Claudette Colbert and the right side of her face

[myrnaloyisdope]

So I adore Claudette Colbert, she's got great comedic timing, and she's really versatile. She's one of the finest actresses ever really.

I've read from numerous sources that she refused to be shot from her right side. So every scene she's in she is shot from her left.

Because I know about this, I am always conscious of it when I watch her, and it's distracting. I keep waiting for her to be shot from the other side, and it never happens.

It doesn't diminish her abilities, but I literally can't look at her the same way.

Just thought I would share.

[movieman1957]

I've heard the same thing but I don't dwell on it and when I have thought about it she does have shots from her right. I just don[t think they are close enough to make a difference.

She is one of my favorites.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

This was a favourite joke about Claudette and the right side of her face: "It's like the dark side of the moon!"....


You're right Chris:
I have seen film and photographs of her 'full face' and quick 'right sided' scenes but any real extended right sided shots are usually long shots.
I don't know what the problem was with her, but she always looked attractive to me. And, she was a good actress.
And moreso, she was a great moneymaking star - so whatever Claudette wanted, Claudette got.

Larry

[charliechaplinfan]

I've noticed it too, she's such a good actress I usually get distracted from watching which side is presented.

Carole Lomard I think had a similar preference because of a scar she had after being in a car accident. Again she's such a wonderful actress with such a luminous quality I never notice.

[mrsl]

I can understand about Carole with the scar being on her face - that would affect any woman. The one who bothered me, and helped me believe she committed suicide, although I love and adore her, was Natalie Wood. She had a small scar on her left wrist and always had to wear a bracelet to cover it. That seems really ego-manic to me, unless the scar looked like an attempt at suicide, but I believe she got it when she was still a child. Does anyone know the full story?

Larry: So happy to see you contributing again!!!!!!!

Anne

[jdb1]

There is a scene early in, I think, either Tomorrow is Forever or Remember the Day, where Colbert is photographed from the right in a fairly long-lasting shot, and I thought I did see a difference, although I may be kidding myself. I thought I detected a different symmetry in the right profile; the nose, especially, looked different. It's not so far-fetched; after all, plenty of people have lop-sided faces. You'd have to take a look and judge for yourself

[Synnove]

Nobody looks perfect, but even in 30's Hollywood, actresses were making impossible demands on their own appearances. I can understand why, when millions of people around the country were regularly gazing at their faces on a huge screen and idolizing them. It's hard to imagine any kind of 'lopsidedness' ruining Claudette Colbert's career, though. It must have been difficult for her to dislike so strongly half of her face.