Around 1950. A photo inscribed to Dr Irving Ress by Janis Paige. Read more.In the aftermath of World War II, unmarried women faced a hard dilemma when it came to sex. Damned if they did, and damned if they didn’t.In the words of a 16-year-old girl quoted by Michael Phillips in his article Women and the Sexual Double Standard of the 1950s:How are you supposed to know what they want? You hold out for a long time and then when you give in to them and give your body they laugh at you afterwards and say they would never marry a slut, and that they didn’t love you but were testing because they only plan to marry a virgin and wanted to see if you would go all the way.The pressures could be especially intense in the torrid and ultra-competitive world of the Hollywood studios, where the casting couch cast a long shadow and having a flexible attitude to sex could be the route to stardom or the road to perdition.The inspiration for this piece is a collection of photos … [Read more...]
Perc Westmore – makeup king of Hollywood
Perc Westmore, Marguerite Chapman and acolytes. Read more.If you’re going to create heroes and heroines, villains and villainesses who look credible under the camera’s unrelenting gaze, you need fantastic raw material.You also need brilliant make-up. And when it comes to make-up, Perc Westmore is the best in the business.Perc (pronounced ‘Purse’) is the son of an English wigmaker and just one of a whole family of Hollywood make-up artists. He is Head of Warner Brothers’ make-up department and the highest-paid make-up artist in the world with a salary of $50,000 a year (well over half a million dollars in today’s money).Of course he works with leading actresses such as Lauren Bacall and Bette Davis. So when he speaks, starlets (and indeed stars) listen – as the starlets gathered round him are doing in this picture.He’s a real innovator, who has revolutionized make-up. To his credit are:The panchromatic base – a tan cream that keeps faces and lips from fading out by … [Read more...]
Hazel Brooks – the human heat wave
Hazel Brooks, model, pin-up and Hollywood star of the 1940s is all but forgotten now. Except for here…‘Known among the wags of Hollywood as “The Human Heat Wave”’, as the caption of one of her publicity stills puts it, she was lucky in love but not in her career. Or perhaps, when push came to shove, her marriage was more important to her than her career.Hazel Brooks' MGM years and beforeThe story starts in 1941 and Hazel, age 17, is working as a model for New York’s two leading agencies of the period – Walter Thornton and Harry Conover. With her red hair, green eyes, high cheekbones and svelte figure she certainly has what it takes.1944. Hazel Brooks, 'chosen by servicemen as the girl about whom they would like to dream'. Photo probably by Laszlo Willinger. Read more.So it’s not surprising that she’s ‘discovered’ by Arthur Freed, who has recently become head of his own unit at MGM and has quite a track record as a talent spotter. He is in the process … [Read more...]
