Jezebel: old hollywood

The Great Kate

Sadie — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:40:00 EST

"Shoot 'em. Shoot 'em. It's a better way to live!" Check out Katharine Hepburn in rare crank form in this 1979 60 Minutes interview, waxing on aging, humanity, movies, and bores. [Oh No They Didn't]

All About Awesome

Sadie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:20:00 EST

As we prepare to award various mediocre films, critic A.O. Scott draws our attention to an amazing one: Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1950 masterpiece All About Eve, probably top 5 in the Jezebel Film Canon.

The story of the aging diva Margo Channing and the conniving up-and-comer Eve Harrington is such a contrast to the petty squabbles of Bride Wars et al that's it worth seeing again if only as an antidote. Sure, Bette Davis is a tour de force, Anne Baxter is despicable, George Sanders' jaded journalist Addison DeWitt is iconic. But more than great performances and sparkling dialogue — and the movie won 6 Oscars, including Bestie — this is a "women's film" in the right way: of smart women, played by smart women. Shake the martinis, light the Lucky's and fasten your seatbelts: it's going to be a bumpy night. [NYT

R.I.P. Ann Savage

Sadie — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:20:00 EST

Ann Savage, an actress who made her mark in more than 30 films of the 1940s and 50s, has died at the age of 87.

Savage was known primarily as a familiar face in B-movies, in recent years earning a cult following as the femme fatale villainess in the 1945 noir Detour. Says one critic of the role, "She's vicious and predatory. She's been called a harpy from hell, and in the film, too, she's very sexually aggressive, and he's very, very passive. It's very unusual for a '40s film to have a woman come on that strong." Last year, Savage was cast in Guy Maddin's indie film My Winnipeg, her last role. [AP]

Thank You For Smoking

Sadie — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:40:00 EDT

In a revelation that would have shocked and appalled absolutely no one of the time, it seems that "secret contracts" exist proving that Old Hollywood took money from Big Tobacco to Smoke Cigarettes onscreen. "Researchers at the Tobacco Control journal reveal that many of the biggest names of Hollywood's golden age - including Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, and Lauren Bacall - took money to endorse tobacco products." Guess they figured they might as well get paid for it! [NY Daily News]

Cyd Charisse, Actress With The "World's Most Valuable Legs," Dies At 86

Jessica — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Cyd Charisse, the actress/dancer who rose to stardom dancing alongside Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, has died at the age of 86 of a heart attack, according to the New York Times. Born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, Cyd was a classically trained ballerina who was plucked from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in California by studio scouts. Her big break was opposite Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain, her performance in which the Times describes as "both sultry vamp and diaphanous dream girl." Other famous Charisse performances include Brigadoon, Silk Stockings, and Party Girl (not to be confused with the Parker Posey film of the same name). Cyd appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the "world's most valuable legs," as her studio reportedly took out a 5 million dollar insurance policy on her talented gams.

After the film roles receded, in the '60s and '70s Charisse and her second husband, Tony Martin, toured nightclubs and appeared on tv shows with their song and dance routines. Charisse made her Broadway debut in 1992 playing an aging ballerina in Grand Hotel, and in 2006, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts at the White House. Below is a darling, recent photo of Cyd and husband Tony. She is survived by him and two children, Tony Jr. and Nicky.

Cyd Charisse, 86, Silken Dancer Of Movies, Dies [New York Times]
Cyd Charisse, Actress and Dancer, Dies [AP via EW]