*CANDIDS*

[ChiO]

No birthday tributes from TCM today (boo-hoo)

Don't worry. Friday night will be here soon with a TCM salute to the GREATEST screen actor of them all.

[mongoII]

STARS IN FUR who would have ended up on PETAs poop list

GLORIA SWANSON


JANE WYMAN


JUDY CANOVA


JOAN FONTAINE

[moira finnie]

Joe, why do I think that it looks as though the iron-jawed Gloria Swanson was not only loaded for bear wearing her lush coat in your picture above, but she also looked as though she had probably caught, skinned, tanned and sewn up the animal whose pelt she is wearing?

I always find fur-wearing in the old days makes me root for the animals, but it also makes me wonder how these dames could stand wearing these very warm animal skins in the California climate. There was never a woman who didn't come swathed in mink or something at the premieres you can see pictured in old magazines.

The most hilarious adaptation of the fur craze in the studio era were those fur sleeves that were apparently all the rage in the '30s. Whenever I see a soignée actress wearing a wool coat with the bushy sleeves in old movies, I always think "Hello, monkey arms!":


Jane Baxter makes quite an impression on Claude Rains in this Joe Strassner-designed velvet coat with mink sleeves in The Clairvoyant (1933).


Jean Harlow in a fur ensemble in 1933, which might mean that it was designed by MGM's famed Adrian. Jean's coy pose makes it look as though she might be kind of sheepish about being photographed wearing this outfit. Can't blame ya, kid.


In 1933 the very fashion forward Claudette Colbert balances the hairy arms with that extravagant muff (now there was a practical invention--the muff! You couldn't do anything like opening a door without exposing your hands to the bitter cold and taking a chance of dropping your muff into an icy puddle.I suppose Thorstein Veblen would say that being useless was part of the reason behind the extravagance of wearing such beautiful but impractical gear.

[mongoII]

Moira, good explanation of those 'monkey arms'. Hilarious.

I'm not so sure of Gloria Swanson, but I imagine that Norma Desmond would make such a coat.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Moira,

Mostly, the glamourous grand dame(s) wearing furs took them off quickly upon entering a home or theater. Often 'mylady' just threw it at the butler, if she had one! Or pulled it along behind her:-
Think "Dorothy Malone" doffing her mink and walking up those stairs in "Written on the Wind" and dragging it behind her.
Now that's hutzpah!!!!

Larry

[moira finnie]

I love it, Larry. In my mind's eye, I somehow see your Nell dragging that mink across the lobby on some big occasion--or would she have tossed it to the butler? Do you think that your grandmother ever wore those furry mink "monkey arms" on her designer clothes in the '30s?

[knitwit45]

just my GUESS....but I would think Nell was too classy to drag that mink...she would have tossed it ( OR waited for the butler to slip it from her arms) That's how I imagine Nell....

[moira finnie]

I think you've probably nailed it, knitty. She does sound as though that would have been more her style.

[Professional Tourist]

Birthday girl Ginger Rogers rehearses a new musical comedy The Pink Jungle with AM, September 1959.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Moira & Nancy,

Nell didn't often wear furs in California; she was an advocate of the huge opera coats in the evenings and a cloth stole or pagmina for daytime. She probably wondered what a fur would be doing in hot humid LA.
In Chicago or NYC, she had fur coats and stoles and did wear them, but usuaslly even then she was in a building and only 'out' to the car.
We travelled between October and February to NYC and Europe. But after about 2 weeks in the north then we concentrated mostly in the south, especially Cap Ferrat, where she had a villa.
So, fur wasn't her priority - although she had them...

Larry

[CineMaven]

Joe, why do I think that it looks as though the iron-jawed Gloria Swanson was not only loaded for bear wearing her lush coat in your picture above, but she also looked as though she had probably caught, skinned, tanned and sewn up the animal whose pelt she is wearing?

B'cuz Grande Dame Drama Queens can do ANYTHING!!

Loving your themes Mongo!

[mongoII]

Thanks, CineMaven.

[mongoII]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

DONALD SUTHERLAND is 77 today
The towering presence of this Canadian character actor is not often noticed, but his contributions are legendary. He has been in almost a hundred and fifty different shows and films. He is also the father of renowned actor Kiefer Sutherland.
Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in popular war movies such as The Dirty Dozen, MASH and Kelly's Heroes, as well as characters in other popular films such as Klute, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Day of the Locust, JFK, Ordinary People (outstanding performance) and, more recently, The Hunger Games as President Snow.
quote: Pauline Kael reviewed The Day of the Locust (1975): "There's nothing specifically wrong with Donald Sutherland's performance. It's just awful. That was the most destructive, stupid piece of criticism I've ever received. I stopped reading reviews after that.


ACQUANETTA (1921 - 2004)
Aquanetta was a B-rated movie actress (born as Mildred Davenport) in Ozone, Wyoming in 1921. She was nicknamed the "Venezualan Volcano" by Universal Studios.
She starred in Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946). Acquanetta also had small parts in Arabian Nights (1942), Jungle Woman (1944), Dead Man's Eyes (1944), Lost Continent (1951) and The Legend of Grizzly Adams (1990).
In the 1950s, she moved to Phoenix and married the owner of a local Phoenix car dealership. She achieved local celebrity status with numerous ads for their dealership. She also had her own TV program, "Acqua's Corner", that accompanied the Friday Night Movies.
Acquinetta also authored a book in 1974 called "The Audible Silence". This well-written poetry book is about life, love, and Indian jewelry (she was of Arapaho decent). She was often seen in her trademark long black braids and beautiful silver & turquoise jewelry.
She passed away of Alzheimer's complications in Ahwatukee, Arizona on August 16, 2004 at the age of 83. She leaves behind four sons who adored her.


HELEN WALKER (1920 - 1968)
Helen Walker was a beautiful and bright actress whose career never reached its full potential, in spite of her evident talent. She was a successful actress on Broadway, and in 1942 her performance in the play "Jason" was so impressive that she was signed up to act in films. She immediately earned good notice and received star billing in her film debut, Lucky Jordan (1942), starring Alan Ladd. During the mid-1940s she had continued success with strong performances in offbeat but entertaining and successful films like The Man in Half Moon Street (1945), the satirical Brewster's Millions (1945), and the murder spoof Murder, He Says (1945).Achieving both artistic and box office success, she was clearly on the brink of major stardom. She won the starring role in the prestigious film Heaven Only Knows (1947). But all that changed on New Year's Eve of 1946 when she picked up three hitchhiking World War II veterans while driving to Los Angeles from Palm Springs, where she had been vacationing. She had a terrible accident, hitting a divider and wrecking the car, which flipped several times. One of the soldiers died and the other two were severely injured. Walker herself was seriously injured, including a broken pelvis. But her career suffered even greater and longer-lasting damage. The survivors of the accident accused her of driving drunk and speeding, and she was brought to trial. She suffered bad press and faced a public that was grateful to World War II veterans for having won the war, and was replaced in Heaven Only Knows (1947). Although she was acquitted of criminal charges, many fans turned against her and major studios were hesitant to hire her. She faded from the public view and during the 1960s she experienced health problems. In 1968, she died of cancer. She was 47 years old.


JOHN CARROLL (1920 - 1979)
American actor and singer. He was born Julian Lafaye in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Carroll performed in several small roles in films under his original name until 1935, when he first used the name John Carroll in Hi, Gaucho!. He appeared in several Western films in the 1930s, including the role of Zorro in Zorro Rides Again in 1937.
Probably his best known role was as Woody Jason in the 1942 movie Flying Tigers with John Wayne. He was also notable as a Cajun soldier, aptly nicknamed "Wolf", in the 1945 comedy A Letter for Evie.
Carroll worked steadily through the mid-1950s, but his work began to fade out in the latter half of the decade. His last role was in Ride a Pink Car in 1974.
Carroll was married twice; first to Steffi Duna (the couple had a daughter, Julianna Benito), and then to Lucille Ryman (until his death).
He was a friend of Erroll Flynn and gained a reputation as an adventurous playboy, even joining Flynn in a trip in which they lived with Fidel Castro in Cuba's Sierra Maestra.


JUNE VINCENT (1920 - 2008)
Born Dorothy June Smith in Harrod, Ohio, Vincent began her career in film in the early 1940s & '50s (Black Angel, In a Lonely Place). She later became a successful television actress appearing in many television programs throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. TV Guide once referred to her as "Television's Favorite Homewrecker" because of her many roles on TV playing someone trying to steal away a husband or boyfriend.
June died on November 20, 2008 in Colorado. She is survived by her three children.


IRENE MANNING (1912 - 2004)
The youngest of five children born to a real estate broker, glamorous actress/singer Irene Manning began this world in Cincinatti, Ohio, as Inez Harvuot in 1912.
Warner Bros. saw potential in the petite blonde beauty and decided to pick up her option. Amid such standard WWII fare as Spy Ship (1942), she more than made the grade as the colorful soprano opposite Dennis Morgan in Sigmund Romberg's The Desert Song (1943) (which she had done on stage a few years earlier), and is probably best remembered today in the secondary role of diva Fay Templeton in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) opposite the Oscar-winning James Cagney. The early 1940s were fruitful years for Irene appearing romantically opposite Humphrey Bogart in the drama The Big Shot (1942) and Dennis Morgan (again) in Shine on Harvest Moon (1944), in addition to offering added glamour in The Doughgirls (1944) with Ann Sheridan and Alexis Smith and Escape in the Desert (1945) featuring Philip Dorn.
Penned a column while living in London entitled "Girl About Town".
She jokingly lamented that during filming of The Big Shot (1942) she never got to share romantic moments but not a filmed kiss with her co-star Humphrey Bogart, but that she had to take a bullet for him anyway during the final reel.


BARBARA O'NEIL (1910 - 1980)
Her acting career began on stage with a summer stock company called the Cape Cod University Players, which was co-founded (1928) by future director/screenwriter Joshua Logan (she was married briefly to Logan in the 1930s). Other famous players who got their start in this prestigious company included Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Mildred Natwick.
Was only 28 when she appeared as Ellen O'Hara (mother of Scarlett) in Gone with the Wind (1939).
Her best roles were in 'Stella Dallas' with Barbara Stanwyck and 'All This and Heaven Too' (1940) for which she was Oscar nominated best supporting actress. Also in "I Remember Mama", "Angel Face" and "The Nun's Story".


JAMES CAGNEY (1899 - 1986)
One of Hollywood's pre-eminent male stars of all time (eclipsed, perhaps, only by "King" Clark Gable and arguably by Gary Cooper or Spencer Tracy), and the cinema's quintessential "tough guy", James Cagney was also an accomplished--if rather stiff--hoofer and easily played light comedy.
Films co-starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien were these nine: Here Comes the Navy (1934), Devil Dogs of the Air (1935), The Irish in Us (1935), Boy Meets Girl (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Torrid Zone (1940), The Fighting 69th (1940), Ceiling Zero (1936), as well as their finale together, four decades later, Ragtime (1981).Although closely associated with his friend Pat O'Brien who co-starred with Cagney in 9 movies, Cagney actually made more movies with his other close friend Frank McHugh. 11 in total which included: The Crowd Roars (1932), Footlight Parade (1933), Here Comes The Navy (1934), Devil Dogs Of The Air (1935), The Irish In Us (1935), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Boy Meets Girl (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Fighting 69th (1940), City For Conquest, (1940), A Lion Is In The Streets (1953).
In 1938, he received his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, for Angels with Dirty Faces, before winning in 1942 for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy. He was nominated a third time in 1955 for Love Me or Leave Me. Wrote that of the sixty-two films he made, he rated Love Me or Leave Me (1955) costarring Doris Day among his top five.
Extraordinarily (for Hollywood), he never cheated on his wife Frances, resulting in a marriage that lasted 64 years (ending with his death). The closest he came was nearly giving into a seduction attempt by Merle Oberon while the two stars were on tour to entertain WWII GIs.

[pvitari]

Re Helen Walker, it should be noted that one of her most memorable (post-accident) performances came as the conniving psychologist Lilith Ritter in Nightmare Alley, a film that flopped big time upon release but today is regarded as a noir classic.

[mongoII]

Thanks, Paula, for reminding us of that fine film. I can't believe I forgot to include it. It is a favorite of mine.