Filed under: 1920s, classic movies, hollywood, vintage | Tags: Dolores Costello; Drew Barrymore; John Barrymore; The Barrymore's; George O'Brien; Noah's Ark; Michael Curtiz
… was, for the record, WAY hot.
And yes, she spoke with the same quiet lisp that would, one day, make her granddaughter famous. (OK, maybe Drew’s lisp isn’t what made her famous, but it’s certainly made her memorable.)
Dolores Costello was a silent screen goddess to end all silent screen goddesses. The year this film, Noah’s Ark, was made, she married film’s untamable-bastard-genius John Barrymore. And an acting dynasty was born. The marriage lasted only seven years, largely due to Barrymore’s drinking problems, and she would only act for a few more years before retiring from the public eye completely.
But for a few glorious years, Dolores’ popularity was untouchable, and her chops as an actress were undeniable.
Teamed here with super hunky matinee idol George O’Brien, Noah’s Ark’s biblical underpinnings seem entirely inspired by the Dolores’ truly divine beauty.
George O'Brien & Dolores Costell in Noah's Ark, 1928. Directed by Michael Curtiz
Today’s Financial Times’ How to Spend It has a, shall we call it, interesting homage to 40s fashion. I am not entirely sure how I feel about stylist Damian Foxe’s particular approach … but his muted watercolor palette is quiet and soft enough to evoke a romantic Brief Encounter-esque dream of the 40s.
Here are some highlights from the Yuval Hen’s photo shoot.
Mikado, Dolce & Gabbana, Vintage Pilot
Stella McCartney, Phillip Tracey, Viktor & Rolf
Giorgio Armani, Phillip Tracy, Lanvin
Jean Paul Gaultier, Phillip Tracey, IWC
Lanvin
Filed under: 1930s, arts, hollywood, nostalgia, vintage | Tags: 1935, George Hurrell, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn, Vanity Fair, vintage magazine
Vanity Fair’s website has a nifty little feature that I think all you Pictorial readers might get a kick out of. Vintage Vanity Fair allows you to flip through (virtually speaking) a vintage issue of the magazine. The full January 1935 issue is up on their website and a heck of a lot of fun to peruse. Vanity Fair’s renowned humor and satire is in top form, as its illustrations, which in this issue, feature Mexican artist Jose Covarribuias.
There is a fascinating piece about the matter of the Saarland—a tiny region sandwiched between Germany and France which had been occupied by the Allies since the Treaty of Versailles—it’s 15 year mandate was expiring the month of the issue’s publication and its political future was of hot debate. Hollywood’s Golden Age is beautifully documented too, with an iconic Jean Harlow shot by George Hurrell and a particularly intriguing photo of Katharine Hepburn labeled “Box Office Riot.” One year before another publication starting with a “V” dubbed her Box Office Poison.
Have a look for yourself. I’ve included some of the spreads below.
January 1935 cover
a Vanity Fair travelogue
excellent opinon piece about the Saarland
Illustrations by Mexican artist Jose Covarribuias
Katharine Hepburn
George Hurrell's classic Jean Harlow portrait.
Filed under: culture, history, preservation, vintage | Tags: convservation, historical preservation, Hollywood history, Los Angeles Archives Bazaar, Los Angeles history, preservation, USC
On Saturday, October 17th, USC Libraries is hosting the 4th annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar.
For local historians, and historians-in-training, this is an event you simply can’t afford to miss. Presented by L.A. as Subject, USC’s alliance dedicated to preserving LA history, you will have the opportunity to browse rare collections from over 60 historical archives including universities, museums and community organizations. There will be a slew of experts on hand and you’ll have the chance to chat with a number of authors and documentary filmmakers. Educational sessions are slated with the likes of Robert Birchard (author of Cecil B DeMille’s Hollywood) and forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick who will bestow tips and techniques for household archivists.
If you have a research project involving Los Angeles as its subject, or even just a supporting character, it is absolutely imperative event to attend.
Admission is free. For more information, including a complete list of participating exhibitors, visit USC’s L.A. as Subject site:
http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/
Filed under: 1920s, art, arts, classic movies, design, hollywood, photography, vintage | Tags: alice white, bette davis, buster Keaton, colorized photos; claroscureaux; vintage photos, gloria swanson, hedy lamarr, myrna loy, rudolph valentino, veronica lake
Right, so like most things in life, I am probably the last person in the blogosphere to know about this fella. Many thanks to Forget the Talkies for bringing it to my attention!
Claroscureaux colorizes vintage Hollywood photographs.
Normally the word “colorize” makes my skin crawl and I get a sudden urge for sudden death. But Claroscureaux’s work is beautiful– if I might rhapsodize, I daresay his work is exquisite. Some are spine-tingling in their realism, some have an Earl Christy-ish painterly quality, but all are obvious works of tireless, tedious attention to detail.
He has a store online to fulfill all of your every day classic cinema needs– coffee mugs, et all– and the prints are priced very reasonably.
Here are some of my favorites:
Myrna Loy - © Claroscureaux
Hedy Lamarr - © Claroscureaux
Veronica Lake - © Claroscureaux (this is quite possibly my favorite photo of the year)
Bette Davis - © Claroscureaux
Valentino - © Claroscureaux (smolder alert, ladies!)
Buster Keaton - © Claroscureaux
Gloria Swanson - © Claroscureaux
Alice White - © Claroscureaux
Filed under: 1920s, MP3, arts, culture, entertainment, history, music, vintage | Tags: 1920s jazz; hot jazz; Louis Armstrong; Duke Ellington; Paul Whiteman; Jean Goldkette; Fletcher Henderson; Joe Venuti; Eddie Lange; King Oliver; King Oliver Creole Jazz Band; Cotton Club; syncopation;
Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
If Italy has art, England has literature, and France has fashion, then America’ s cultural offering in the history of mankind is jazz. Its’ history as the one truly organic art form to emerge from America has been well chronicled and you needn’t look hard for an education on the subject. But harder to find are the lesser-known recordings—from the end of World War One through the prosperity of the 1920s. The music that America listened to before the movies learned how to talk –jazz that was dizzyingly fast and fun and syncopated–the soundtrack to the Jazz Age. Whether it be the ‘white’ jazz of Paul Whiteman and Jean Goldkette or the blazing, rule-breaking brilliance of Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson, the music holds up remarkably well—if you know where to find it.
So the Kitty Packard Pictorial’s website of the week is the long-running, exhaustive jazz resource, The Red Hot Jazz Archive. Scott Alexander’s site is dedicated, not simply to the music, but the lives of the musicians who made them. His essays are peerless—an outstanding scholarly effort—and then there’s the music. Full-length recordings (you’ll need to download Real Player to enjoy them) abound in impressive numbers, pristine in quality and complete with recording date, locations and back story.
Red Hot Jazz is a veritable treasure trove of forgotten gems, where one find leads to countless others. Even if vintage music isn’t your particular cup of tea, the site is worth a visit if for no other reason than to see what passion for a subject really looks like.
Since it might be overwhelming to newcomers, here are some great artists to explore:
Louis Armstrong & his Hot Five
Duke Ellington & his Cotton Club Orchestra
Paul Whiteman & his Orchestra
Coon Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra
Jean Goldkette & his Orchestra
The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra
Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band
(The Pictorial did a post a while back about some of the greatest names in jazz appearing onscreen for a fun-filled jam session– take a look at ‘em in action)
Filed under: cinema, classic movies, culture, entertainment, film, history, hollywood, movies, nostalgia, vintage | Tags: Fred Astaire; Ginger Rogers; Roberta; RKO; Top Hat; Swing Time; Randolph Scott; Jerome Kern; Musicals; Hollywood musicals; Fred and Ginger;
For no particular reason at all (and why else do we have blogs if not to indulge the whims of our wanton subconscious) today I remembered this scene from RKO’s 1935 film Roberta. The film was based on a smash Broadway musical with music and lyrics by the eternal Jerome Kern and although Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers are key players, Roberta isn’t a Fred & Ginger vehicle. The story focuses on the story of Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott, but it is Fred & Ginger who own each and every frame. Their on screen relationship is surprisingly earnest, which makes it even harder to understand why the film isn’t readily mentioned in the same breath as Top Hat and Swing Time and the other titles in the Astaire/Rogers canon.
In this scene, the two have rarely been better–or more organic. They are terrifically young (Ginger was only 22), spry, athletic, Astaire’s choreography is electric and they just look like they are having an absolute ball together.
Talk about infectious! These were the days when movies truly did make magic.
Filed under: cinema, classic movies, film, hollywood, vintage | Tags: classic hollywood cocktails; the thin man; nick charles; nora charles; nick and nora; charlie chaplin; marlene dietrich; jean harlow; greta garbo; douglas fairbanks; mary pickford; ginger rogers; roy, cocktail recipes
Nick & Nora Charles
Gosh, all this talk about classic Hollywood fare has me wee bit thirsty! So I thought I’d revisit our an earlier post which featured a list of to-die-for cocktails that take their name from screen icons.
(Might I recommend the Greta Garbo? It’s truly fabulous, dah-lings.)
Happy mixing!
From The Guardian’s David Parkinson:
“William Powell and Myrna Loy knocked back Knickerbockers in The Thin Man (1934). Katharine Hepburn sipped a Kir Royale in The Philadelphia Story (1940). Humph drowned his sorrows in Singapore Slings in Casablanca (1942). Hollywood cocktails have always smacked of glamour and good taste. Billy Wilder tried to prove otherwise by having Ray Milland recklessly slug back the Rusty Nails in The Lost Weekend (1945) and Tom Cruise discovered that it’s possible to get shaken and stirred while coping with happy hour in Cocktail (1988).
But the link between cinema and cocktails remains strong and this party season you may find yourself sampling such novelties as the Departini, the Atone-Mint and the Angelina Jolie. However, if you want a little class in your glass over the festive period, you might want to try these delights from the golden age of Hollywood.
The Charlie Chaplin
1 oz (28ml) apricot brandy
1 oz sloe gin
1 oz fresh lime juice
The recipe was invented at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Vigorous shaking is recommended before the thick, sweet liquid can be strained into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with lime peel.
The Marlene Dietrich
3 – 4 oz Canadian whisky
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
2 dashes of curaçao
A wedge of both lemon and orange makes the perfect topping for this zesty cocktail, which should be shaken with ice cubes and served on the rocks in a wine glass.
The Douglas Fairbanks
2 oz Plymouth gin
1 oz dry vermouth
Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled glass. A little orange peel adds dash to the finished product.
The Greta Garbo
1 oz brandy
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz orange juice
1/4 oz grenadine
dash of crème de menthe
Garbo stuck to hard stuff in Anna Christie, but the cocktail named after her was a little more exotic. Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled highball glass.
The Jean Harlow
2 oz white rum
2 oz sweet vermouth
The Blonde Bombshell was supposedly fond of this martini created in her honour. Best served chilled, with a lemon peel garnish.
The Mary Pickford
2 oz white rum
2 oz pineapple juice
1 tsp grenadine
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
This colourful brew should be shaken with ice cubes, strained into a cocktail glass and topped with a cherry.
The Ginger Rogers
1 oz dry gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz apricot brandy
4 dashes of lemon juice
Mix the ingredients well with ice and serve in a chilled cocktail glass. If sweet martini isn’t to your taste, try the alternative Ginger Rogers: a mix of champagne, ginger root and fresh lime juice.
The Roy Rogers
6 – 8 oz cola
1/4 oz grenadine
So there’s not a hint of alcohol in his cocktail, invented primarily as a boys’ equivalent to the Shirley Temple. Pour the ingredients into a tall glass filled with ice and stir well.
The Will Rogers
2 oz gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz orange juice
4 dashes curacao
The Shirley Temple
6 – 8 oz ginger ale
2 oz orange juice
dash of grenadine
This is the most tinkered with Tinseltown tipple. Some versions drop the orange juice, while others replace the ginger ale with lemon-lime soda, Sprite or 7-Up. And then there are the alcoholic variations, which include the Shirley Temple Black (7-Up, kahlua and grenadine) and the Dirty Shirley (lemon-lime soda, vodka and grenadine).
The Johnny Weissmuller
1 oz gin
1 oz white rum
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp of powdered sugar
dash of grenadine
Johnny Weissmuller agreed to a clause in his Columbia contract for the Jungle Jim series that he would be fined $5,000 for every pound he was overweight. He probably wouldn’t have much quaffed this tropical martini, then.
The Mae West
3 – 4 oz brandy
1 egg yolk
1 tsp powdered sugar
West, who didn’t drink herself, once quipped, “Any time you got nothing to do – and lots of time to do it – come on up.” And that’s good advice for this cocktail, as it takes plenty of shaking with ice cubes to completely blend the yolk.
Filed under: film, hollywood, nostalgia, vintage | Tags: classic hollywood; hollywood lost; ansel adams los angeles;, food; recipes; The Brown Derby; Original Cobb Salad Recipe; Brown Derby recipes; Hollywood restaurants;
The Brown Derby, c. 1941. photo by Ansel Adams
Betty Goodwin’s Lost Recipes of Legendary Hollywood Haunts is now an ear-marked, food-stained, go-to mainstay in my (admittedly scant) cookbook collection. “Since the twenties,” she writes, ” many of the community’s most legendary restaurants sprung up as colorfully as the larger-than-life personalities who frequented them. The tales behind the owners themselves (often rags-to-riches stories) rivaled the plots of any films…” And so Goodwin supplies both the stories and the recipes that made such Hollywood haunts as The Brown Derby, La Rue and Perino’s, ubiquitous in Hollywood lore. Every last one of the 18 restaurants found in Goodwin’s book have been gone at least twenty years (survivors like Musso and Franks and The Formosa are left out) so if you want to actually dine the way the stars did … get out your oven mits and cocktail glasses.
I’ve decided to start posting some of these recipes for your culinary delight, and it seems only fitting to start out with one of the most famous recipes to emerge from a legendary Hollywood watering hole: The Brown Derby’s Cobb Salad (So named after Mr. Robert Cobb took over ownership of the Derby in 1934).
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce
1/2 bunch of watercress
1 small bunch of chicory
1/2 head romaine
2 medium tomatoes, peeled
2 breasts of boiled roasting chicken
6 strips crisp bacon
1 avocado
3 hard-boiled eggs
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 cup crumbled imported Roquefort Cheese
1 cup Brown Derby Old-Fashioned French Dressing (Dressing recipe found below.)
Cut finely lettuce, watercress, chicory and romaine and arrange in salad bowl. Cut tomatoes in half, remove seeds, dice finely aand arrange over top of chopped greens. Dice breasts of chicken and arrange over top of chopped greens. Chop bacon finely and sprinkle over salad. Cut avocado in small pieces and arrange around the edge of the salad. Decorate the salad by sprinkling over the top the chopped eggs, chopped chives and grated cheese. Just before serving, mix salad thoroughly with Brown Derby french dressing. Serves 4 to 6.
(Note: I’m a vegetarian myself, so when I made this I nixed the chicken for some portobello mushrooms and it was scrumdidlyumptious!)
Brown Derby Old-Fashioned French Dressing
1 cup water
1 cup red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon English mustard
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup olive oil
3 cups salad (vegetable) oil
Blend together all ingredients except oils. Then add olive and salad oils and mix well again. Chill. Shake before serving. Makes about 1 1/2 quarts. This dressing keeps well in the refrigerator. Can be made and stored in a 2 quart Mason jar.
(to complete the dining experience, I recommend put on a good scratchy record–for those of you out there who still have them. Or at least a Billie CD. ;)
Filed under: 1920s, cinema, classic movies, entertainment, film, history, hollywood, movies, preservation, vintage | Tags: nitrate film; film preservation; douglas fairbanks; billie dove; the black pirate; ramon navarro; ben hur; lon chaney; the phantom of the opera; anna may wong;, technicolor; 2 strip technicolor; 3 strip technicolor; the aviator; martin scorsese;
Not long ago I was watching Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, which I’ve watched multiple times—not because I feel it is necessarily a great film, but because few modern films have so accurately pinpointed the look and feel of early Hollywood. A friend of mine was watching it with me and suddenly she shouted out in horror: “Eew! Gross! His peas are blue!”
Howard Hughes' dinner in The Aviator
Yep. And I like ‘em that way.
Scorsese had done a near flawless job of recreating the old Technicolor “two strip” color process that so aptly coincided with the setting of the scene: Hollywood, circa 1930. The process was actually called “Subtractive Two-Color Dye Transfer Print,” (often referred to, albeit incorrectly, as “two strip”) and was used between 1927 and 1933. It was a marked improvement on the previous “Subtractive Cement” print procedure wherein film matrices were literally bathed in dye and cemented back-to-back to the original for printing. Starting in 1927, the wizards at Technicolor (namely Herbert Kalmus) developed a technique for matrices to be optically generated from the actual camera negative. According to the extensive website The Widescreen Museum: “[the new process] used the matrices to transfer the dye to a specially prepared clear base film. The groundbreaking dye transfer process won substantial acclaim and Technicolor’s output increased markedly from 1928 through 1930.”
It is this process that Scorsese had his special effects team employ to recreate the warm dreaminess of early movie color in The Aviator. Scorsese’s film has a fantastic special effects website where it describes the technique more succinctly than my non-technical brain ever could: “Natural skin tone was achieved by filming two black and white strips of film (with a red and green filter on the lens) and later adding Yellow dye to the resulting Cyan and Magenta printing matrices. The yellow dye makes up for the lack of yellow color found in skin tone pigment but ultimately can not reproduce yellow or any shade or variation of blue (as a result of the missing blue layer.) The resulting matrices appear orange and a warmer version of cyan more than the normal magenta and cyan found in the later three color process. This look creates an odd but pleasing hand-painted look where faces appear normal and green takes on a blue-green quality while the sky and all things blue appear cyan.”
Like peas!
Here’s how Scorsese’s crew did it in 2004:
The Process
The Result
Here’s how Kalmus did it in 1927:
Original System Example, Courtesy Widescreen Museum.
Result: Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929)
Some of the earlier subtractive color systems, namely from 1922-1926, produced some truly eye-popping moments in some of the era’s best silent films:
Anna May Wong in The Toll of the Sea, 1922
Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera, 1925
Ramon Navarro in Ben-Hur, 1925
Betty Bronson in Ben-Hur, 1925
Billie Dove and Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate, 1926
