All About Eve, Original Window Card, 1950
All About Eve, 1950
Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz
Finally tossed the Christmas trees to the curb. No more Twinkle Twinkle. Sigh. Need something to keep the winter gloom away. How about a Twinkle Trifeca? Bette Davis, George Sanders, and Marilyn Monroe. So un-Noir. But, who cares. Ladle this trio with some cocktails and you got yourself a sparkly little show.
Bette Davis was only 42 when she made All About Eve, and the bloom was definitely off the rose. But the thorns were sharper than ever. Oscar nomination numero Ocho. Every fiftyish single lady who bypassed kids and a husband on her way up the ladder can identify with Ms. Channing. Money, men and melodrama. And plenty of gators snapping at your heels.
Nora Prentiss, Original Vintage Half Sheet
Nora Prentiss, 1947
Directed by Vincent Sherman
“I can whistle through my fingers, bulldog a steer, light a fire with two sticks, shoot a pistol with fair accuracy, set type, and teach school ”
Clara Lou, aka, Ann Sheridan
A favorite pet of Bogie, The Texas flamecat could also smoke, drink and wise-ass with the boys as well as sing, dance, and act. Despite her talents, the studios* didn’t know quite what to do with her for 40 films until they cooked up the “Oomph Girl” idea in 1939. America was on the verge of World War II and the studios shrewdly decided it would be wiser to spend money promoting wholesome American sex symbols instead of the deluge of Foreign Floozies served up for most of the thirties.
Pretty Poison, 1968
Pretty Poison,1968, Orignal Window Card
Directed by Noel Black
Novel by Stephen Geller
Pretty Poison is a little pop of Dark Comedy in the vein of Sweeney Todd. The hip young murderettes are just missing a groovey 5th Dimension whack track to enliven their bloody binge.
Like all dark comedies, Pretty Poison was a box office bust. Young, sexy couple killers were not yet in vogue—Beatty was just getting ready shoot Bonnie and Clyde. Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen were years out from running in Badlands.
***True Story***Tuesday Weld was Warren Beatty’s numero uno choice for Bonnie Parker. But, she turned it down. Ostensibly, because she “knew it was going to be a hit”.
Pretty Poison was the most successful film of Noel Black’s career, which goes to show you how much of its success he owed to the actors and script on this film. The chemistry between the lead actors was so buzzy that they were repaired again in another rarely viewed, but ravey cult classic, Joan Didion’s Play It As it Lays.
Human Desire, 1954 Original Half Sheet
Human Desire, 1954. Directed by Fritz Lang
Le Bete Humaine, 1938. Directed by Jean Renoir
Zola’s 1890 novel, La Bete Humaine, inspired two murderous film adaptations starring two of my ultimate super faves: Jean Gabin and Gloria Grahame. Too bad they weren’t in the same film.
Personally, I prefer the dark, steamy, gloomy, life is s*%t version filmed on location in Paris by Renoir in 1938 on the eve of World War II. Yes, I agree with the Criterati on this one. Jean Renoir rules.
A Double Life, Vintage Original Half Sheet
A Double Life, 1947 Directed by George Cukor
Yuck. A Double Life had all the ingredients to make me put off watching it indefinitely: 1) never heard of it; 2) Shakespeare; 3) no favey actors. But since Ruth Gordon, the freaky old lady from Rosemary’s Baby wrote it, let’s roll.
A Double Life (also the name of Cukor’s bio) debuted George Cukor’s cinematic partnership with Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon. At MGM, Cukor had been waiting to do meatier, less twinkly stuff. An opportunity opened up to work independently with the Kanins and he jumped.
