Light a candle

Marilyn Monroe blowing out a candle. Duh.

Tomorrow it is the first Sunday of Advent, which sounds more religious than it probably is experienced among all families lighting the first out of four candles before Christmas. It's not like everyone is looking forward to honor the birth of Christ - we just want our damn Christmas presents. And gingerbread cakes, glögg and saffron buns. What do Americans eat at Christmas, anyway? I can't imagine a Christmas without glögg. Mmm.

Anyway, Christmas is soon here! And I will spend it studying, obviously. In fact, I am avoiding my studies this very moment.

My next post will be on what is considered the first feature film in the African film industry - Ousmane Sembène's Black Girl (La noire de..., 1966). It's fascinating how some film industries didn't emerge until 70 years after others... Wonder what caused that. *clearing throat, silently pointing towards my last post*

Okay that might be to simplify matters slightly. But the fact remains that Sembène wouldn't have been able to make this film if the Film Bureau created by the French de Gaulle government's Ministry of Cooperation in 1963, had gotten what they wanted. Instead they wound up purchasing the distribution rights to the film. Oh no, there was no European hegemony still in the 1960's...

Well then. Off to write another examination. I have no time for my blog nowadays.

Clara Bow in nighties that I desperately want for Christmas.

Guest post: Why flappers are amazing

This post was contributed by Sara Bimmel, who writes about Halloween costumes over at StarCostumes.com.


If I had to pick just one favorite idea or concept from the 1920s, it would be the flapper. Obvious, right? Flappers have always been fascinating to me—their jewelry, their wanton looks, those perfectly styled coifs . . . I’ve tried mixing “the flapper look” into my own style too many times to count, but it always turns out to be a spectacular failure. I’m convinced no modern woman can possibly look like an authentic flapper unless she’s being professionally styled in a period movie with a huge budget. Still, that’s no reason not to celebrate the real flappers of the ‘20s!

At the tender age of just over 20, the Swede Greta Garbo was starring in a number of blockbuster hits: Flesh and the Devil, Love, and The Mysterious Lady. She was scouted out by a director for her screen presence, and I think I have to agree with that—this flapper lady always seems to look cool, confident, and sexy, no matter how much lipstick she’s wearing or how big her hat is.

Clara Bow, star of the film It, was the same age as Greta but had a different look about her. Clara was a bit rougher around the edges, but to me, she exemplifies the flapper with that bob and a little bit of a mischievous look in her eye, as if she’s always going to one-up you. Like Greta, she always looked gorgeous and confident, no matter what she was wearing—a tough feat when some of those get-ups look like full-out costumes.

Despite her unsexy first name, Norma Shearer, star of Lady of the Night, had absolutely exquisite flapper hair and managed to become a screen icon of the ‘20s. She also looked hot in sequins and enormous hats—feats that few now-living ladies can pull off.

Louise Brooks debuted the classic bob style and had a Betty Page look about her. She starred in A Girl in Every Port and Beggars of Life, although her biggest accomplishment may have been making a typical haircut for a 12-year-old look smokin’ hot on a grown woman.

So there you have it. Those flappers of the 1920s are still awesome, 90 years later. Writing this post has even inspired me to give it another go . . . now where’s my pearl necklace?

[Lolita's note: Seriously folks - check out StarCostumes.com! Lovely site. Personally, I think I will go as a German beer maid next Halloween. Costumes in the category gangsters/flappers are here.]

Do the Charleston!

Valentine greeting from Hollywood

Marilyn Monroe

Cyd Charisse

Clara Bow

Rita Hayworth

Toby Wing

Irene Regan (Broadway actress in the 1920's)

Wynne Gibson

Frances Drake

My top 20 favorite actresses

It seems like some of my readers wanted more after my Top 20 Favorite Actors post - and what can I do but obey? As usual I had to leave out some favorites after all (why can't they all fit in??), like Grace Kelly and Mae West. Well well. Here they are: My top 20 favorite actresses (in alphabetical order, of course):

1. Lauren Bacall

Favorite role: Slim Browning in To Have and Have Not (1944)

2. Ingrid Bergman

Favorite role: Alicia Huberman in Notorious (1946)

3. Joan Blondell

Favorite role: B. Maloney in Night Nurse (1931)

4. Clara Bow

Favorite role: Betty Lou Spence in It (1927)

5. Louise Brooks

Favorite role: Lulu in Pandora's Box (1929)

6. Olivia de Havilland

Favorite role: Catherine Sloper in The Heiress (1949)

7. Marlene Dietrich

Favorite role: Shanghai Lily in Shanghai Express (1932)

8. Greta Garbo

Favorite role: Anna Christie in Anna Christie (1930)

9. Lillian Gish

Favorite role: Rachel Cooper in The Night of the Hunter (1955)

10. Audrey Hepburn

Favorite role: Nicole in How to Steal a Million (1966)

11. Katharine Hepburn

Favorite role: Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story (1940)

12. Vivien Leigh

Favorite role: Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Names Desire (1951)

13. Carole Lombard

Favorite role: Maria Tura in To Be or Not to Be (1942)

14. Myrna Loy

Favorite role: Milly Stephenson in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

15. Marilyn Monroe

Favorite role: Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in Some Like It Hot (1959)

16. Jeanne Moreau

Favorite role: Catherine in Jules and Jim (1962)

17. Mary Pickford

Favorite role: Mary Carlton / Mary Marlow in Secrets (1933)

18. Barbara Stanwyck

Favorite role: Lily Powers in Baby Face (1933)

19. Gloria Swanson

Favorite role: Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950)

20. Natalie Wood

Favorite role: Angie Rossini in Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)

New wallpapers

I've been working on some new wallpapers, hope you will like them!

In a not too distant future you will easily be able to get them, and in three screen resolutions: 1680x1050, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200. But for now, you'll have to do with just the widescreen ones. (Click on the picture to get the wallpaper at ImageShack.)

Update: I noticed that there was a thin, black line in the Audrey Hepburn wallpaper - it's corrected now!

Dogs and celebrities #1

Clara Bow (1905-1965)

Jean Arthur (1900-1991)

Cary Grant (1904-1986)

Vera-Ellen (1921-1981)

Billie Burke (1884-1970)

Thelma Todd (1905-1935)

Renée Adorée (1898-1933)

Basil Rathbone (1892-1967)

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)