Monday, March 31, 2014

Sister Showdown

Julie Andrews and Peggy Wood in The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox, 1965)

Greer Garson, Debbie Reynolds and Agnes Moorehead in The Singing Nun (MGM, 1966)

Anna Lee, Peggy Wood and Portia Nelson in The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox, 1965)

Greer Garson, Ed Sullivan, Agnes Moorehead and Debbie Reynolds in The Singing Nun (MGM, 1966)

Julie Andrews, Peggy Wood, Portia Nelson, Anna Lee, Marni Nixon, Evadne Baker and Doreen Tryden in The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox, 1965)

Debbie Reynolds and Juanita Moore in The Singing Nun (MGM, 1966)

Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox, 1965)

Debbie Reynolds in The Singing Nun (MGM, 1966)
Julie Andrews at the New York City premiere of The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox, 1965)
Agnes Moorehead and Debbie Reynolds at the Milwaukee premiere of The Singing Nun (MGM, 1966)


Ladies and gentlemen, pick your nuns.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Through A Lens Darkly

Blaze Starr


Madame Alix Grès


Brenda Frazier


Lillian and Dorothy Gish


Mae West


Jacqueline Susann and husband Irving Mansfield


Jayne Mansfield and daughter Jayne Marie


Sunday Styles by Diane Arbus.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Give The Lady A Hand




"Kisses on your opening." -- A telegram allegedly sent by Tallulah Bankhead to Bette Davis, at the premiere performance of one of the latter's stage shows




Thursday, March 27, 2014

With Friends Like Jackie...

"I'm the only one in the book who doesn't take pills!" -- Judy Garland on being cast as "Helen Lawson" in the film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (1966)

"I just read the most marvelous book. It's called Valley of the Moon." -- Bette Davis to Johnny Carson

"Karla! At fourteen, he had masturbated with her picture propped up in front of him. His friends had their school lockers filled with pinups of Doris Day...But with him it had always been Karla." -- Jacqueline Susann, writing in Once is Not Enough (1974)
 
"Ethel [Merman] and I have an old score to settle, but she might not realize it because she doesn't read books." -- Jacqueline Susann on modeling the "Helen Lawson" character in Valley of the Dolls on Merman


"Ethel Merman is a lady and a philanthropist compared to Joan [Crawford]. If I had known Joan when I was writing Valley of the Dolls, Helen Lawson would have been a monster." -- Jacqueline Susann

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Boyd's Bunch

In ruminating over the filmography of Stephen Boyd, as we are often wont to do, we've decided upon a rudimentary categorization of his oft-illustrious co-stars. Therefore, we hereby declare the following:

THE BEST LOOKING BOOKENDS: Dorothy Dandridge and Joan Collins
Island in the Sun (20th Century Fox, 1957)
 
THE BEST POUT: Brigitte Bardot
The Night Heaven Fell (Kingsley-International, 1958)
 

THE MOST FRIGHTENING: Joan Crawford
The Best of Everything (20th Century Fox, 1959)
 
THE TOUGHEST: Susan Hayward
Woman Obsessed (20th Century Fox, 1959)

THE MOST SUPERIOR: Dolores Hart
Lisa (20th Century Fox, 1962)


THE SUNNIEST: Doris Day
Billy Rose's Jumbo (MGM, 1962)


THE MOST REGAL: Sophia Loren
The Fall of the Roman Empire (Paramount, 1964)

THE CLASSIEST: Eleanor Parker
The Oscar (Embassy, 1966)
THE MOST LIKELY TO STEAL FOCUS FROM BOYD'S BULGE: Raquel Welch
Fantastic Voyage (20th Century Fox, 1966)


THE BEST WIGLET: Yvette Mimieux
Caper of the Golden Bulls (Embassy, 1967)

THE MOST CLUELESS: Charlton Heston
Ben Hur (MGM, 1959)
 
 

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Monday, March 24, 2014

A Dahl's House

Yesterday, we dreamt that we paid a visit to Arlene Dahl's charming apartment, circa 1976, in the company of gossip columnist Shirley Eder. In the dream, we are waiting in the apartment (which we dream to be done all in white and Chinese yellow, to best set off Dahl's flaming red tresses) for Arlene to come home; when Arlene finally makes her entrance, Shirley is on the phone, "acting on a tip," so Arlene lavishes her attention on us. We and Arlene mutually exclaim over how gorgeous the other looks, and then giggle as we both admit that everyone always tells us the same thing. "Well, darling," we tell Arlene, "we have three things in common: good genes, good taste, and upkeep." Arlene nods sagely.