Louise Brooks with her sharply bobbed hair is one of the most iconic figures of 1920s cinema and epitomized the rebellious modern woman of the time. She started off her career as a chorus girl and dancer in 1922, and by 1925 was a dancer for Ziegfeld’s Follies. It was as a Follies girl that(…)
Marilyn Monroe photographed in February 1947 when she was still a young starlet. At this time she was still called Norma Jeane, and hadn’t yet undergone her Hollywood makeover. In 1950 she had rhinoplasty (a nose-job) and a chin implant on the advice of her agent who paid for the surgery. She only changed her(…)
One of three sisters, Norma Talmadge was one of the most popular actresses of silent movies in the 1920s. She had a difficult childhood; her father was an unemployed alcoholic who abandoned his family when they children were still young, leaving Norma’s mother to try and make ends meet. At 14 Norma began modelling, and(…)
You might not recognize the name Elsa Lanchester, but you’ll definitely recognize her in her most famous role: as the Bride of Frankenstein. Actually that film title always annoyed me, since Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster, but anyhoo… Here she is looking spectacular: Born in 1902 Lanchester worked in theater and film for(…)
These publicity photos of young 1940s Hollywood starlets seem slightly odd to me. Sure, they all look beautiful and happy and like screen stars of the future, but there’s something reminiscent of the Playboy mansion about the photos! The pictures were taken at the home of publisher and media magnate William Randolph Hearst Sr (who(…)
Katharine Hepburn had a good start in Hollywood, moving from the stage to the big screen and getting rave reviews. However during the mid to late 1930s she had a series of flops which lost the studios a lot of money and led to her being dubbed as ‘box office poison’, which was effectively a(…)
The can-can dancers of the Moulin Rouge in Paris, probably taken some time in the 1950s judging by the hair and make-up styles. Those flying leaps into the splits look really painful! The backstage photos showing them warming up before a performance are really interesting too, they were all so bendy!
Ingrid Bergman starred in both the stage play (Joan of Lorraine and the Hollywood movie adaptation of Joan of Arc, so I’m not sure which this is the costume for. The photographs were captioned as being for Joan of Lorraine, but if you look at the suit of armor she wore in the movie (the(…)
If I had to make a movie of a Thomas Hardy novel,I would definitely choose ‘Far From the Madding Crowd‘, especially since I had to study ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles‘ at school and it was incredibly depressing. Luckily for me, I don’t have to make the movie myself to enjoy a good slice of on-screen(…)
The forecast heatwave seems to have arrived in full force today and it’s far too hot to actually dance, so here are some vintage photos of people dancing their socks off to keep us all entertained. Thinking about doing exercise is almost as good as doing it, right? Oh, and I’d like to know your(…)
A shocking 90% of American films made before 1929 have been lost forever. Why? There seem to be two main reasons: A huge number of films were destroyed intentionally, especially silent movies as they were perceived to have no value once talkies became popular. As well as this frustrating destruction many movies were filmed on(…)
1930 bridged the gap between the decadent 1920s and the introduction and enforcement of the Hayes Motion Picture Code which cracked down on immorality, nudity and general fun at the movies*. Here are some of the films released in this year. They range from the sublime to the ridiculous and from racy to glamorous not(…)
We all know and love Angela Lansbury from Murder She Wrote, plus she was the voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. However she didn’t start out in life as a middle-aged crime-solving widow (or a singing teapot). Back in the 40s and 50s she looked rather different and played a huge(…)
So you think Cara Delevingne invented the bold brow? Think again! As with most fashion trends, it’s all been done before. And as with most things Audrey Hepburn did it better. Here are five Hollywood stars from the 1940s and 50s who rocked the statement brow trend the first time around! Of course, the 1940s(…)
Everyone has their own idea of the perfect Mr Darcy (or at least every red-blooded woman with a beating heart). Since I studied Pride and Prejudice at school I’ve been head over heels in love with him, and it’s a book I’ll still re-read fairly regularly. At school we studied Wuthering Heights at the same(…)
I should probably point out that this might not be suitable for viewing at work. It’s not terribly risque, but there are some photos of 1920s topless showgirls, so I guess it depends on what you classify for NSFW, and I don’t want to get anyone into trouble! The Folies Bergère opened in Paris in(…)
The Hays Code was introduced in 1930 to regulate the morals of the US motion picture industry and influenced film production up until 1968. Before it was introduced censors were independent in each State, meaning that different films could be banned, cut or shown to differing degrees in different parts of the country. This caused(…)
We all know that the Studio System of 30s, 40s and 50s Hollywood remade and remoulded their actors and actresses, but what did they look like before they were styled by the star factory? Here are some of my favourite Classic Hollywood actresses before they were famous. Who do you think had the biggest transformation?(…)