dietrich and Garry Cooper in ‘Desire’.

Robert Taylor and Greta Garbo in ‘Camille’.

Tyrone Power and Loretta Young in ‘Three Ladies In Love’.

‘Clark Gable and Loretta Young ‘Call Of The Wild’.

Garry Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck in ‘Meet John Doe’.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in ‘To Have And Have Not’

Vivienne Leigh and Robert Taylor in ‘Waterloo Bridge’.

Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn in ‘Pat and Mike’.

Bette Davis and George Brent in ‘Dark Victory’.

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in ‘Queen Christina’.

Vintage Hollywood baggage

On February 10, 2015December 29, 2018 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In comfort zones, Now and then, old movie magic

You can tell alot about a person from their baggage … er … luggage. For instance a lady with too many suitcases must have too many clothes and therefore too much ego. Right? That sounds like an old Chinese proverb. Maybe the lady has so much luggage because she’s simply indecisive or maybe she’s moving to a new city or maybe she owns a fashion boutique. Maybe the cases are empty and she just wants you to think she has lots of outfits or maybe she intends to go on a buying spree and fill them with the new trends. Who knows? We can however, guess more about the person from the style of luggage they carry, than from the content. Louis Vuitton luggage is a dead give away and we automatically consider all who carry it to have class. Many Hollywood stars chose Louis Vuitton and they carried it well. It meant they had taste and ,of course money. Sometimes though a star could be just a little over the top and strike terribly glamorous poses with their luggage. This photo of Marlene Dietrich sitting on her luggage has more an air of Mafia than mystique. Carole Lombard and Audrey Hepburn add a touch of elegance and decorum. While Audrey’s pooch adds a touch of irreverence. Well one does have to own one’s own baggage. Gene Tierney in her striped gloves uses hers to best advantage as a sort of podium on which to pose while pondering her next move. Gable and Colbert decide to keep it light so that they can hitch a ride in the movie ‘It Happened One Night’ , and Pickford and Fairbanks return to their home ‘Pickfair’ from a long sojourn over seas with enough luggage to fill the whole train. The porters seem a little daunted but Jerry Lewis saves the day. Essentially baggage is more than just empty cases filled with stuff. Whatever goes inside is a reflection of self. We can only imagine the glamorous outfits inside the cases of vintage stars but does what’s on the outside always reflect that which is within? Pickford and Fairbanks luggage here looks pretty rough around the edges. They actually divorced not long after this was taken and their mansion sold. Nothing last’s forever but in the beginning there is always the hope that it will. The photo of Lizabeth Scott here on the porch with her only suitcase speaks volumes. No girl that could afford such gorgeous designer clothes would travel with a single piece of non descript luggage. Think again. Her character in this film has nowhere to go and is waiting outside a boarding house desperate and alone despite her designer duds. Is she waiting to enter or waiting to leave? She certainly looks determined. If , like me, you have carried your old baggage from last year into this one. Maybe it’s time to get rid of some of it and be pro active. Go forth, sashay into the world and be not afraid. Even if you don’t fit into the mainstream be proud of who you are and be grateful for what you have. We’ve all got baggage.

Gabby Du Gaffe

C/O

Hybiscus Bloom 10/2/2015

Loretta Young and the virtues of vice

On January 31, 2015February 7, 2015 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In comfort zones, Movie Magic, Now and then

Loretta Young was a lovely actress with big doe eyes. She could be tough, demure and headstrong all at the same time. Her roles would include housewives, femme fatales and even female pilots. Loretta’s films were indeed varied and generally of a very high calibre. A devoted Catholic all her life Loretta chose to play characters who portrayed moral virtues. Films such as ‘The bishop’s wife where she is the faithful yet neglected wife of a clergyman befriended by an angel ( cary Grant ) and ‘The Farmers Daughter’ in which she plays a maid to an extremely wealthy family revered for her honesty and integrity who becomes involved in politics ( Hmmm interesting. ) For this role she won an oscar. ( Even more interesting. ) The year was 1948. Her life was often reflected in the films she made and her moral virtue was not always true to the values of The Catholic church. In 1930 at the age of 17 she found herself pregnant and eloped with the father. An actor named Grant Withers. He was 26 and should have been arrested. They married in Yuma and although the marriage was annulled a year later they made a film together. Ironically the film was titled ‘ Too Young To Marry’.

Young made ‘Call Of The Wild’ with Clark Gable in 1935 and the two had an affair. She again fell pregnant and fearing the damage it would do to her career ran away to England to have the baby which she had adopted out. A year later she adopted the child as her own and the child’s real father remained a secret. Prior to this affair with Gable she had made a film called ‘Born To Be Bad’ about an unwed mother who “entertains” wholesale buyers to gain contracts for the mob. In the film her son is run down by a company president who she then sues for damages. The film again co stars Cary Grant. This character is against type and lacks moral scruples, making her son tell lies in court and seducing the company president, in an attempt to break up his marriage and discredit him.

Loretta’s colourful life seemed to be on the straight and narrow when she married producer ‘ Tom Lewis’ in 1940 but the marriage ended in a very bitter divorce in the sixties. They had embarked on a joint production, ‘The Loretta Young Show’, which had become a power struggle. For years they battled in court over the money made from the show and Loretta also sued the producers for not updating the gowns she wore in the opening credits. Loretta won. She certainly had courage. Just like the character she played in the 1944 film ‘Ladies Courageous’. A female pilot who joins the WAFS during WW11 and ferries aircraft parts across the Pacific by plane. Not courageous enough , however, to acknowledge her biological daughter as her own. Then again she saved not only her own career but also that of Gable and where would we be without him. I wonder?

Cheers Dears!

Wanda Wey Awf

C/O

Hybiscus Bloom ( 31/1/2015 )

Jezebels and Scarlett Ohara

On January 9, 2015March 25, 2017 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In old movie magic

The casting for Gone With The Wind is legend with David O Selznick finally settling on a complete unknown poised in front of the burning embers of Atlanta. Vivienne Leigh was perfect. Delicate yet fiercely determined, gentle yet defiantly steadfast, coquettish yet devioulsy cunning. She had all the attributes of the fiery Southern Belle Selznick had been searching for. He knew, from the moment he saw her, that he had found his Scarlett. What a search it had been too. Every actress in Hollywood wanted that role including Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Catherine Hepburn, and even Hedy Lamarr. The main contender for the role was none of these however and Paulette Goddard had become the front runner. Goddard was married to Charlie Chaplin and had made quite an impression in her first film with him ‘Modern Times’. She was gamine and feisty and her screen test for ScarletPrior to Goddard many others had been considered. Some never heard of before or since outside Hollywood circles. Selznick was determined to use a virtual unknown because he did not want audiences to be able to compare Scarlett with any other character or star seen on film. He considered Ellen Drew, Anita Louise, Halia Stoddard who was predominantly a stage actress, Dianna Barrymore , daughter of John Barrymore and Margaret Tallichet. Who were all these wanna be Scarlet’s well may you ask? Turns out they were all quite well known in their day by those that mattered in Tinsel Town. Many were given other Southern Belle rolls to compensate for the loss of Scarlett. Bette Davis made ‘Jezebel’ with Henry Fonda in which like Scarlett Oharra she wears red to the ball in defiance of etiquette and plays hard to get with the man she truly loves.

Paulette Goddard much later starred in’ The Sins Of Jezebel’. It stands to reason as the character of Scarlett , who steals hearts only to disguard them when the time suits her, is actually loosley based on the Jezebel of the bible. Like the biblical Jezebel Scarlett loves to dress in all her finery and makes sure she is fully made up before facing up to whatever obstacle stands in her way. Defiant to the last.

Margaret Tallichet was actually married to William Wyler who was a major player.

Anita Louise apparently gave fabulous Hollywood parties and was on first name basis with the A list.

Ellen Drew was the beautiful starlett every one wanted to know. Which of these would you have chosen as a serious contender?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: