Tribute To Lauren Bacall.

On August 17, 2014 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In Now and then

Lauren Bacall was one of the greats. Never to be repeated in this life time or the next. Known as ‘The Look’ for the chin down,eyes up look she perfected, Bacall was pure cinema magic. As a very young starlet she and a friend had won a talent competition and the prize was a chance to meet Bette Davis. Apparently Davis was very impressed with the young ingenue and introduced her to the big players in Hollywood which led to a screen test. Immediately she was cast opposite Bogart in ‘The Big Sleep’ and the chemistry was unmistakable. Together they would star together in four films during the 1940s which would create box office gold.

Before all this Betty Bacall had been a cover model for ‘Vogue’ and ‘Vanity Fair’. Her face was striking as was her ‘Don’t mess with me’ expression. Maybe it was the private girls school education that gave her the confidence to be so poised. Her life had not been perfect and her father had left when she was very young leaving her mother to raise her alone. Her uncles came to the rescue and provided for her education while her mother supported her daughters acting pursuits.

Perhaps it was this disfunctional family experience that made her fall for Bogart as he was, at the time, a little disfunctional himself. He was 20 years older and married when they first met. In her book ‘ By Myself’ Bacall describes the problems she had to deal with as their affair became more serious. Bogies then wife was an alchoholic has been actress whose career was on the wane. Bogie felt responsible for her and would join her in her drinking bouts. Alot for a twenty year old to have to cope with. But cope she did and it was this strength of character that won her man and also her meteoric rise to stardom in the film noir genre. Oh and she was gorgeous.

After Bogart’s death Bacall reinvented herself and moved into melodrama and comedy. ‘Designing Woman’ and ‘How To Marry A millionaire’ were both hugely successful films. In both films Bacall played smart ,stylish and self sufficient women. Strong and capable on the outside but sensitive and demure on the inside. ‘ Written On The wind’ with Robert Stack and Rock Hudson was a 50s melodrama in which her character has to deal with an alchoholic husband. Widely recognised as a fore runner for series like ‘Dallas’ and ‘Dynasty’ the film is really over the top. In it Lauren Bacall looks magnificent while manages to stay calm and cool in the most harrowing of scenes. It takes a great deal of panache to pull that kind of image off on screen.

Lauren Bacall was active in film for many years afterwards too and won a golden globe for ‘The Mirror Has Two Faces’ with Barbara Streisand. I remember standing beside her at a theatre in London and wanting so much to ask for her autograph. I couldn’t do it because I saw her being mobbed by hundreds of theatre goers and I felt bad for her. Oh she was gracious and signed all those autographs with incredible ease but I wanted to give her a chance to enjoy the show. Her autobiography ‘By Myself’ which I had read before that night at the theatre had been for me, an acting student at the time, an inspiration. She was a class act on screen and off. A real lady, a real talent but most of all a real person.

© Renee Dallow ( Hybiscus Bloom ) 17/8/2014

Napier New Zealand

On August 2, 2014December 12, 2014 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In comfort zones, Now and then

Imagine a refined and elegant sojourn into a bygone era where morning and afternoon tea are still in vogue. A blissful stroll through well ordered streets and neat manicured parklands where locals still meet and ponder over pleasantries. A calm transience of thought breaking free in the stillness of a moment at the waters edge . Each passing day a prelude to more of the same. There you have it. Life in a small town. A return to the sanctuary of old world charm. There are not many towns that remain the same from the time we are born till the years of our dotage. Even fewer that retain the traditions of old.

Imagine a pristine town complete with white washed walls and picket fences burnt to the ground and then rebuilt as a monument to the time of it’s creation. Remember Baz Luhrman’s ,’Great Gatsby’ a tribute to the roaring twenties? To a time when all was elegant, decadent and glamorous? Well at least to the upper classes. Now imagine a whole town tucked away in a quiet pocket of the world that still to this very day is a tribute to the style and grandeur of a Baz Luhrman movie. Without the glitz and bling dazzle of Hollywood royalty. The town I refer to is a New Zealand treasure. Napier.

Razed from the ashes in 1931 after a giant earthquake had devastated it’s population and destroyed it’s pretty little homes and gardens along with it’s main street infrastructure and renowned wineries Napier ,not only recovered, but triumphed. From the tragedy of that quake arose an architectural miracle on a scale rarely seen elsewhere. Each new building became an artwork in itself. Such was the dedication of those responsible for it’s resurrection. Those who come from small towns like this long for life in the big cities and sometimes those who have grown up in the noise and bustle of city living dream of the quiet life in a small town.

Well Napier has continued to grow and now is considered a city.

A gracious city with sophisticated airs. Still a little prude and a little behind the times but Napier stands proud in it’s pastel glory. A tree lined boulevarde frames the ocean view. A mini Hollywood bowl lights up on the green. A fountain spray keeps the flower beds moist. A soft moonlight glow sets the scene. The evening prepares for a promenade and Napier does not disappoint.

© Renee Dallow ( Hybiscus Bloom ) 5/8/2014

Brenda Joyce 1940s Hollywood

On July 30, 2014December 12, 2014 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In Now and then, old movie magic

Brenda Joyce was the 7th Jane to star opposite Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan. Also known for her role in the academy award winning film ‘The Rains Came’ with George Brent ,Myrna Loy and the utterly delectable Tyrone Power . Joyce was a B movie actress but certainly did not go unnoticed in Hollywood circles.She had been discovered by Fox Studios when one of their talent scouts had discovered her in a fashion magazine. That easy you might say …. well it would seem so. She did have,however, a certain quality that made her a little different. Se was described as being a wholesome tomboy with a degree of self assuredness. This made her a great choice for naive ingenue roles which was just as well as she was only 17 when cast in ‘The Rains Came’ in 1939. This image was played up to the hilt in her next film ‘Maryland’ in which she plays the daughter of a horse trainer with a passion for horses. In 1942 she made a nice little propaganda film called ‘Little Tokyo U.S.A. which ,of course was all about Japanese conspiracy plots against America being planned on home turf. A film called ‘Thumbs Up’ saw her cast as a nightclub singer who volunteers to work in a British munitions factory and decides to stay and help the war effort rather than return to her singing career. Very noble indeed. ‘The Enchanted Forest’ in 1945 which was an unexpected runaway success. In it Joyce plays a young mother whose son has been lost in the forest. They are reunited with the help of an old hermit who lives there. The hermit also plays matchmaker for the young mother and unites her with a young doctor in the village. It was soon after this film that she was cast in the Tarzan films replacing Maureen O Sullivan. Her last Tarzan film was with Lex Barker in 1949′ The Magic Fountain’ after which Brenda Joyce retired from Hollywood. She died at the age of 92 in 2009. I guess Hollywood just wasn’t her thing.