Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Paulette Goddard on Home

Paulette Goddard


World traveler Paulette Goddard, to columnist Earl Wilson, about her Hollywood home:  "It's a wonderful place for my paintings and my loot."




[Source:  Quick Magazine;  November 17, 1952]

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Jimmy Durante's Dream Presidential Cabinet

Jimmy Durante


Jimmy Durante, on his dream Presidential Cabinet:




Rita Hayworth
State Secretary Rita Hayworth - "She'd clean up our foreign affairs - to say nuttin' of a few domestic ones, too!"




Ava Gardner
Labor Secretary Ava Gardner - "Any man would wantta form a union wit her.  I'd insist on a closed shop."

Corinne Calvet
Agriculture Secretary Corinne Calvet - "Why, da farmers wouldn't ask for subsidies.  They'd pay them!"

Marilyn Monroe
Interior Secretary Marilyn Monroe - "Her exterior ain't bad neither."

Zsa Zsa Gabor
Army Secretary Zsa Zsa Gabor - "Any man would fight for dis girl!"


[Source:  Quick Magazine; November 17, 1952]





Monday, December 12, 2011

Mae West on the new "Mae West"

Mae West with a "Mae West"


Mae West, viewing the Navy's latest "Mae West" life-jackets, now colored red instead of yellow:  "I understand they can be seen from a great distance.  That's another thing we have in common."




[Source:  Quick Magazine;  July 28, 1952]




Gotta love Mae West!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Orson Welles as Othello

Othello Poster


Orson Welles, on one of his recent films:  "I starred in Othello because I was the only star I could afford to hire."




[Source:  Quick Magazine;  July 28, 1952]

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Lionel Barrymore tells it like it is

Lionel Barrymore


Lionel Barrymore:  "Acting is acting.  It hasn't changed.  The only change has been in the audiences which, I must say, have gotten lousier and lousier."




[Source:  Quick Magazine; November 10, 1952]




I have to agree with the fabulous Mr. Barrymore, but I don't think there are that many actors left either.  We have celebrities - not actors.  I can count on one hand the number of people who "act" on film which I would consider actors.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Ursula Thiess's First Film

Ursula Thiess
Actress Ursula Thiess, telling columnist Earl Wilson about her forthcoming film in which she swims nube:  "It was my first picture and I did what they told me."




[Source:  Quick Magazine; January 5, 1953]


Ursula Thiess




Ursula Thiess (May 15, 1924 - June 19, 2010)  born in Hamburg, Germany.  RKO brought her to America for a test in 1952 and she was voted most promising newcomer by Modern Screen (along with Marilyn Monroe).  While starring in a mere 5 films, she is probably best known for her marriage to Robert Taylor.  They met on a studio-arranged blind date.  They fell in love and were married May 24, 1954 until Taylor's death on June 8, 1969.  She had 2 children with Taylor.  Ursula basically retired from the screen after she married Taylor and concentrated on her family.  Her last screen appearance was in 1972.


Robert Taylor and Ursula Thiess

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Superstitions of the Stars

Superstitions of the Stars


Rita Hayworth




Rita Hayworth would slip a shiny new dime under the garter of her left leg for luck before stepping on a movie set.


Mae West




Mae West made everyone who whistled in her dressing room stand in the corner and spit three times


Bette Davis




Bette Davis thinks whistling in a dressing room is bad luck too, and pushed Jack Warner from her dressing room he whistled Hallelujah


Edwin Booth as Hamlet




Rumor has it that the superstition about whistling in a dressing room originated from the urban legend that actor Edwin Booth was whistling Dixie in his dressing room when his brother, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln.




[Source:  Point; August 1954]

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Clifton Webb on California

Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb, visiting New York City from balmy Hollywood:  "California is beautiful.  So is a rose.  But I can look at a rose for just so long and then I want to spit on it."  




[Source:  Quick Magazine; January 5, 1953]

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Bea Lillie on Television


Bea Lillie:  "Television has grown up to be just summer stock in an iron lung."




[Source:  Point;  August 1954]






Ouch!  Beatrice Lillie (May 29, 1894 – January 20, 1989) is known as being an amazing talent.  She shined on stage. She is an amazing woman and entertained the troops during WWII - even on the day she found out that her only son had perished in action.  Best known for her Tony Award winning 1953 revue An Evening with Beatrice Lillie.  She retired from the stage due to Alzheimer's.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Anita Loos Remains a Brunette



Anita Loos, author of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, when asked why she remained a brunette:  "Personally, I don't prefer gentlemen."




[Source:  Point;  August 1954]
Anita Loos and Jean Harlow


Anita Loos was the author or contributor to some of my favorite films such as Red-Headed Woman, Another Thin Man, The Women, Susan and God, and When Ladies Meet.  


John Emerson and Anita Loos
Loos had two troublesome marriage:  First, to Frank Palma, Jr (from 1915-1919); and secondly to actor, writer, director John Emerson (married from 1919 to his death in 1956).  Emerson and Loos never officially divorced, but their marriage consisted of economic strife and Emerson's mental illness.  

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Elaine Stewart on Bachelors


Elaine Stewart:  "A bachelor I know decided to reform.  The first day he cut out cigarettes.  The second day he cut out liquor.  The third day he cut out women.  The fourth day he cut out paper dolls."




[Source:  Point;  August 1954]

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Fred Allen on Poise


Fred Allen:  "Poise?  That's the ability to continue talking while the other fellow picks up the check."




[Source:  Point;  August 1954]

Friday, December 2, 2011

Groucho on Skywriting



Groucho Marx, to a skywriter contestant on his TV show:  "When you're up there writing do you ever get the impression that someone is looking over your shoulder?"




[Source;  August 1954]




Jack Benny and Groucho Marx doing a 'You Bet Your Life' skit on 'The Jack Benny Show'

Thursday, December 1, 2011

What Bob Hope thinks of Bridegrooms


Bob Hope's definition of a bridegroom:  "A wolf who paid too much for his whistle."




[Source:  Point;  August 1954]

Sunday, November 27, 2011

1940s Living and Dining Room Necessities

1940s Living Room Necessities



1 divan, sofa, or love seat
2 upholstered chairs - at least one of them should be "man-of-the-house" style
3 tables - 1 coffee, the others lamp or end tables
1 rug or rugs
1 radio
1 mirror
1 desk
1 desk chair
lamps
curtains
draperies
pictures
plants




*Aside from the radio, lamps, and chairs I think I'm set.  Minus the plants, of course.  Plants and I just just don't get along.






1940s Wherever You Eat Necessities




1 table - drop-leaf, pie-crust, bridge, or other
4 chairs






Table Linen
2 bridge sets with napkins
4 place mat sets with napkins - have at least 1 cork or plastic set
2 breakfast cloths with napkins
1 lace runner or doily set with napkins to harmonize
1 dinner cloth with 8 napkins
1 table pad






China
5 or 9 butter plates
5 or 9 dinner plates
5 or 9 salad plates
5 or 9 cereal dishes - use also for fruit
5 or 9 cups and saucers - more if you like bit parties
1 platter - round or medium oval
1 salad bowl
1 teapot and/or coffeepot
1 creamer and sugar
2 pair salt and peppers - unless you have a silver one




* I've virtually nothing in these categories - except for everyday stuff.  When it's just the two of us, it's hard to think about serving dishes and proper China.


Glassware Section of Hardware Store - 1943




Glassware
5 or 9 tumblers
5 or 9 highball glasses - use for iced beverages too
5 or 9 cocktail glasses - use for juices too
5 or 9 sherbet glasses






Silver
4 or 8 cream soup spoons
4 or 8 teaspoons - more are always handy
4 or 8 luncheon or dinner forks
4 or 8 luncheon or dinner knives
4 or 8 salad forks
4 or 8 butter spreaders
6 serving pieces
1 steak set
1 carving set
2 candle sticks - unless you have glass or china ones




*Just everyday stuff in these categories, too.  My glassware is good.  It's funny, but that was what we received most as a wedding gift.  The only trouble is that we never entertain and have maybe 1 drink per month. I'm not sure why everyone thought we were booze-hounds. 








[Source:  Making Housekeeping Easy; Dorothy Lois Abel;  Funk and Wagnalls Company; New York; 1948]

Friday, October 28, 2011

Favorite Actors - Part 1

Favorite Actors - Part 1

Don Ameche
Fun in films like That Night in Rio
Fabulous on the Radio - Wonderful Voice
Dana Andrews
Great in films
Fantastic on Radio - Another Wonderful Voice


Bob Bailey
Radio God - Yours Truly Johnny Dollar


John Barrymore
Stage and Silent Movie God
I melted when I saw Don Juan


Lionel Barrymore
Stage and Screen Legend
Fabulous Radio Voice
Humphrey Bogart
Casablanca, Maltese Falcon, and many, many more
My favorite Bogart film - Dark Passage
Jack Carson
Great character actor
Favorite films - Mildred Pierce and Romance on the High Seas
Ronald Colman
Screen Legend and Radio God
Favorite Films include Random Harvest, A Tale of Two Cities,   The White Sister
Radio appearances on The Jack Benny Show and The Halls of Ivy with wife Benita Hume , as well as appearances on Suspense such as in August Heat
OK, basically everything


Richard Conte
Great gritty actor
Favorite films - The Blue Gardenia, Somewhere in the Night, and especially Call Northside 777 (his character and characterization really spoke to me)
Errol Flynn
Swashbuckler extraordinaire
He's fabulous in adventures, westerns, war films, etc.
I wish he was known more for his wonderful acting rather than his bedroom antics.
Clark Gable
Fell in love with him since I saw him as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind
I also adore him in It Happened One Night
Cary Grant
Fantastic in everything - Who doesn't love Archie?
Favorite films - North by Northwest, The Bachelor and the Bobby-soxer,  and Arsenic and Old Lace

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