Tag Archives: Norma Shearer

Watching 1939: Idiot’s Delight (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film: Idiot’s Delight (1939)

Release date:  Premiered Jan. 27, 1939

Cast:  Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn, Joseph Schildkraut, Burgess Meredith, Laura Hope Crews, Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher, Peter Willes, Pat Paterson, Hobart Cavanaugh (uncredited), Mitchell Lewis (uncredited), Frank Faylen (uncredited)
Les Blondes: Virginia Grey, Virginia Dale, Paula Stone, Bernadene Hayes, Joan Marsh, Lorraine Krueger

Studio:  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:  Clarence Brown

Plot:
After World War I, Harry Van (Gable) hopes to break into show business. He travels around the country performing and runs into an acrobat, Irene (Shearer). After a brief acquaintance, the two are separated for more than 20 years. Harry is later traveling through Europe in 1939 with his dance group, Les Blondes en route to Geneva. Their train is stopped and can’t cross the frontier because of the political climate and the impending possibility of war. Harry and his troupe have to stay at an Alpine hotel with other stopped due to the conflict including a scientist (Coburn), honeymooners (Paterson, Willes), a political activist (Meredith), and a munitions tycoon (Arnold) and his mistress, Russian countess, who Van thinks he recognizes as Irene.

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Actress beauty tip #28: Norma Shearer complexion

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

Healthy, clear skin is something I struggle with on a daily basis. I’ve tried numerous products from exfoliates to acne cream.

Norma Shearer, Mae Murray and Viola Dane in a 1925 Beaute Craft article.

Norma Shearer, Mae Murray and Viola Dane in a 1925 Beaute Craft article.

But according to a 1925 article in Beaute Craft, clear skin revolves around exercise and diet. To testify to this are actresses Norma Shearer, Mae Murray and Viola Dana.

Oddly enough, the article by Pauline Black, correlates bad skin to…constipation, which is connected to poor eating habits.

Black says Shearer gets her clear skin from good diet. Murray’s credits proper exercise and fresh air, and Dana gets her clear skin from correct food and exercise.

Viola Dana, Norma Shearer, Mae Murray

Viola Dana, Norma Shearer, Mae Murray

 

Black gives suggestions in the article to remedy problems:

Breathing: “No normal woman remains healthy for very long if she does not practice deep breathing, using the entire lung capacity and exercising abdominal muscles as well.”

Water: “Drink enough water. Two glasses immediately upon rising in the morning. A glass after each meal. A glass between meals. A glass upon retiring at night. Some people cannot drink much water easily. You should learn, or drink milk…”

Food: “Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits…Raw cabbage with a little cream dressing is excellent once a day…I would say stop eating meats, eggs, fish and cheese for a few weeks. Give your your digestive apparatus a rest as far as heavy foods are concerned.”

Exercise: “Walking is excellent exercise. Blessed is that girl or woman who has to walk a mile or even two a day to and from work or school.”

For myself, drinking more water and eating well has helped clear up my skin. Lately I’ve been drinking roughly 70 fluid ounces of water a day and have seen major improvements. For diet, the article suggests cabbage, I have been eating kale lately along with fruits and have seen improvements from that as well.

To review: Though the article (found scanned on Beauty is a Thing of the Past blog) gives odd suggestions and reasoning for clear skin, drinking water and eating better has shown improvements with my skin. I have been exercising for several months but change in diet has given me the best improvements.

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Classic film in music videos: Good Boys by Blondie

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Norma Shearer and Lon Chaney

This is February’s edition of Comet Over Hollywood’s classic film references in music videos.

Blondie, rock star of the 1980s, released an album in 2003 called “The Curse of Blondie.” This album included a new wave pop song “Good Boys.”

The music video is in black and white and modeled after a silent film and is very similar to the Lon Chaney movie “He Who Gets Slapped” (1924).

In the music video one clown, dressed in white, is in love with a beautiful circus performer. She laughs at his love and keeps company with a mean clown who wears black. At the end of the video, the white clown gets killed by a tiger.

This is similar to “He Who Gets Laughed” because Lon Chaney is in love with Norma Shearer, who also laughs at his love. She is in love with horseback rider John Gilbert, but is determined to marry an evil rich man. In the end, Lon Chaney dies from a tiger attack like in the video and it is caused by the rich baron.

What do you think?

Check back in March for the next classic film reference in music videos.

February’s beauty tip is also coming soon!

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Let’s talk about a little pet peeve of mine…

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Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) surrounded by Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford), Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) and Cynthia Potter (Lana Turner).

How I define a classic movie fan and my pet peeve of the old movie ‘posers’ . I know I am a little fanatical and old movies are my life, but if you are going to claim to like old movies you have to know your stuff.

Another thing that drives me crazy is what consumers and manufacturers consider when it comes to classic movie merchandise (not including books, there is an abundance of wonderful film books). Everywhere you go, you see mugs, purses, T-shirts, magnets, etc with four people on them 1.) Marilyn Monroe 2.) Audrey Hepburn 3.) James Dean 4.) John Wayne. Then I go to Los Angeles with high hopes of Doris Day and Esther Williams merchandise, but I was quickly dismayed. In Hollywood, the movie mecca of the world, they still carried the same crap that they sell in Greenville, South Carolina. (Don’t get me wrong, I like Dean, Wayne and Hepburn but I want some variety.)

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