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(…)
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(…)
“Graham Chapman, probably best remembered as ‘the dead one from Monty Python’, writes and stars in the animated movie of his own life story, A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Although Chapman selfishly dropped dead in 1989, he had taken the trouble to record himself reading his book, A Liar’s Autobiography — and those recordings have now ingeniously(…)
I know this isn’t really a classic movie, especially as it’s only 3 years old, but it’s the first silent movie to win an Oscar since 1927 so I thought it had to be worth a watch. And boy am I glad I did, it was fabulous from start to finish! The basic plot revolves(…)
I like a man who can run faster than I can – Jane Russell I love Jane Russell‘s attitude. Not that I imagine many men would have been running away from her as she was one of the biggest sex symbols of the 40s and 50s (and not just because of her magnificent assets). My(…)
Bette Davis’ Hollywood career spanned an incredible six decades, but it was her style in the 1930s and 40s combined with her uncompromising movie roles which cemented her as a movie icon. She was no classic Hollywood beauty, and flatly refused to comply with the ideals of the studios, once claiming: ‘Hollywood wanted me to(…)
One of the Christmas traditions in our house is the annual watching of Mary Poppins. We don’t even pay that much attention to it any more, it’s just on in the background and we just join in with our favourite bits. I’m going to have Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious suck in my brains for at least the next(…)
1940s studio publicity photo of MGM actress June Allyson for the film Music for Millions (1944). I love her stripey blouse, it’s another one of those outfits which probably look better in black and white than in colour! I didn’t realise who she was from the photo, but as soon as I saw her smile(…)
Christmas just isn’t Christmas without some Bing Crosby and I thought this quote was particularly apt, especially after seeing the mayhem and stress out there with everyone doing last-minute shopping today! Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it ‘white’
Marilyn Monroe and Groucho (I think?) Marx in 1949. The young Marilyn (and her wiggle) made a lasting impression on Marx during her first screen test for the movie Love Happy. Apparently it was all because of her walk! Love Happy is regarded as the worst Marx Brothers movie, but we’re still grateful that it(…)
In 1934 Cecil B. DeMille directed a movie version of Cleopatra which was every bit as sumptuous and decadent as the later movie of the same name starring Elizabeth Taylor. This Cleopatra was dressed in opulent Art Deco style and Claudette Colbert who played the title role looked just wonderful. The costumes which were designed(…)
One heady day in 1927 some bright spark decided it would be a good publicity stunt to send the MGM lion up in a plane. Little did they know how wrong that would go… To give you some background information there have actually been 7 different MGM Lions. Slats, the first lion doesn’t roar the(…)
Alla Nazimova, Arthur Hoyt & Rudolph Valentino in the movie Camille from 1921. Camille is basically the same story as La Traviata: a good time girl (with consumption) falls in love with the hero, they live happily for a short time before fate intervenes and various bad things happen including her dying of consumption. I(…)
Warner Brothers Studio publicity photograph of Hedy Lamarr for the 1944 film The Conspirators. I love her necklace!
The height of Hollywood stars is something which has always fascinated me. I’m not sure why, but actresses always seem taller than they actually are (perhaps because they’re projected onto an enormous screen!). I had no idea that I was the same height as Marilyn Monroe, or that Veronica Lake was a diminutive 4’11”. Veronica(…)
I love a good monster movie, well truth be told I love a *rubbish* monster movie. If the monster movie is too graphic and ‘realistic’ I don’t like it at all (I’m still having nightmares from watching Starship Troopers). This is from the movie Empire of the Ants from 1977. I love the fact that(…)
After a childhood spent watching My Fair Lady over and over again I almost find it a bit shocking to see a photo of Rex Harrison not only getting a bit up close and personal, but with another woman! Perhaps I loved that movie a bit too much… but in my eyes Audrey Hepburn is(…)
I don’t think I’d ever seen a photo of Kim Basinger quite this young before. I think I first noticed her as a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again, and she just seemed to be everyhwere for about 10 years after that. This photo is from about 5 years before she had her big(…)