Saturday, May 9, 2009

Woof!

It’s time for Rule 5, retro style!

Carol Lombard was one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses, gifted in performing both dramatic and comic roles. She died young (age 33) in an airplane crash in 1942, but left us with some classic films, including My Man Godfrey, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and To Be or Not to Be.


I first encountered Jennifer Jones when I was about 12 years old, catching her in the western, Duel in the Sun. It was love at first sight (for me, that is). The black hair, the beautiful smile, the…er…other features of feminine pulchritude, all combined to make her my ideal. She was quite versatile, playing St. Bernadette (in The Song of Bernardette, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress), the ghostly, ageless young woman in Portrait of Jennie, and the steamy seductress in Ruby Gentry. Jennifer turned 90 in March of this year.


Claire Trevor made more than 60 movies, specializing in film noir, and gave some terrific performances, most notably in Murder My Sweet and Key Largo; however, I’ll always love her best as the whore with a heart of gold in Stagecoach.


Update: Woops! Sorry, ladies, very thoughtless of me; I almost forgot. Here's one for you: the late, great, Gary Cooper.

12 comments:

richard mcenroe said...

Mainstream Conservative Pundit Frumley Brooks assails Offend-A-Feminist Week in accordance with the Brooks family motto: "Uno dies tardus quod uno denarius brevis" ("a day late and a dollar short")...

TW: juvemial: a very minor Jew

SwampWoman said...

Ah, yes, watched the end of Stagecoach today.

richard mcenroe said...

The film "Gable and Lombard" is a great retelling of their legendary, tragic romance...

richard mcenroe said...

Anddon't forget the fiery Yvonne DeCarlo...TW: scocyte: a malignant growth implanted in the Supreme Court by Barack Obama...

Yojimbo said...

Is there a Veronica Lake in your Rule 5 gallery future?

richard mcenroe said...

Yojimbo -- I think he's offered us Veronica Lake already. Not that that should stop him in the future.

Paco said...

No, actually, I don't believe I've posted a picture of Veronica Lake, yet, but I will, never fear.

JeffS said...

I, too, have a special request: Olivia de Havilland

I watched Captain Blood last night, and was reminded of her....WOOF!

Paco said...

Captain Blood! What a great old movie! Based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini (previously featured in a Paco Library weekly edition).

SwampWoman said...

Yeah, I watched Captain Blood as well. Strangely enough, my eyes were on Errol. Was Olivia in that flick?

TW: Nockybra--the sound from hardened implants whacking together.

JeffS said...

Strangely enough, my eyes were on Errol.Errol who?

richard mcenroe said...

swampwoman -- Yes, Errol carried off that period off-the-shoulder and lace petticoats look very well.

But you can't beat Gary Cooper in a backless gold lamé number with ankle-strap wedgies.