As everyone knows, this is whaddaya call one a’ yer “class” blogs; that’s why I try to keep my Rule 5 stuff kinda high-toned. So here’s a gallery of some of my favorite Hollywood babes from yesteryear.
Ava Gardner…beautiful, smoldering and dangerous. Check her out in The Killers, with Burt Lancaster and Edmund O’Brien. On her best day, Jennifer Anniston couldn’t touch this.
Lana Turner’s first (credited) appearance on film was a bit-part in a drama called They Won’t Forget. But the way she flounced (and, frankly, bounced) down the sidewalk wearing that sweater set her up for good. The combination of blonde-bombshell good looks and a young girl’s soft voice created a fascinating mix of sexiness and innocence (This combination is best exemplified in Johnny Eager; her greatest film was probably The Postman Always Rings Twice, though there’s not much innocence on display in that one – not that I mind!)
Frances Dee, for my money, had just about the loveliest face of all. The cinematography in I Walked With a Zombie uses light and shadow to perfection in highlighting this woman’s entrancing beauty.
Rhonda Fleming – One of the“The Queens of Technicolor” – was a curvy, red-headed hunk of feminine pulchritude (and she’s still with us!) Whether portraying the femme fatale in Inferno or playing it for laughs with Bob Hope in My Favorite Redhead, she was a versatile actress and one of the great all-time “lookers”.
Ann Sheridan was known as the “Oomph Girl”, and with masses of red hair and those big bedroom eyes, it’s easy to see why. Whether the genre was noir or comedy, she handled herself well (and also had a fine singing voice). Perhaps her most famous role was opposite Ronald Reagan in Kings Row; my favorites include the dark drama, Nora Prentiss, and her comic portrayal of a vain stage actress in The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Y'know, there are many beautiful women in the movies today. But given the widespread availability of plastic surgery, a lot of them tend to be too perfect.
ReplyDeleteGranted, not all of them are enhanced. And they get the surgery because the competition is fierce. But there's a big difference between idealized beauty and natural beauty, as your gallery so eloquently demonstrates.
Thanks, Paco!
Jeff: My pleasure (and I do mean, "my pleasure").
ReplyDeleteEva : Oh, hell yes. The one that broke Sinatra.
ReplyDeleteRhonda: ditto
But then I think I'd have to go with Hedy Lamarr (circa Sampson and Delilah or Tangiers), Maureen O'Hara (pick 'em) and possibly Claudia Cardinale.
We just saw "Peyton Place" starring Lana Turner. She still held her good looks pretty well! Interesting that Turner was part of a real life homicide case when her daughter killed Turner's abusive mobster boyfriend.
ReplyDeleteYou left out Ingrid Bergmann.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I watch "Casablanca" my heart stops when she enters Bogie's gin joint. She's just so hot and beautiful it's beyond fathom.