Friday, May 15, 2009

Smoking women - part 1

There's no secret that I find classic actresses' smoking habits romantic, sensual and classy. Therefore I've decided to share that fascination with you through a little mini series called "Smoking women" - containing both film clips and photographs. You might see it as a sequel to my Men and cigarettes post from February.
Enjoy!


Evelyn Brent smoking a "bomber" in The Last Command (1928), directed by Josef von Sternberg. Handing her the cigarette is no other than Emil Jannings
, the strict professor Marlene Dietrich entangles as Lola Lola in The Blue Angel (1930).





Anna May Wong leans backwards in a comfortable arm chair, smoking a cigarette while waiting for Mr. Holmes (Reginald Owen) in A Study in Scarlet (1933).





Loretta Young in Born to Be Bad (1934) to the tones of My Mama Done Told Me. I love when she blows smoke in Cary Grant's face, wonderfully rude!





A scene from another Josef von Sternberg film, The Docks of New York (1928). Betty Compson, rescued from a suicide attempt by a blue-collar worker (George Bancroft), gathers her strength with a cosy bed and a lot of cigarettes. She's a real vixen, isn't she?





And lastly, for this time, the lovely Clara Bow. Smoking scenes from Call Her Savage (1932).



3 comments:

Christopher said...

boy they really "lit up the screen!"back then..I always took it pretty much for granted watching these films as a kid,but looking back on some of them now..It looks funny sometimes when two or more get going!..I guess the smoke doubles for a fog machine too!..They do make it look cool tho..My mom and alot of kids got into smoking from watching these movies..

Lolita of the Classics said...

Christopher:
Yes, they make it look really classy! But I can't believe what the furniture and clothes smelled like in those day, whith everyone smoking indoors... Eww.
Hehe, I think I might be one of the last people starting to smoke for watching all my favourite actresses do it - I started to smoke after I turned 20. But really... it looks classy! (But at least I'm an outdoor smoker.)

Christopher said...

I've wondered what the average odor in the air would be like if you were to transport back to like 1929..With people only bathing once a week on saturday night!(like they say in the movies.heh)..covering up with cheap toilet water and cologne..smelly hair gels..lay on top of that all that cigarette and cigar smoke!..I bet it would take some getting used to.
On the other hand I do enjoy fresh natural smells and earthy smells ..like first girlfriends..:o)