The Naked Kiss, 1963 original Half Sheet

The Naked Kiss, 1963

Written and Directed by Simon Fuller

Lured by the skanky title and the promise of a trashy time I hit the play button. Swack! Swack! Swack! A pocketbook is swinging like a propeller blade. Behind it a black bra-clad bald hooker appears, hell bent on kicking the s**t out of a drunken pimp. I’m hooked.

The Naked Kiss, a pulpy title with a creepy connotation, is a divine send-up of female melodrama and saint/sinner cliques. The hooker with a heart of gold. The Sleezy cop. A perfect, yet hypocritical small town. Only a master could spin a tale this wacky and not let the plates crash. Only a master could teeter between Cheeze and Arteeze. Bravo Simon Fuller.

Criss Cross, 1949 Original Half Sheet

Criss Cross, 1948

Directed by Robert Soidmak

 ”All woman are bitches,” I said. She smiled at me. Her eyes were deep and black. “All woman are cheats and liars and bitches,” I told her.
“I’m not,” she said. “I’m a whore.”
“You’re different,” I said. “I mean real women.”

Criss Cross, 1934 by Don Tracy

Spicy.

Don Tracy’s double-crossing armed robbery caper about a down on his luck, love-struck, ex-boxer and his trampy ex-wife gets the “Hollywood” treatment by Soidmak in 1949.

The Passionate Life of Bette Davis

Fasten Your Seat Belts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis by Lawrence J. Quirk

More Than a Woman: An Intimate Biography of Bette Davis by James Spada

Bette Davis was a bad, bad girl.

Bette was soo bad the while she was married she used to sleep with more than one person at a time to create extra conflict.  Bette was soo bad Joan Collins claimed she was the inspiration for Alexis Carrington on Dynasty. Bette was sooooo Bad that she is was rumored to be the the precipitating cause of husband number two’s death.

Yes. Off screen bad, bad Bette Davis created far more feuds, turmoil, and histrionics than she displayed on the silver screen. I believe your favorite shrink might call her a Histrionic or Narcissistic Personality Disorder Supreme.  But Yankee Bette, go to a shrink? Ne-vahhhh!!!

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.