Musical Monday: “Doll Face” (1945)

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Jnpickens

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Doll Face (1945)- Musical #474

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Lewis Seiler

Starring:
Vivian Blaine, Carmen Miranda, Dennis O’Keefe, Stephen Dunne, Perry Como, Martha Stewart (not the home decor woman)

Plot:
Mary “Doll Face” Carroll (Blaine) hopes to break out of burlesque and into the big time. When she is turned down due to her performing background, her manager Michael Hannigan (O’Keefe) decides to have a ghost written autobiography written about Mary. The author of the book Frederick Gerard (Dunne) begins to fall in love with Mary causing conflict with Michael, who also is in love with her. Using the publicity of the book, Michael begins to produce a Broadway show with the help of the other burlesque performers.

Trivia:

Carmen Miranda performing “Chico Chico”

-Based on the 1943 play “The Naked Genius” written by burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee.
-Carole Landis was offered the lead in the film but turned it down, according to the book Carole Landis: A Most Beautiful Girl by Eric Lawrence Gans
-Carmen Miranda’s first starring film that is in black and white.
-“Eighty Miles Outside of Atlanta” from “Something for the Boys” can be heard in the background.
-Carmen Miranda’s song “True to the Navy” cut from the film. The song as filmed still exists. Paramount held exclusive rights to the song and wouldn’t allow 20th Century-Fox the song. It was performed by Clara Bow in “Paramount On Parade” (1930)
– “Doll Face” is one of four films Vivian Blaine and Carmen Miranda were in together. The other films included “If I’m Lucky” (1946), “Something for the Boys” (1945) and “Greenwich Village” (1944).

Notable Songs:
-Perry Como’s song “Hubba Hubba Dig You Later” became a hit for him after the film. It reached number 3 on the charts and was Como’s second Gold album, according to the book Perry Como: A Biography and Complete Career Record By Malcolm Macfarlane, Ken Crossland

My Review:
This film is fun and cute but forgettable. The songs aren’t very exciting either.
As a lover of classic films, I obviously enjoy films shot in black and white. However, casting Carmen Miranda, Hollywood’s most colorful performer, in a black and white was murderous to her career. Biographies on her life cite that her novelty was wearing off when Fox began casting her in non-color films.

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Leaving Hollywood for a new habit: An interview with Dolores Hart

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Jnpickens

She gave Elvis his first on-screen kiss.

Roles in “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” and “The Ticklish Affair” that later went to Shirley Jones were originally offered to her.

Her career began in 1957 with the film “Loving You” along side Elvis Presley and ended in 1963 with the film “Come Fly with Me.”

But at the height of her career in 1963, Dolores Hart left Hollywood to follow a vocational calling to become a nun.

Dolores Hart in the 1960s and now as Reverend Mother Dolores today (Comet Over Hollywood/Jessica Pickens)

“I am not leaving anyone or anything behind me. I am taking with me a full and grateful heart,” Hart left as a statement with her publicist.

The media frenzy that followed cited her broken engagement with her former fiancé Don Robinson. The National Enquirer headline read “Star Driven into Nunnery by her Love for Elvis.” Colleagues and friends were dumbfounded.

To Hollywood, family and friends, Hart’s decision to become a nun may have seemed rash. But her choice was a long road of exploration of her faith that was triggered by her first visit to the Abbey of Regina Laudis in 1958.

Hart published the book “The Ear of the Heart: An Actress’ Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows” in May that explores her parent’s tumultuous marriage, why she became a Catholic, her career as a film star and her life as a nun.

Her parents had the desire to become Hollywood film stars. However, her father Bert Hicks mainly played bit roles. Her parents divorced while she was still young. While attending Catholic school, she decided to convert so she could have hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls with the other children.

She is often asked if her role as Saint Claire in “Francis of Assisi” (1961) is what influenced her decision to become a nun. The role had no effect but meeting Pope John XXIII while filming left an impact on the actress.

Saturday morning, I had the privilege to meet with Dolores Hart in Charlotte, NC before she spoke at the Charlotte Eucharist Convention. “Ear of the Heart” is one of the best celebrity autobiographies I have read. Rather than full of gossip and salacious rumors, it discusses her journey through life. I couldn’t help but feel calm and soothed every time I picked it up.

We met and spoke about her book as well as her time in Hollywood and at Regina Laudis.

Though she was a little older and was dressed in a nun’s habit and robe, her smile and sparkling clear blue eyes were the same ones you see in her films such as “Where the Boys Are.”

Revered Mother Dolores was warm, personable and an overall lovely woman.

Reverend Mother Dolores and myself in Charlotte, NC on Sept. 14

Q: Tell me about the Eucharist Conference you are in town for today.

I’m actually not that familiar with it because I have been in an enclosed monastery. I don’t remember anything like this before I entered. It’s wonderful seeing the intensity of love for the sacrament…Not love in the usual form of the word but transcending love that can hold the passion of and sadness of life.

Q: What influenced you to write the book?

I think it’s because my old friend Dick DeNeut encouraged me to do it. He told me if I didn’t write it soon, I would forget everything. We started in 2003 and it has taken a long time to put it in its present form. I’m fortunate to have someone like Dick. He knows me so well and we were very close. We have had strong communication for decades. I think the beautiful part of the preparation is that he would always be frank with me. He wouldn’t say things that made me feel good but would be frank in order to awaken and receive an honest response.

Q: Which Catholic celebrities in Hollywood supported your decision?

Dolores Hart with George Hamilton in “Where he Boys Are”

Hart discusses in her book being friends with other Hollywood Catholics during her stardom such as Irene Dunne and Loretta Young. She once was invited to speak at a Jesuits’ Church of the Blessed Sacrament breakfast in 1958 that was attended by Catholic celebrities.

June Haver was one of the most faithful friends I had in Hollywood, and so was Patricia Neal. Others were complimentary. June would visit several times a year and try to find ways to help us. She loved visiting our dairy farm and working with the farm animals. Once she asked how the pigs reproduce. We told her we had a semen tank, but it was actually running low. She said that was how she would help us. Well, the local newspaper in town heard about it and came out with a story saying June Haver was buying nuns a semen tank. It was hysterical. But she would come to visit us on a yearly basis.

Q: How often were you compared to June Haver, who once entered as a nun and later left?

Dolores Hart with Elvis Presley in 1957 in a still for “Loving You”

When I first started considering, Mother Benedict told me to take some time to put everything in order so I wouldn’t become another statistic. I didn’t know June at the time and I wasn’t aware of her personal struggles. She once entered as a nun herself and left. When we finally met I could perceive the depth of goodness and that she had struggled a great deal. She was very honest and never claimed what wasn’t true. She was a great lesson to me.

Q: How did Hollywood help or hurt you in a cloistered community?

I didn’t understand in the beginning how I could benefit from my Hollywood experiences. I accept the time in Hollwood as part of God’s will. I appreciate the goodness of the venture. I didn’t leave to reach for something better or a higher value.

People in the industry are so open. Producer Hal Wallis saw some sort of value in me to give me a seven year contract. He was furious when I left and told me not to bother coming back to work for him. I understood that because I was breaking professional expectation of truth. That was a profound step in his reality of life. But then after 15 years, he broke down and we became friends again. His wife Martha Hyer still sends us a basket of fruit every year.

My agent Harry Bernson sent me a note and asked if I had swallowed razor blades and said I had committed suicide. But then he eventually saw it was the right thing.

Those friendships shown to me by a number of actors showed me integrity of human values in every religion.

Q: If you hadn’t left Hollywood, how do you think your career would have ended up?

If I hadn’t left Hollywood, we probably wouldn’t be talking right now. The interest in me wouldn’t be there. People are interested because I became a nun.

I don’t think my career would have petered out, but then I have seen so many people come and go and you never see them again. Depending on roles, most women in Hollywood only work until their early 40s. You can’t bank on your career being a given.

My grandfather was a movie projectionist and had seen all the films. When I got older, I confessed to him that I wanted to become an actress. He told me he had seen them all and knew I would be the best at it. For a grandfather to say that was the best possible compliment.

Q: You also left Hollywood right before things began rapidly changing. Were you aware of the changes in Hollywood with the studio system?

Because I was still a member of the Academy, I still had an interest in what was happening with the studios, but I don’t remember judging it. People say that the film industry is what led the way to society changes. I could tell changes by the way people talked and dressed. There was a deeper sense of fear that life wasn’t worth much. I noticed people were dressing sort of in a dumpy way. I couldn’t believe a woman would wear jeans and high heels in the airport. That was really campy to me.

I think the film industry really reflected what was going on in society. They were always champions in exfoliating what was going on with people.

Hart with fan mail in 1960

Q: How much fan mail do you receive each year?

It depends on what’s going on. As I have been on tour for the book, I have received a considerable amount. I usually receive two or three letters a day. By the end of the week it turns into a mountain of mail, so it’s a continuous obligation. When the documentary “God is Bigger than Elvis” came out two years ago, the situation changed. We did the film and it was my break through back into public life. I got so much fan mail after and I had to have some of the sisters help me stamp and address letters.

Q: One last question, do you still watch any of your movies?

I have seen them so often that they bore me. I will watch them though if someone requests to watch a movie with me. Sometimes I discover something new by a question they present. The community doesn’t want to see my movies anymore, because they are tired of them.

For more on her kiss with Elvis and acting with Montgomery Clift stay tuned to Comet Over Hollywood in the coming days for a full book review.

Check out the Comet Over Hollywood Facebook page, follow on Twitter at @HollywoodComet or e-mail at cometoverhollywood@gmail.com

Musical Monday: “Hi-De-Ho” (1947)

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Jnpickens

This week’s musical:
“Hi-De-Ho” (1947) – Musical #503

Studio:
All-American Studios

Director:
Josh Binney
Starring:
Cab Calloway (as himself), Ida James, Jeni Le Gon

Plot:
Cab Calloway plays himself a as a bandleader who is getting bored with his sexy singing girlfriend Minnie who he calls a moocher. Minnie is jealous of Cab’s female band manager named Nettie. Out of jealousy, Minnie gets a job at a night club that rivals the club that Cab is performing at. She also asks gangsters to kill Cab.

Trivia:
-“Hi-De-Ho” is what is known as a “race film.” The film is made up of an entirely black cast that were generally made between 1915 and 1950. These films were usually produced outside of the Hollywood studio system.
-The film also features the Peters Sisters and The Miller Brothers

Cab and Minnie the moocher

Notable Songs:
The movie has several of Cab Calloway’s songs, but sadly no “Minnie the Moocher.”
Song include:
-“Minnie was a Hep Cat”
-“St. James Infirmary”
-“At Dawn Time”
-“Bop Bop”
-“The Hi-De-Ho Man, That’s Me”

My Review:
The plot to this film is very thin and the quality of the picture is very low. If you go strictly by the story line, “Hi-De-Ho” is lousy. However, this is a great exhibition of Cab Calloway’s music with eight songs from the big band leader. It’s also interesting for its historical value as a “race film.” If you can find this movie, I would highly suggest it for its excellent music. The only disappointing feature is that it doesn’t have the song “Minnie the Moocher.”

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Classics in the Carolinas: Tallulah goes to college

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Jnpickens

At Byrnes Auditorium at Winthrop University, actress Tallulah Bankhead performed her one of her favorite stage role in the play “Little Foxes.”

Yes, Tallulah Bankhead performed at my alma mater in 1940.

Tallulah Bankhead wasn’t your typical Southern Belle.

Tallulah Bankhead as Regina Giddens in “The Little Foxes.”

Born in Huntsville, AL, Bankhead’s father was William B. Bankhead-a politician from Alabama and Representative from 1917 to 1940.

But despite her prominent background, Bankhead has been described as flamboyant, wild and dabbled in alcohol and drugs such as cocaine and marijuana.

She left her Southern roots at the age of 15 to travel to New York to become an actress and made her stage debut in 1918. She later was in Hollywood films starting in the 1930s.

After acting in films alongside Gary Cooper, Robert Montgomery and Charles Laughton, Bankhead made her way back to her southern roots.

In 1939, Bankhead originated the stage role of Regina Giddens in the Lillian Hellman play “The Little Foxes.”

Based in the early 20th century in the South, Regina manipulates her daughter and estranged husband to work out a business deal with her unscrupulous cousins.

“All in all, Regina Giddens is the best role I ever had in the theater,” Bankhead wrote in her autobiography, Tallulah: My Autobiography. “So The Little Foxes is the best play I’ve had. Up to this time most of my roles had been on the light and larkish side.”

Later made into a 1941 film starring Bette Davis, “The Little Foxes” ran for 410 performances at the National Theatre on Broadway.

“The Little Foxes” brought Bankhead to Rock Hill, SC.

Tallulah Bankhead and actress Eugenia Rawls perform in “The Little Foxes”

On March 4, 1940, she performed her role of Regina Giddens on the stage of the brand new Byrnes Auditorium of Winthrop College (now Winthrop University) which was an all-girls school until 1975.

“Her seductive southern drawl was an instant hit in South Carolina,” according to the book York and Western York County, SC: The Story of a Southern Eden by J. Edward Lee and Jerry Lee Wes. “After her performance, the audience gave her a standing ovation.”

Bankhead had ties to York County. Her great-great-grandfather George Bankhead moved to lived in Bullock’s Creek, York County South Carolina before moving to Alabama in 1830, according to Lee and Wes’s book.

“As a (local) reporter asked the Hollywood actress about her fast-paced life in California, Bankhead…reminded the journalist, ‘Dahling, I’m from Bullock’s Creek,’” Lee and Wes wrote.

Though Bankhead was not in the film adaptation of the play, her Broadway costars Dan Duryea, Charles Dingle, Carl Benton Reid, and Patricia Collinge starred with Bette Davis.

Knowing that Tallulah Bankhead once walked on a campus where I studied journalism, makes me feel just a little closer to the Golden Era of Hollywood.

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Musical Monday: “Music for Madame” (1937)

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Jnpickens

This week’s musical:
“Music for Madame” (1948) – Musical #504

Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures

Director:
John G. Blystone

Starring:
Joan Fontaine, Nino Martini, Lee Patrick, Alan Mowbray, Alan Hale, Grant Mitchell, Billy Gilbert, Jack Carson

Plot:
Nino Maretti, an aspiring opera singer (Martini) is conned into thinking he is singing for important composer at a Hollywood party. In reality, Nino is singing at a Hollywood party to distract the guests as the two con artists steal priceless pearls. Jean Clemens (Fontaine) is at the same party, trying to get a symphony she wrote noticed. When Nino realizes he was used, he goes into hiding and doesn’t sing so he won’t be recognized—all the while falling in love with Jean.

Nino Martini, Joan Fontaine, and Lee Patrick (left to right) work as Hollywood film extras in “Music for Madame.”

Trivia:
-“Music for Madame” is Fontaine’s fifth credited role on screen. The movie following “Music” is her only other musical, “Damsel in Distress” (1937) with Fred Astaire.
-Mowbray’s character was spoofing famous conductor Leopold Stokowski.
-According to IMDB, the film lost $375,000 at the box office.
-Martini was an Italian opera singer who sang with the New York City Metropolitan Opera. He made four films from 1935 to 1948. “Music for Madame” was his second to last film.
-Actor Jack Carson has a small role as an assistant director.
-Actor Ward Bond has an uncredited role in the film.

Notable Songs:
-Vesti la giubba from the opera “Pagliacci” (1892)
-“King of the Road” is sung by a truck driver who picks up Fontaine and Martini and accompanied by several car horns played by the two passengers.
-“I Want the World to Know” is the love theme of the film, written by Fontaine’s character and sung several times by Martini.

Highlights:
-Alan Hale. Hale is an excellent character actor in all of his films, but he is the only actor who stands out with humor and charisma in this film. The other actors are all pale in comparison to him.
-The scene with the truck drive singing “King of the Road” is an interesting one. He says he doesn’t have a radio so he makes music himself with all of these horns inside his vehicle. It’s not a musical masterpiece but of all the musicals I have seen, I’ve never seen a number like that.
-Martini’s acting is not the best, but he does have a beautiful singing voice.
-Fontaine looks incredibly young with a page boy bob and a bow in her hair. It’s an interesting way to see her when you are used to the sophisticated roles she played starting in the 1940s.

Jean (Fontaine) is detained by police after the pearls go missing.

My Review:
I feel like “Music for Madame” is one of those movies that Academy Award winning actress Joan Fontaine looks back at and shudders. It’s not a terrible movie, but it’s also one I wouldn’t highly recommend. “Music for Madame” is a simple, entertaining plot but a lot of the acting is lacking. Nino Martini has a beautiful voice, but that can’t carry the film on it’s own. Fontaine is still exercising her acting chops. The most interesting character in my opinion is Alan Hale as a bumbling, music loving detective.

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Before Lois Lane there was Torchy Blane

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Jnpickens

She’s a fast-talking blond who breaks every rule of reporting.
As a journalist, I should be appalled by Torchy Blane, but I really want to be her. She is the perfect mix of my profession and classic film love.

From 1937 to 1939, Torchy Blane solved crimes and caused trouble for her police detective boyfriend in nine films.

Glenda Farrell as Torchy Blane- my role model.

She also was part of the inspiration for Superman’s reporter girlfriend Lois Lane.
In a 1988 Time magazine article, creators of the Superman comics Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel credited Glenda Farrell’s performance as Torchy Blane with their creation of Lois Lane.

“My wife Joanne was Joe’s original art model for Superman’s girlfriend in the 1930s,” Siegel is quoted from the interview in the book The Women of Warner Brothers. “Our heroine was, of course, a working girl whose priority was grabbing big scoops. What inspired me in the creation was Glenda Farrell, the movie star who portrayed Torchy Blane. Because of the name Lola Lane, who also played Torchy, appealed to me, I called my character Lois Lane.”

Produced by Warner Brothers Studios, the Torchy Blane series was one of many Hollywood B-movie series of the 1930s and 1940s, others include Maisie, Dr. Kildare, Boston Blackie, The Falcon and the Lone Wolf.

Actress Glenda Farrell played Torchy in seven of the films while Jane Wyman and Lola Lane each played the role once.
Torchy Blane titles include:
Torchy Blane…Playing with Dynamite (1939)
Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939)
Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939)
Torchy Gets Her Man (1938)
Torchy Blane in Panama (1938)
Blondes at Work (1938)
The Adventurous Blonde (1937)
Fly Away Baby (1937)
Smart Blonde (1937)

Though the other actresses play the part well, Farrell left the lasting impression. Her comedic timing, brassiness and nonchalant attitude brings Torchy to life. Her performances were complete with 400 word speeches given in 40 seconds as she talked her out of trouble.

In many of the films, Torchy is causing more trouble than she is writing stories and meeting deadlines.

Each film has a mystery to solve, and before Torchy’s detective boyfriend Steve McBride can take fingerprints, Torchy is one step ahead.

Her job is really more of an amateur detective than a reporter.
“Maybe you know who bumped him off,” Steve says in “Smart Blonde” (1937).
“Not off hand, but with a little time and something to eat, maybe I can help you,” says Torchy.

Our heroine usually solves the crime, leaving the police force and her detective boyfriend looking slightly foolish.

Torchy does some of her own sleuthing

In today’s world of journalism, Torchy’s means of sleuthing and reporting are ethically questionable:
-Hiding in a trashcan to eavesdrop
-Bugging rooms with microphones
-Snooping through rooms
-Talking with questionable sources

It’s amazing she even has a job at a publication.

At the end of each film, Steve McBride promises a steak dinner and marriage but at the start of the next film, there have yet to be any wedding bells.

Though the films were made for low budget entertainment, the New York Times in the 1930s gave the movies poor reviews, dubbing Torchy a “demon reporter.” They also wrote “we have a murder mystery solved by an endless succession of door-opening and shuttings, taxi-hailings, jumping in and out of automobiles and riding up and down elevators,” quoted in Howard Good’s book “Girl Reporter: Gender, Journalism and Movies.”

It’s possible that the Times mainly scoffed because the main character was a female star reporter, Good wrote.

Torchy and her detective boyfriend Steve McBride played by Barton MacLane.

Dressed in professional suits, Farrell modeled Torchy after female reporters she knew and tried to make her believable.

“Before I undertook Torchy, I determined to create a real human being, not an exaggerated comedy type,” she said in a 1969 Times interview, quoted in the book The Women of Warner Brothers. “I met those newswomen who visited Hollywood. They were generally young, intelligent, refined and attractive. By making Torchy true to life, I tried to make a character practically unique in movies.”

Reporters could argue that Torchy Blane scripts are not representative of the newspaper industry.

However, as a contemporary female reporter, I love Torchy. I even asked my editors if I could change my byline to Torchy Pickens…but was denied.

Her sass, beauty and energy is endearing, even if she breaks every media law there is.

This is part of the Summer Under the Stars blogathon by ScribeHard and Sittin’ on a Backyard Fence.

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Musical Monday: “You Were Meant for Me” (1948)

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Jnpickens

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.

In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“You Were Meant for Me” (1948) – Musical #503

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Lloyd Bacon

Starring:
Jeanne Crain, Dan Dailey, Oscar Levant, Barbara Lawrence, Selena Royale, Percy Kilbride

Plot:
Set in 1929, teenager Peggy Mayhew (Crain) falls in love popular bandleader Chuck Arnold (Dailey). She spontaneously kisses him on stage after winning a prize. Chuck asks to see Peggy again. When she travels to the next town to see his band, they elope. Peggy has to adapt to life on the road with musicians. The couple then struggles with their careers and their relationship when the stock market crashes.

Trivia:
-Marilyn Monroe had an uncredited role that ended up being cut from the film.
-Though Dan Dailey had been in films for eight years, this film was around the time his career was starting to take off.
-The first 20 or 30 minutes is very similar to “Orchestra Wives” (1942). Crain falls in love with a bandleader, travels to see him and they elope. Ann Rutherford does the same thing in “Orchestra Wives.” Once the couple elopes in the film, the similarities end there.

Notable Songs:
The whole film is full of fun, popular songs of the 1920s written by George Gershwin, Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown such as:
-The title song “You Were Meant for Me” by Freed and Brown. This song can also be heard in other films such as “Penny Serenade” and “Singin’ in the Rain.”
-Other popular 1920s songs such as “Ain’t She Sweet,” “Crazy Rhythm” and “Ain’t Misbehavin.”

Dan Dailey and Jeanne Crain in “You Were Meant for Me”

Highlights:
-Pianist Oscar Levant performs
-Jeanne Crain and Dan Dailey do a cute song and dance routine to “Ain’t She Sweet” while in a soda shop.
-Dan Dailey tap dancing to “Crazy Rhyme.” Though Dailey isn’t the greatest tap dancer of the 1940s and 1950s, he does a great job.
-Small role of Barbara Lawrence. Though she isn’t in the film very much, she is still delightful to see.
-Small role of Herb Anderson who played the father on the 1950s TV show “Dennis the Menace”

My Review:
“You Were Meant for Me” isn’t an award winning film, but it’s light-hearted and fun.
The musical performances in the film are mainly by Dan Dailey on stage, rather than spontaneous songs and dances brought on by emotion from the character.
The film is in black and white, which isn’t a problem for classic film fans, but shows the 20th Century Fox didn’t see it as an important musical-though it starred two of their top stars.
Crain and Dailey make a good pair and I wish they had been in more films together. Dailey is an underrated actor and does an excellent job with singing in dancing in this film. His voice is mellow and soothing and his tap dancing is believable.
My only complaint is that the film ends rather abruptly. Otherwise, it’s an enjoyable film that I highly suggest.

Check back next week for Musical Monday.

This is part of the Summer Under the Stars blogathon

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Actress Beauty Tip #31: Elizabeth Taylor perfume

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Jnpickens

This is the thirty-first installment of the monthly classic actress beauty tips that I have read about and tested.

Elizabeth Taylor in 1991, introducing her perfume at Macy’s

Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Taylor Swift.

These celebrities may not have a perfume named for them if it wasn’t for English born actress Elizabeth Taylor.

The two time Academy Award winning actress is known for her violet colored eyes, glamorous beauty, love of diamonds and multiple marriages.

With a mix of her affair with jewelry and Old Hollywood glamour, Elizabeth Taylors’s White Diamonds perfume has been the top selling celebrity perfume since 1991. Even since her 2010 death, the perfume makes $200 million worth of sales each year.

Taylor wasn’t the first celebrity to create her own perfume. In 1957 Givenchy created a scent for Audrey Hepburn called L’Interdit, that was only released after Hepburn had worn it a few years. French actress Catherine Deneuve and Italian actress Sophia Loren both had perfume scents at one time that are no longer sold, according to a Jezebel article.

White Diamonds advertisement.

But what sets Elizabeth Taylor’s perfume apart is the fact that is still sold after 20 years.

Ever since I was a child, the gold liquid in Taylor’s rhinestone incrusted bottles intrigued me. But my mother warned me White Diamonds wasn’t the most pleasant smelling perfume. Since Mom isn’t a perfume wearing woman, I hoped she was wrong.

Recently, with Comet’s beauty tips in mind, I picked up a small bottle of White Diamonds and felt slightly glamorous that I owned an Elizabeth Taylor product.

But the day I wore White Diamonds, I felt anything but glamorous. I actually felt ill, because it smells terrible. I sprayed my wrist once and overpowered by the smell.

As I gagged, I tried to figure out how this perfume had such a strong staying power. I wonder if it’s simply that it is put out by one of the most important actresses and pop culture figures of the 20th century.

To Review: White Diamonds is a very heavy and strong scent. I personally didn’t like it and can’t imagine wearing it all day. I think Elizabeth Taylor’s excellent marketing and Old Hollywood sophistication is what has kept it on the shelves for over 20 years.

Have you ever tried wearing it? What is your opinion?

This post is part of the Summer Under the Stars blogathon

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Musical Monday: “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” (1964)

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Jnpickens

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” or “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” — Musical #285

Director:
Jacques Demy

Starring:
Catherine Deneuve, Nino Casteluovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel

Plot:
Told in three part, the movie begins in 1957 and ends in 1964.
Performed much like an opera where all the French dialogue is sung, 17-year-old Geneviève (Deneuve) is in love with 20-year-old Guy (Casteluovo) who works as a mechanic. Geneviève’s helps her mother (Vernon) run an umbrella shop in Cherbourg, France. Her mother objects to them getting married because they are too young. Guy is drafted to fight for two years in the Algerian War.
While he is gone, Geneviève finds she is pregnant with his child. Her mother works to convince Geneviève to forget about Guy and to marry a more wealthy jewel dealer, Roland Cassard (Michel).

Highlights:
-Different from American musicals, there is no dancing and no show stopper song. If the lines were not all sung, it would be just a normal drama.
-The color is very candy-coated and gorgeous. Costumes of the actors match the brightly colored paint, wallpaper and decor.

Vernon and Deneuve (as Genvieve). Deneuve’s dress matches the bright wallpaper

-The scene where Roland and Geneviève sit across from each other at the dinner table. As they speak to one each other, they look straight into the camera and speak.

Roland (Marc Michel) looks straight at the camera as he looks across the table as Genvieve

-Pregnant Geneviève in a white wedding gown, looking very unhappy.

Roland and Genvieve’s unhappy wedding

-The 1960s fashions are gorgeous and as colorful as the backdrop.
-The heart wrenching ending that leaves so many questions

Trivia:
-Grand Prize Winner at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival
-Every actor in the all singing, opera-like film was dubbed:
Danielle Licari: Geneviève Emery
José Bartel: Guy Foucher
Christiane Legrand: Madame Emery
Georges Blaness: Roland Cassard
Claudine Meunier: Madeleine
Claire Leclerc: Aunt Élise
-“Umbrellas of Cherbourg” follows the Jacques Demy film “Lola” (1961). The character Roland Cassard is in “Lola” and in “Umbrellas” sings about a woman he once loved named Lola and how she broke his heart.
-The film is divided into three parts from 1957 to 1964: The Departure, The Absence, The Return
-An English stage version was adapted in 1979.
-Nominated for four Academy Awards in 1966 including: Best Music, Original Score for “I Will Wait for You;” Best Music, Score; Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen

Notable Songs:
-Each scene and scenario has it’s own song. The tunes are a mix of jazz to ballads.
-The most popular song from the film is “I Will Wait for You” sung by Geneviève and Guy before he leaves on the train to join the military.

My Review:
“Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” is one of my favorite musicals-up there with my all-time favorite “West Side Story” (1961). I love the gorgeous candy-coated color, the costumes and the heart wrenching sadness.
But most of all, I love the innovative all-singing French dialogue. Some lines are poetic while others are as simple as “Eat a little fruit” or “Have you had dinner?”
The story line is simplistic but doesn’t have the normal happy ending that an American 1950s or 1960s musical may have. Don’t let the subtitles and all singing throw you off, you won’t regret giving this musical a chance.

A few scenes to share to show the beautiful coloring”

First appearance of Catherine Deneuve in the film- looking out the umbrella shop for Guy

The two sing the title song “I Will Wait for You” the day we find out Guy is drafted

Guy and Genevieve embrace after finding out he will be drafted

Genevieve is pregnant with Guy’s child and Carnival is going on outside.

Pregnant Genevieve sadly follows her mother’s wishes of marrying a rich man

The young lover, both married, meet again after five years.

Check back next week for Musical Monday.

This is part of the Summer Under the Stars blogathon for Catherine Deneuve Day.

Check out the Comet Over Hollywood Facebook page for the latest updates or follow on Twitter at @HollywoodComet.

“Babies for Sale” (1940)

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Jnpickens

“Babies for Sale.”

Few film titles have made me chuckle as much as this 1940 B-movie did.

But the movie starring Glenn Ford and Rochelle Hudson is not a comedy but a crime drama about organizations posing as charitable adoption agencies who are actually selling babies for thousands of dollars.

The film prefaces with:

“Producers of the film are sympathetic with the 95-percent of the charitable organizations dealing with adopted children. These institutions are honest and worthy of all support. This picture is presented as a warning to all parents and to all who plan to adopt children. That some unsupervised private institutions do exist where babies are sold for cash. Where helpless mothers are victimized and where foster parents may find lifelong tragedy instead of happiness. This is a story of one such institution and victims.
What happens in this story could happen to you?”

What’s it about?

Rochelle Hudson and Glenn Ford, Columbia Pictures Studios tried to make the two actors a screen team.

Ford as Steve Burton is a reporter who gets the scoop from Dr. John Gaines (Joe De Stefani) about fake adoption agencies. Gaines tells Burton that families pay anywhere from $50 to $10,000 for a child. Single women who go to these agencies to have their babies have to work there and earn $1,000 to get their baby.

After writing the story that uses phrases such as “Selling babies by the pound” and “Thousands of babies sold for cash,” Burton faces backlash and the editor is going to retract the story. Believing what he did is right; Burton quits but doesn’t give up investigating the case.

Then the audience gets a look inside one of these agencies.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Anderson (character actor John Qualen and Helen Brown) are facing Dr. Rankin, the owner of the adoption agency. The couple’s child has defects and will never be well. Rankin says the baby was perfectly fine when he gave them the baby they paid $10,000 for—Basically making it sound like he sold the couple a car. Desolate Mrs. Anderson runs in front of a train with the baby after they leave.

Pregnant women earning their keep to pay for their babies once they are born. (Comet Over Hollywood/ Screen cap by Jessica P.)

We meet pregnant Ruth Williams (Rochelle Hudson) whose husband died in an automobile accident.

Ruth has to work at the agency while she is pregnant to pay for her child once it’s born. During this time, Rankin tries to convince Ruth to give up her baby.

“We have to make sacrifices for the ones we love,” he tells her.

“I won’t give away my baby!” she demands.

Once her baby is born, Rankin tells Ruth that it was a stillborn, but she knows he adopted it to another family.

With the help of Burton, Ruth finds her baby through the use of baby foot prints taken after birth. They find Ruth’s baby with a friendly wealthy family who help put Rankin out of business.

The back story

Ex-reporter Burton helps Ruth get her baby back. (Comet Over Hollywood/ Screen cap by Jessica P.)

“Babies for Sale” was recently shown for the first time on Turner Classic Movies while the channel was celebrating the career of actor Glenn Ford. Ford was 24 and “Babies” was his fifth film.

It was Ford’s third film with Rochelle Hudson- who also starred in “Imitation of Life” (1934)- and Columbia Pictures was working to make the two a screen team but it never panned out, said TCM Primetime Host Robert Osborne.

Studious also worked to make Ford and Evelyn Keyes a screen team, starring in six films together, but their screen chemistry didn’t explode either. It wasn’t until Ford starred with Rita Hayworth in “Gilda” (1946) that he found his match.

Many of Ford’s early films were similar to “Babies for Sale,” with crime and corruption. “Babies” wasn’t made to be a box office sensation but to be shown during a double feature, Osborne said.

Also early in his career, Bruce Bennett can be spotted as a police officer.

What I thought
Though the title made me laugh, “Babies for Sale” is an entertaining movie. B-movies get a bad rap for being inexpensive, but they are some of my favorite films. The plot line are sensational using lines like “The mother had no right to keep her baby,” and the story can be told in just a little over an hour.

Ford showed potential even early in his career giving a solid performance and coming off as very likeable.

Next time you come across it, give it –and other B-movies- a chance. It will be a pleasant way to spend 65 minutes.

Ruth gets her baby back from a friendly, wealth family. (Comet Over Hollywood/Screen cap by Jessica P.)

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