ANTICIPATION: OH GATSBY, PLEASE BE GREAT!

The countdown to the days before the film I have anticipated forever has begun!!

F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel. It is compact, spare, gorgeous, heartbreaking and haunting. Its theme of America being a place anyone can reinvent themselves is one that makes the classic era of Hollywood so seductive to me. And, as Theda Bara, Joan Crawford, Clara Bow and countless others after them whose stories were created by a Hollywood publicist learned, Jay Gatsby found you cannot run away from your past.

There has been some snarking and trepidation about this latest movie version Gatsby. I have read that there have been 5 previous versions, but I can only find 4 (1926, 1949, 1974 and the 2000 TV version) and all have left fans of the novel wanting more. I am most familiar with the 1974 Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version. While it is visually beautiful, it left me wondering when Gatsby and Daisy were going to show up. From all that I have read and seen, this new 3-D Baz Luhrmann production will not be a reverential from-the-page-to-the-screen recreation. As he did in Moulin Rouge (which I loved), Luhrmann will use contemporary music as a background. I'm a little nervous about this, but I am going to trust the director's vision here.

As if the trailers and delayed opening are not enough of a tease, Vogue gave us these beautiful photos of Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan.

"She blossomed for him like a flower"

Before seeing these photos, I couldn't picture Carey as Daisy. Now, I can't wait to see her. She looks as bewitching as Fitzgerald's creation.

On the other hand, Leonardo DiCaprio seemed to me to be the perfect Gatsby from the moment I heard he was going to play the part. He is one of the main reasons I am so excited and hopeful about this film. This could be the role he was born to play. He has the romantic longing coupled with the danger that is Gatsby.

"The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God - a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that - and he must be about his Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to his conception he was faithful to the end."

Tobey Maguire seems to be a perfect choice for Nick, and the rest of the cast looks mighty good, too.

So cheers to and fingers crossed for this new attempt to tell Jay Gatsby's story. It promises to be big and bold and beautiful. Oh please, please be vulgar, dangerous and romantic!!!!! Please, please be great!!!

Click HERE and take a tour of the incredibly lavish sets of The Great Gatsby.

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Scandal! Charlie Chaplin Part 2

Welcome to 2013 - a year of scandals at A Person in the Dark. Yes, I love movies, but I confess I am a sucker for those juicy Hollywood scandals of old.

April's Scandal: Charlie Chaplin Part 2: Charlie, Joan Barry & Uncle Sam

Once America's most beloved star,
Chaplin is fingerprinted like a common criminal in 1944

After the Lita Grey scandal (click HERE for a recap of that escapade), Charlie Chaplin's private life seemed to remain moderately private. He still loved the ladies (and they loved him), but he confined himself to discrete lovers and nabbed a tasty dish named Paulette Goddard (to whom he may or may not have been married). His relationship with Goddard was both productive (they made "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator" together) and sane. But, by 1940 they had called it quits. Paulette, that smart cookie, got a Mexican divorce in 1942 and a nice settlement from Charlie, even though it is not clear they were even legally married. 

Charlie & Paulette: So cute together

On the loose, Charlie met a voluptuous redhead named Joan Barry (born Mary Louis Gribble), a would-be actress whose latest role had been as John Paul Getty's mistress. Earlier roles were waitress and shoplifter. Chaplin saw something in the young woman and was impressed enough to sign her to a contract, have her teeth fixed and pay for acting lessons. Oh, and to go to bed with her, too. Like Edna Purviance, Georgia Hale and Lita Grey before her, Chaplin planned to take an unknown and mold her into a star.

Joan Barry's most famous moment: on the stand

Chaplin's relationship with Barry, never public, chugged along intermittently,  with Barry accommodating Chaplin with 2 abortions. Unfortunately, Joan Barry turned out to be a nut job. After a few stalkings, break-ins and gun waving incidents, Charlie attempted to disentangle himself from his volatile redhead. Besides, he had just met Oona O'Neill and was falling madly in love.

But Joan Barry would not be denied. Although it appears the affair with Chaplin had ended almost a year earlier, Barry once again broke into Chaplin's house in May of 1943 and announced that she was pregnant and that Charlie was the father. Chaplin denied it and had her arrested. Joan promptly filed a paternity suit and notified the press.

Vicious x 2

During this period Charlie Chaplin had attracted 2 powerful enemies: J. Edgar Hoover and Hedda Hopper. Hoover thought him a subversive and Hopper was just plain mad that he refused to speak to her. Hoover and Hopper joined forces and, with the Barry paternity suit in full swing, crucified Charlie in the press and in the halls of justice. Chaplin's speeches supporting Russia during the second world war, along with his leftist leanings and lack of desire to become an American citizen after all the wealth and fame this nation had offered him, caused Hoover to see Chaplin as a dangerous red threat.

Charlie testifies

Chaplin defends himself

Based upon Barry's charges, Charlie Chaplin was hit with a slew of indictments, including one for the Mann Act (charmingly known as "The White Salve Act"). Fortunately, he was acquitted on all counts, as Barry was clearly a willing participant. But the star's already tattered reputation was decimated. The paternity suit then went into full swing, with Chaplin coming off as an aging lecher who seduced innocent young women and then callously tossed them aside. After Barry's baby (a girl named Carol Ann) was born, Chaplin took a paternity test, but at that time the results of blood tests were inadmissible in court. At the second trial (the first resulted in a hung jury)  Chaplin was deemed to be the father of Carol Ann and was ordered to pay for her support until age 21. Thus, Chaplin was forced to take responsibility for a child that was not his own. While most people saw this as the ultimate railroading job, Lita Grey, who had a few axes to grind, asserted that Chaplin paid off the 2 labs that did the tests to fake the results and that Carol Ann was, indeed, his child. Unlikely. But Charlie had badly misjudged his once adoring public, who turned their backs on him for good. It had all been just too much. The public hated it when the Little Tramp acted like a little tramp.

Charlie and his Oona

At the time the paternity suit was filed, the 54-year old Chaplin married 18-year old Oona Chaplin. They immediately began to build their family that would eventually grow to 8 plus mom and dad. Eyebrows were raised and tongues wagged, and, ultimately, Charlie Chaplin felt forced to leave the USA, but did so with the woman who was the love of his life. And he did live happily ever after with Oona and his brood in Switzerland and eventually, and at long last, in 1972, all was forgiven when Chaplin was honored at the Academy Awards.

And what of Joan Barry? Not much is known of her life after the trial, but she did marry and some point and had a son, who thought highly of her. After an attempt to start a career as a singer, she was committed to a mental institution by her mother upon being found wandering the streets of Torrence, California barefoot, carrying a child's shoe and ring, and mumbling "this is magic." Carol Ann Barry was raised by a guardian and went on to live a very private life (presumably, she is still alive). Charlie's checks came on time every month until she turned age 21.

After being born in the spotlight, Carol Ann went on to live a very private life

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The Roaring Twenties: The Biggest Shot of Them All

This is my contribution to the James Cagney Blogathon, hosted by The Movie Projector. Click HERE for more, more, more about Mr. Cagney, the man who could do it all.

Simply Irresistible

Before I dive into this film, let me first say that, in my book, James Cagney could do no wrong. I love almost every one of his films, and the ones I don't love have nothing to do with Jimmy's performance. He was my first movie-crush and you know those crushes never die. Never before or since was there one actor with so much talent, charm, intensity, menace, humor and total charisma. He was one of a kind.

The Roaring Twenties

While ostensibly a Warner Brothers gangster film, 1939's Roaring Twenties is really a buddy movie. True, the ties of buddy-dom are pushed to the limit, but the bonds of friendship formed in the trenches of World War I is the key to one man's rise and one man's fall.

Bonding in the Trenches

Eddie Barlett (James Cagney), George Hally (Humphrey Bogart) and  Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn) are foxhole buddies who return home to find the world has changed. After the Armistice, Lloyd comes home to a shaky law practice and Hally, once a saloon keeper, joins the ranks of the bootleggers in the wake of the newly passed prohibition law. Eddie returns home and finds his previous job as a garage mechanic gone. At the suggestion of his friend Danny (Frank McHugh - what would a Cagney film be without him?), Eddie starts driving a cab. Eddie soon hooks up with speakeasy proprietress Panama Smith (a terrific Gladys George), and they go into the bootlegging business together. Eddie builds up a fleet of cabs for liquor runs and even hires old buddy Lloyd as his lawyer, just to keep him out of trouble. The buddy trio is reunited when Eddie gets involved in a nasty gang war with Nick Brown (the almost always nasty Paul Kelly) and he and Hally join forces.

When the one you love loves someone else...

Eddie is sweet on Jean, but Jean is sweet on Lloyd

Of course, a love story kind of gums up the works. Panama loves Eddie, but Eddie loves Jean (Priscilla Lane), who was his wartime pen pal. Meanwhile, Jean loves Lloyd. Eddie gets Jean a job singing at Panama's club, but once Jean and Lloyd set eyes on one another, it's curtains for Eddie.

Now, Eddie is such a nice bootlegger (he drinks milk) and Hally is such a nasty one, you know that their partnership won't last. Hally, the heartless so-and-so, shoots the night watchman at a liquor warehouse, even though he recognizes him as his old sergeant. This pushes the basically decent Lloyd to the limit and he quits the racket. But, we all know you can never just walk away.

While Eddie rises in the rackets, he still has to contend with Nick Brown. In an effort to arrange a truce, Eddie sends his pal Danny to make peace, but Brown sends Danny's dead body back to Eddie as his response. Eddie plans a reprisal, but Hally, jealous of Eddie's power, tips off Brown, who sets a trap. Eddie kills Brown, but now he knows he can no longer trust Hally.

Now, you'd think Eddie would stay focused on saving his skin, but when Jean tells him that she and Lloyd are going to marry, he falls apart. There's nothing better than a love-sick tough guy with a tender heart. Loosing everything in the 1929 crash, he is forced to sell his fleet of cabs to Hally, who leaves him just one (to drive).

Eddie has hit the skids

And so, the mighty have fallen. Eddie is now driving his cab, drinking booze instead of milk and eating his heart out. One day Jean enters his cab and although he initially gives her the cold shoulder, he eventually wishes her and Lloyd, now with the District Attorney's office, and their young son, well. When Eddie learns that Hally has threatened to kill Lloyd unless he drops his case against him, Eddie appeals to Hally to call it off. When Hally refuses  Eddie shoots him. As he flees, he is mortally wounded by one of Hally's men. This sets up one of the greatest death scenes ever filmed. Eddie, wounded, staggers and collapses on the snowy steps of a church. As he lays dying, the ever-faithful Panama runs to him and cradles him, Pieta-like, in her arms. When a cop asks her who he is, her answer is only "he used to be a big shot."

Cagney's unforgettable death scene

As usual, Cagney doesn't get a leading lady worthy of him, although Gladys George, as the lovelorn floozy Panama, is unforgettable. This would be Bogart's last appearance with Cagney and he is his usual despicable self before bigger and better roles beckoned.

Based on a story by Mark Hellinger and directed by Raoul Walsh, this film was an homage to not only the 1920s, but to the great Warner Brothers gangster films of the 30s. Almost a decade after the 20s had ended, Hollywood finally could come to grips with those years and the effect the first World War had on a lost generation. Never again would Cagney's gangster be so sympathetic, so pure, so fundamentally decent. The Roaring Twenties was a fitting tribute to all of those dirty rats that started with The Public Enemy's Tom Powers and ended with Eddie Bartlett's poetic death on the steps of a church.

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Amazon Knows Me (or so they think)

I wandered over to Amazon to see if I could purchase the 1930 version of "Holiday" starring Mary Astor (for the upcoming Mary Astor Blogathon). Bad luck - they don't have it.

Amazon thinks I should be watching a lot of Carole Lombard

But, while I was there, I clicked on to "My Amazon" at my favorite and addictive internet shopping site, just to see what they think I should be watching (and buying). I'll spare you the books, cosmetics and electronic devices they also recommend and stick to the movies.

Seems they know me pretty well, but not as well as they think. Here are a few DVDs they suggest for my pleasure:

1. The Carole Lombard - The Glamour Collection (Hands Across the Table/ Love Before Breakfast/ Man of the World/ The Princess Comes Across/ True Confession/ We're Not Dressing) (1931)

Amazon thinks I need this because I purchased a few William Powell films. Seems Carole and Bill are still linked.  

Price: $10.83 on Amazon Prime. To buy or not to buy?

2. The Organizer (1963) starring Marcello Mastroianni

Now, I have never heard of this film, but it was recommended because I purchased Chaplin's "Modern Times." 
Price: $13.99 on Amazon Prime. To buy or not to buy?

3. Speaking of William Powell, Amazon really wants me to have his films. Here's a tasty collection they recommend:

Price: $32.38 on Amazon Prime. To buy or not to buy?

4. Powell makes an appearance again, but this time the recommendation is a 4-pack Harlow.

Price:$11.99 on Amazon Prime.  To buy or not to buy?

5. Oh Amazon - you are so smart! You remembered I loved Garbo's silents. Here's a tasty temptation:

Price: $19.93 on Amazon Prime. To buy or not to buy?

I admit it was all quite tempting, but here's what I decided:

1. Carole Lombard Glamour Collection: BUY! While these are not my favorite Lombard films, the price is awesome and the collection might make for a nice giveaway someday.

2. The Organizer: BUY! A new-to-me film starring the glorious Marcello. I am sold.

3. The Philo Vance Murder Collection: Pass. While it looks yummy, it is a little too expensive.

4. The TCM Harlow 4-Pack: Oh, I am such a sucker: BUY!!

5. The Torrent: I am so ashamed. Not only is this a BUY, but I added this Garbo silent collection (Flesh and the Devil, The Mysterious Lady & The Temptress)  to my cart:

Only $7.49 with Amazon Prime!

Amazon Prime - I couldn't live without you! (Well you and my DVR and my Kindle and my hair dryer and the sleep timer on my TV remote).

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Giving Them The Slip: When Passion Meets Fashion

This is my contribution to The Hollywood Revue's Fashion in Film Blogathon. Click HERE for more fashion, more fun and more fabulosity!

Joyce Compton approves of Barbara Kent's slip

 According to Wikipedia, the slip is:

"a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the skin from coarse fabrics such as wool. Slips are also worn for warmth, and to protect fine fabrics from perspiration. A full slip hangs from the shoulders, usually by means of narrow straps, and extends from the breast to the fashionable skirt length. A half slip hangs from the waist. It may also be called a waist slip or more rarely a petticoat.

Slips are often worn to prevent the show through of intimate undergarments such as panties or a brassiere. A slip may also be used to prevent a silhouette of the legs showing through clothing when standing in front of a bright light source. Other uses for slips are to make a dress or skirt hang properly, the prevention of chafing to the skin, to protect the outer garment from damage due to perspiration, or for warmth, especially if the dress or skirt is lightweight and thin."

Really? We all know that, at least in the world of film, the slip was a way to show a woman in her undies while getting past the censors. It wasn't quite a nightie, and it wasn't quite panties and a bra. It hinted and titillated and gave us all a voyeur's glimpse into a woman's boudoir. A feminine lure, it reeled the  hunter in until the last moment when - alas- the prey retreated behind closed doors (or a dress).

In the 1920s and early 1930s (up until that fateful day the hays Code was enforced), the slip was a staple in stories of modern girls on the make. Now, you would never see Mary Pickford in a slip, but Clara Bow? You bet!

Clara Bow displays the goods

For Clara, the slip was her work uniform

Clara in her element

In the 1930s, Clara's free spirit with a slip became a staple of the pre-code sweeties. The Teddy - a shortened version of the slip - became the staple of provocation. Add a pair of high heels to the look and it was the cat's pajamas, hubba hubba, ooh la la and all that!

Jazz Up Your Lingerie!

In 1931's "The Smiling Lieutenant," Claudette Colbert gives some musical advice to Miriam Hopkins that became the theme song for  all pre-code gals on the make:

Miriam Hopkins after her lingerie has been jazzed

Bebe Daniels pretends she is not trying to seduce

Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell are
better covered than their friend (but not by much!)

Leave it to Joan Crawford to look find the most glamorous lingerie

Joan Blondell spent most of her pre-code days in her lingerie

Ann Dvorak's slip seems to have slipped!

Carole Lombard and friends check out the goods

Jeanette MacDonald was never shy about
stepping out in her unmentionables

In the 1940s, the slip became more ornate and took on a more nightie type of look. Sometimes it was hard to tell if the lady was getting ready to retire or step out. One clue is that the slip seemed easier to wade through than the voluminous negligee.

Gene Tierney has the classy but provocative look down pat

Ann Sheridan adds a garter to up the ante in allure

Rita Hayworth's famous pose

The 1950s were the last hurrah of the seductive slip, but it went out with a bang with Taylor and Monroe.

Elizabeth Taylor breathes new life into the slip in both
"Butterfield Eight" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

Marilyn use the slip for both retiring and nighttime departures: very efficient

Once we get to see Doris Day in her slip getting dressed with her kids in the room we knew it was all over and the slip will eventually be relegated to the dustbin with stays and pantalettes.

Doris Day in the sanitized slip in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies"

Natalie Wood gave it a go in the 1976 TV version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and although she is beautiful, it all looked rather quaint by then.

Oh well, it was sure fun while it lasted!

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Rita Hayworth: American Exotic

Film historian David Shipman had this to say about Rita Hayworth in his masterful "The Great Movies Stars: The Golden Years":

"The appellation 'The Love Goddess' has been used about a dozen stars, but mostly about Rita Hayworth. Whatever other girls had - and sexy, desirable girls were never in short supply in films - Rita had more of. She was ravishing in black and white, and breathtaking when (very sensibly) they put her into Technicolor: auburn-haired, brown-eyed, and with the proverbial peaches-and-cream complexion. It wasn't just physical allure. Naturally it's preferable when a woman on the seducing end attractive - provocation was an early Hayworth specialty - but she did have that special star luster. One fan-mag-writer in 1963 considered her 'an interesting interval - if not an especially dynamic one - between Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe,' but her appeal was really somewhat more subtle than either. She was once described as 'the intellectual's glamour girl,' presumably implying that a lot of people liked her who weren't expected to."

Lately, I've just been thinking that she is one of the most beautiful women ever to to grace the screen.

Complex, Talented and Tragic

Rita's story is well known. Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, she followed in her dancing father's footsteps and was eventually noticed by the head of Fox studios, who put her under contract. Cast mostly as a foreign exotic, she was eventually dropped by Fox. Her first husband wrangled a deal with Columbia and there Harry Cohn saw a diamond in the rough in this B-film actress. Her name was changed, her hair-color changed from dark to red. A painful process of electrolysis to raise her low hairline completed the picture and a unique love goddess was made. The American beauties could never match the sex, mystery and allure of the European goddesses such as Garbo and Dietrich. While Hayworth projected all-American health, she also had that air of European sophistication. Film historian John Kobal called her an American Exotic.

Margarita and Rita

It seems Rita Hayworth knew very little happiness. Her second marriage to Orson Welles ended sadly. Her next romance, a scandalous one with Prince Aly Khan, for whom she left Hollywood. After than marriage ended, she returned to Hollywood, but her heart was no longer in it. 2 other disastrous and abusive marriages followed (to singer Dick Haymes and director James Hill). Harry Cohn continually made her life miserable at Columbia and, unbelievable though it seems, this great beauty was shy and insecure and relied heavily on alcohol to get her through the day. In her 50s she fell victim to Alzheimer's Disease. Because it was so misunderstood in those days, she was often accused of being drunk and/or crazy (her daughter, Yasmin Khan, cared for her mother with great compassion and is the president of Alzheimer's International).

Her Legacy
While she might have been sad behind the camera, Rita Hayworth left us with unforgettable images and breathtaking performances. Some on my favorites:

Gilda

Beautiful beyond belief, Rita famously said of the men in her life "every man I knew went to bed with Gilda and woke up with me."

Cover Girl

As Rusty Parker, she was the girl next door who just looked better than any girl who ever lived next door.

Pin Up Girl Extraordinaire

This photo of Rita on the cover of Life Magazine elevated her to the top of the heap (with Betty Grable) as WWII G.I.'s favorite pin-up girl.

Dancer

Rita's great friend, choreographer Jack Cole, said that Rita was only confident when she was dancing. Here are a few of her best moments.

Rita, you kicked ass.

To view more gorgeous photos of Rita, check out My Movie Dream Book right HERE.

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